Kelly Spenhoff

I have a morning routine. It doesn’t involve waking up at 5 AM or making complicated coffee. I’m great friends with the snooze button. I exercise in my pajamas.

My morning routine doesn’t help me crush the day. 

But it does set me up for success. 

I do the most important things first so the rest of the day is mine. If my husband wants to take me out to lunch, or I suddenly decide I need to bake shortbread, I’ve already finished the day’s writing. There’s nothing hanging over me that needs to get done first.

The usual advice about morning routines doesn’t work for me. It’s physically impossible for me to wake up at 4 AM. I’m not interested in productivity (unless I’m trying to finish knitting a sweater I need by this weekend!). I’m not trying to wring out every last drop of productivity from myself. I don’t measure my life against someone else’s yardstick.

I’m living a life where I decide what deserves my time.

Sometimes my highest priority is a craft project. Sometimes I sweep and steam my floors. Either way, I do it guilt-free because I’ve already exercised and made my bed.

When I created it, I didn’t ask “How can I do more?” I asked “Who do I want to be?”

What are my goals? What is my vision for my life?

Among other things, I want to write a body of work I can be proud of. I want to feel strong even as my body ages. I want to spend quality time with my husband every single day.

Then I decided on daily actions that support those goals and created some loose structure around them. Sitting on the couch together playing our word games (with coffee!!!!) is one of the most important pieces of my routine. 

My routine isn’t elaborate. It’s simple and flexible. It serves one purpose: it sets me up to live the day I choose. If I look up and realize I’ve been knitting for 4 hours straight, I’m fine with it. I took care of everything else before I ever picked up my needles.

The reason I can stick to a morning routine is easy. I know myself and I built a routine especially for me. It’s not carved in stone. It’s literally a sticky note with a list of tasks in roughly the most logical order for me. 

There is no formula. No right or wrong. You have to figure it out.

The work is in paying attention to yourself. You can’t set your day up for success if you don’t know what you want from it. Learning what you actually want from life is the first step to getting it.

I make a real effort to know myself better and better. As a result, my life keeps getting better. One batch of shortbread at a time.