I’ve never been one for morning routines. Or routines of any sort, for that matter. I suck at them. Sure, I love the idea of a little personal schedule. I admire people like my dad, who wakes up every morning at the crack of dawn (ok, so maybe his cat wakes him up), eats his store-brand wheaty O’s cereal with a sliced banana. Or all those fitness buffs, who always manage to hit the gym before grabbing their coffee and heading to the office.
No, not me. I’ve never been able to keep a routine for more than a few days.
This all weighed on my mind because I don’t love sitting in my windowless cubicle at my job. Until my company’s last reorg, I always had my own office. With windows. I was spoiled. Now, in my small cubicle, I find myself feeling depressed and uninspired. Sure, writing news articles or designing advertisements or creating training programs has its moments, but it’s much better when done next to a window.
As the cubicle life started to get to me more and more, I found myself staying awake later and later at night, trying in vain to postpone the coming of the new workday.
Until one day, when I started thinking. . .
“Why should I wake up just to head straight to my cubicle for 8 hours? Shouldn’t I start my day with something positive and personal? Something that brings me joy?”
So in this new home in the suburbs I’ve been enjoying taking some time for myself in the mornings before I head to work. I’ll grab a bowl of my summer breakfast (granola, plain yogurt, fresh fruit, and honey) and wander around the yard, checking on my veggie gardens, watering my other gardens a bit, talking to my dogs. Or I’ll sit on my back porch and blog for a bit.
I still don’t love sitting in that cubicle, but at least I have something to look forward to when I go to bed at night. That quiet, peaceful, little bit of ‘me’ time that I greet myself with each and every morning. And that has made all the difference.
Are you the kind of person who has a routine? If you’re struggling to stay inspired in your day job, what are some things you’ve done to make it better?
4 Comments
Ooh, this post totally hit home for me! I too sit in a drab, colorless cubicle for 8 hours a day. =( One thing I have started doing recently is make time for myself. I got into a rut where I would come home tired every day, and have no motivation to do anything creative. So, I decided recently to start taking voice lessons again, and that has really helped me through those 8 hours! At least I know I have something to look forward to, and something to put my time and energy into besides work. =)
As a mom, I struggle staying inspired. 😉 But back in my cubicle/office days what helped me stay sane was having a few beautiful objects to look forward to. I kept a decorative coffee mug, a beautiful notebook-day planner, fancy stationery, and a topiary on my desk. That always helped me exhale when I would walk into my space.
Let’s see… my morning routine generally consists of: shower, dress, and feed baby, feed husband and get his lunch ready for work, feed myself, shower and then do some reading and jump on the computer. That’s during the school year. It’s a bit looser now. And mercifully there is no cubicle in my life.
I’ve been thinking more and more about this over the last few days. Since we’re in Texas it’s like 100 degrees when I get off work and I never want to go for an afternoon walk. If I’d just get up 30-40 more minutes early, I would be able to take our pups for a nice morning stroll and still have time for breakfast before trudging off to the office. It probably would make a world of difference.