I am/was/will be a morning person

4 minute read. And heads up! This formatting is a mess to read on mobile.

For many folks, this time of year marks a return to school schedules, morning and bedtime routines, homework, new pencil crayons, stress and disruption.

In my house, I was the lover of new school supplies and the hater of early mornings.

And then all of a sudden* I was a morning person!

*All of a sudden = after years of practice and trying different things and setting six alarms and incremental progress and diet and exercise and a partner who wakes up before five and a morning routine I could get excited about.

And yet in September 2025 I find myself strugggggggling to get out of bed again.

I’M A BIG KID NOW

And I know that:

• you can try a bunch of things before you find the right one
• sometimes the right one stops being the right one
• “do-able” trumps “ideal” most of the time
• I’ve got to write stuff down before it sticks in my brain

And so I have created for myself ~three~ options for a morning routine.

AND another three options for an evening routine!

Hear me out…this feels like a genius move and not the wack-a-doodle vibes it’s giving at first glance.

I have given myself:

• structure without hard lines to rebel against
• reminders of what an ideal (for me) morning or bedtime looks like
• flexibility when I am having a tough time or have low energy
• a goal to work toward
• easy wins

HERE THEY ARE

Here are the SIX routines I have started building for myself. Remember, that’s 3 options for the morning and 3 options for bedtime.

I have a few items in there categorized as “always”, like put on makeup (this takes 2 minutes), sunscreen, watch and jewelry. And I also gave myself some playlist reminders, in case I need a dopamine boost to get through the list.

Part of my “ideal” routine is going to bed at 9pm, no scrolling. My nightguard is non-negotiable.

HERE’S WHAT THEY AREN’T

This video is the one that finally got me to write down what I had rattling around in my head for ages.

And she made a good point right off the bat.

She made routines that are right for her. Not the content creators she was watching, not some unrealistic version of herself.

I think that was a big part of my struggle with routines for awhile. I found a lot of examples from folks who work from home, don’t work, run their own business, are neurotypical, love capitalism. And that was 180 degrees away from the reality of my life.

My routines aren’t:

• Made for someone else. These are MY ideal routines based on my experience, knowledge and goals. Not anyone else’s.
• Filled with “shoulds”. These offer options, menus if-you-will, of things that I want to do.
• Dependent on each other. If I have a rough PM routine, it doesn’t pre-determine that my morning will be sh*t. I get to start fresh at every occurence.

TRYING IT ON FOR SIZE

I implemented these at the end of July and have been testing them out ever since. The first week was pretty great because they were new and shiny.

I have NOT hit on an ideal morning yet.

I don’t actually CARE if I stretch before bed, that’s coming off.

Playlists are still up in the air. They work for me, but I hadn’t found a good way to integrate them yet.