Farewell, Mornings
I like routines and planning. Routines is one of my ways of managing anxiety and stress. I like to feel like I know what’s going on and what’s coming up. But I have a 4 year-old. So I have to be somewhat flexible, and I’m always tinkering with my routines.
Over the last year and a half or so, I’ve been able to take advantage of my mornings more. Minus getting-ready-in-the-morning-time, I typically have between an hour and an hour and a half to myself while no one else is awake. I have loved this time. It’s when I’ve worked on my app Focuses and other side projects. Sometimes I take that time to read in the mornings or play a game. It’s when I’m writing this. It’s just some great quiet time that I get all to myself.
I’m not naturally a morning person. I’m more productive in the evenings. But mornings still work better for me. I work full-time and I also do some part-time contract work. After a full day of work, I’m dead and don’t feel like doing anything besides relaxing with my family. It never seems to work out well the occasional times that I trick myself into playing with a side project in the evening. I’m pretty obsessive, so often, programming gets my mind whirring and I can’t sleep, so I stay up far too late working on something. With a child in the house who consistently wakes up early, and my needing 8 hours of sleep to feel barely functional, staying up late is not a great option.
So that’s why I’ve landed on mornings. And it was great.
Wait, was?
Yup. Was. Well, maybe I’m being a little premature. My wife and I are expecting another baby in a couple months. We are, of course, incredibly excited, and it brings a smile to my face just to write it. But a new baby is going to change everything. If this baby is anything like our first, I won’t consistently have my mornings again for about 2 years. But that’s fine. Sure, I’m going to miss the regularity of have the mornings to myself, but sharing early mornings with a baby is much better.
I won’t get as much side-project type stuff done. That’s a given. And I’ll have to give up my oh-so-comforting routines in favor of the beckoning cry of a newborn. It will be a fun puzzle each day fitting in the baby’s needs and my wants.
So thanks, mornings. You’ve been great. And we still have a couple months, so let’s get some updates to Focuses out or something while we can.