I am not a morning person. I’m married to someone who wakes up immediately, ready to start his day. That we are still happily married after 36 years is not because of compatible morning temperaments. It could be a testament to my husband’s ability to be quiet when he gets up before me.
Saturday morning, as I nursed my Diet Coke while huddling
over my bagel and peanut butter, the importance of routine struck me. Weekday
morning routines differ from weekend routines. At home, I find one breakfast
and stick with it for years. A bagel with
peanut butter on it has been my at-home breakfast for decades now. When I was
in my teens, the go-to breakfast was Wheaties with sugar on them.
During the week, I stick with a food until my
fast-food restaurant of choice takes my breakfast off the menu. When Burger
King sold Cini-Mini’s, I was a regular Monday through Friday customer. Ms. Debra at the drive-thru window and I would
exchange pleasantries about each other’s children, and she knew what I was
having as soon as she heard my voice. The same was true at Hardees when
Hardee’s still sold its cinnamon raisin biscuits after Burger King stopped its
Cini-Minis. While the McDonald’s people were more reserved when they were
selling blueberry muffins and apple fritters, they’re warming up to me now
under the new two-biscuits-with-four-packets-of-strawberry-jelly regime. The
blueberry muffins and apple fritters probably created too much stress for them;
it was never a given whether the store would have one or both of them available
any given morning. (I never said my morning routine was healthy, just
consistent.)
And heaven help the fast-food breakfast place that
runs out of Diet Coke during the week. I don’t know which irritates me more—the
fact that they ran out of it, that they usually can’t tell me when they’ll get
some more, or that they ring the meal up BEFORE they tell me the Diet Coke is
gone. My normally polite disposition sours quickly when deprived of Diet Coke. I
am a caffeine addict and hate coffee.
The routine I need to establish, though, is the one I
need help from you for. I need a writing routine. There is a lot to be said for
the “fanny in chair, hands on keys” school of writing. That works best if, just
like my car knows to turn into McDonald’s on a weekday morning, my body automatically
walks me to my computer so I can start typing. No matter how bad what I
initially write will be, I can always improve it on editing. If it’s not
written, though, there’s nothing to edit. Just don’t tell me I have to get up
early to start it. Please.
I get up first by a couple of hours. I have several routine tasks I tackle each morning (checking the WWK blog is one of them) and I create the day's to do list. After that, it depends on the list, which usually, but not always, includes something to do with my writing.
ReplyDeleteI'm an early riser (4:30 a.m.). I fix my coffee, get my husband fed and off to work, give my cat her pill and treat, then I do some kind of activity to keep my body functioning. Sometimes it's a Body Groove dance exercise video, sometimes it's yoga, sometimes it's a workout with light weights. Then email and blog reading. Only then can I eat breakfast. By 7:30 or so, I'm in my chair for a few hours of writing.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, there are plenty of hiccups to that routine, but I try to stick with it.
One of the joys of being retired is that I don't need to stick closely to a routine. Still, I like to start my day with some form of exercise--usually an aquatics exercise class in one of the pools at the retirement community in which I live. Or a long walk. Otherwise, I remember the joy on a recently-retired relatives face when she was asked what she was going to do that day. "Anything I feel like."
ReplyDeleteMy days vary when we have guests during the holidays and summer. Over all, I always write in the morning when I'm fresh. I'm also stiff in the morning, and always have been, so exercise is an afternoon activity. Cooking is also an afternoon activity. I'll make dinner but breakfast and lunch--everyone is on their own! I may not have a routine, but I have a rhythm.
ReplyDeleteI'm an egg mcmuffin and Coke Zero gal myself.
ReplyDeleteI was very organized when I was working (writing was on weekends or between midnight and 2/4). Now, the muse has to move me - and that is never before late afternoon.
ReplyDelete