I’m a dad of two boys, the older one is almost 5 and I have a newborn in the house. So, you can see that my morning is not easy. My wife and I are struggling with a lack of sleep. The newborn has reflux, so we are waking up every 40–70 minutes in the night. Trust me, it’s extremely hard to keep a good level of energy, and so on.
That’s the context. I’ll show you what worked for me. I’m going to tell you what my day looks like, not only morning but evening as well.
Evening is more important than morning
As I mentioned before, my sleep is poor. So, the most important part of the day is the evening because if I do it properly it’ll let me survive the next day.
My evening looks like I’m retired. Let’s look at why.
Maybe I sound puristic but I let it go for Netflix and other evening activities. I got the impression I live like retired. That’s sucks because of the lack of entertainment but for me, it’s the recipe for staying with a good level of energy through the day.
My evening looks as follows. My wife is feeding the newborn and I at the same time put the older one to sleep. The time is important, it’s around 8 pm — 8:30 pm. The routine is important. It’s always similar time +/- 30 mins. Reading bedtime stories for my son allows me to calm down.
Journaling
When my son is snoring, I’m journaling for 5–10 minutes. Most entries describe my day, my thoughts, etc. That’s a short chapter but the journaling helps me a lot. I’ve been consistent in that routine for almost 3 years, and I’m going to continue it.
So long story short: my evenings are extremely boring, every evening looks the same. No watching movies, no screen devices. I’m in bed around 9 pm, and I’m trying to fall asleep.
The only exception is when I feel energized in the evening. I allow myself to read a book in bed, and unfortunately, it’s a screen-reader. Sadly, that’s my only guilty pleasure :D
Morning routine
The consistent wake time it’s important. I’m waking up 6 am — 7 am. I’m trying to wake up before everyone and secretly leave my bedroom.
Exercise
I’m starting the day with 9 minutes of light cardio, which you can do on your carpet. No equipment is needed. The exercises are in the below image.
I do every exercise for 30 seconds and 10 seconds break. All workout duration is around 8–9 minutes.
TIP: You can set the custom workout on your Apple watch or another smartwatch which helps you track the time at a particular stage of exercise.
Drink a half liter of water
I’m struggling with a frequently sore throat, so I’m drinking only warm water.
I drink a half liter of water when I’m resting after the workout. That’s the first moment I’m touching the screen device — my phone. I love that part of the morning. I’m full of workout’s endorphins. I’m replying to messages, checking my mailbox, and some basic stuff.
Intermittent fasting
Twice a week I’m skipping breakfast. It’s usually on Tuesday and Thursday. It helps me reduce a little bit of weekly calorie consumption. My first meal I’m eating around 1 pm.
The breakfast
My breakfast is boring. I eat two types of meals for breakfast.
- Eggs — in any form
- Oats with cacao powder— check the linked recipe. I loved that one.
I’m so lucky, that my family loves the two meals as well. So, I’m preparing a bigger portion for my wife and kids.
The meal with eggs is free of any carbs. I’m trying to start a day without carbs. I’d say it’s paleo’s meal.
I drink (2 spoons) apple vinegar with water before eating the oats (which contain a lot of carbs). I’m not a diabetic, but I believe in Glucose Goddes.
I’m taking supplements:
- Zinc (50g morning, 50g evening)
- Magnesium (300mg morning)
- Omega-3 (4g)
Walk to the office
Always when I have the option, I choose go to to my office on my feet. It’s 20 minutes walk. Sometimes, when I’m a little bit late I’m traveling by kick scooter (not the electrical). I’m trying to provide as much move as it is possible.
The afternoon
It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Typical work as a manager, a lot of stress, and so on, but I’m coping with it.
I do the breathwork for 10 minutes every day. Sometimes it’s two series for 5 minutes, sometimes it’s one long for 10 minutes. It helps me reduce the level of stress significantly.
Since I do breathwork I’d say my general level of stress decreased significantly.
When I get back from work… it’s evening again.
Main takeaways:
- Consistent wake-up time and bedtime are extremely important for my body to keep my circadian rhythm in shape
- The early morning workout is the key to keeping a high level of energy. It’s just 8 minutes per day, but it’s almost an hour weekly. It’s still better than nothing. I stopped fooling myself I’ll have time for 2–3 (30-minute) workouts in a week.
- My older son is going to kindergarten, so he is a vector for a lot of bacteria and viruses. I’m struggling with a continuous sore throat, I got impression the that zinc and magnesium helped me a lot, but I’m still investigating it.
- I feel better with a fatty breakfast (eggs) than oats (carbs breakfast). Avoiding sugar (carbs) morning is very important for my body, but you know… I can’t eat eggs every morning :D
- The journaling and the breathwork are crucial to keep my stress level within a healthy range. Very often when I wake up to take care of a newborn the breathwork helps me fall asleep again.
