Morning Routine Blues..

LARamsNation

Hey everyone,

So with Feb. fast approaching i've been trying to master my morning routine but can't seem to figure it out. I'm waking up at 6am, but frankly, its just not enough time for me to cook breakfast, meditate, go on a light jog and conduct a proper warm-up session --especially if you consider i'm gonna have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to the test center on test day (which I'm yet to factor in/emulate). Does anyone have any suggestions on any adjustments I can make going into the next few weeks? I went through my analytics and noticed I frequently struggle on the earlier sections (regardless of section type) and fare much better on the second half of the test (also regardless of section type). Perhaps I'm not warming up sufficiently/enough? On the flip side, I don't want to burn out on the warm up because it usually takes me at least 30 minutes to do 12 LR questions, 1 game, and 1 Passage. I'm considering eliminating the passage and replacing it with a read from the economist or scientific American while I eat breakfast. Thoughts?

For you TV fans, it's times like this I wish I had the discipline and efficiency of Dexter's "Morning Routine."

Bevs ScooterMinion

Interesting thoughts, I have several questions and suggestions. (Ah Dexter, *sigh* the epitome of discipline --but not the only reason I love him so much. LOL)

My first question whilst reading was: what are you cooking for breakfast---how long does it take to cook and eat it?

Here is what I eat every day for breakfast because it's quick and easy, but mainly because it gives me 4--6 hours of brain energy (and I don't need coffee/tea---but I drink decaf anyway):
- 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill High Fiber Oat Bran hot cereal, 2/3 cup water, nuke for 3 minutes (in a 1 quart bowl so it won't spill over).
Then I add:
- 2 Tablespoons of organic, ground premium flaxseed (with Omega-3 & Lignans & more fiber),
- plus 1 Tablespoon of natural (no sugar, no salt) peanut butter (or 1T. cashew butter which I make myself with my magic bullet and roasted cashews and a tad bit of water to get consistency--no oil in this one)
The variant: + small handful of 100% cacao dark chocolate nibs (guilty pleasure)/or a big handful of blueberries/or a sliced small or 1/2 banana
- and sometimes a small handful of dried Goji berries.
Sometimes all of the above add-ins if I am really hungry that day.

From start to finish - the above breakfast oatmeal takes 10-12 minutes, including eating it slowly----which I usually read new discussion threads, or some homework, or review yesterday's CC lesson.

If you're a runner/bodybuilder/whatever, I would up the hot cereal to 1/2 cup + 1 cup of water. I don't because that's just too much for me to eat at one sitting when it expands to 3 x it's first volume + all the other goodies.

Another timesaver: before I get out of bed when my alarm goes off, I meditate for 10 minutes. Or I get up and sit on my cushion on the floor for 10 minutes----depending on bathroom urgency (sorry if TMI).

Another question:
Have you considered switching your light jog for yoga? Power yoga is not for sissies----check out Rodney Yee on YouTube for free. Yoga helps you get oxygen into your brain, and really wakes it up. You can even do it in your jammies and not have to get dressed and brave the elements (which eats up more time).
- I believe there are other yoga advocates in 7Sage community too. As with any great workouts, do it before you eat. Yoga is stillness, but doesn't mean your body isn't working hard (but important to listen to your body's stretching limits). If you like more flowing yoga, check out P90X Yoga X on YouTube. Maybe not as flexible as Rodney, but Tony Horton is no joke either.

I will be taking June sit, and I'm a morning person, so my problem will be in the reverse----too much time before the test. So I have to practice sleeping in and timing my oatmeal just right. LOL

Best of luck! Can hardly wait to read your success story after February results are in!

Cant Get Right

One reason it was so difficult for me to get my morning routine down is that I'm a major dilly dallier. If I'm not careful, I can spend an hour just on coffee. So the way I got around this was by determining how long each thing should take and then setting alarms for them. So I didn't just have an alarm to wake up, I then had an alarm that meant I was to be up and finished dressing for my run. Then another alarm would tell me when my run should be over. The next would mean I should be out of the shower and dressed, the next meant coffee should be ready, and so forth. I had about a dozen for each morning. That's the only way I was able to stay on track.

Bevs ScooterMinion

Oh duh me. Along the lines of setting task alarms, my baby brother developed the free app "30/30." It is the ultimate task manager. I used it so much, it's habit now. Really duh me. LOL

Darth Jurist

@"Cant Get Right" said:
I'm a major dilly dallier.

Same!

OP, have you tried working out at night instead? I know it's not the most ideal time to workout as you probably just want to relax, but when I switched my workout routine to night instead, I found that I not only slept more soundly, but I woke in the morning feeling energized like I had just done some type of aerobic workout. It was one less thing I had to worry about in the morning. It helped get my routine, more routine. I know your pain, getting up early is a struggle. If it was up to me I would stay up until 2-3 am and get up at noon everyday.

LARamsNation

@ScooterMinion said:
My first question whilst reading was: what are you cooking for breakfast---how long does it take to cook and eat it?

Great recommendations for breakfast! Gonna implement them next week to see how I fare. As of now it just takes way too long to cook my normal breakfast consisting of Eggs, breakfast meat, fruit, toast with jam and peanut butter. I need to have a decent sized meal to get me through a PT, especially seeing as I have low energy issues in the morning. I will also check out the Power Yoga video on youtube you shared, that could be the ticket!

@"Cant Get Right" said:
One reason it was so difficult for me to get my morning routine down is that I'm a major dilly dallier. If I'm not careful, I can spend an hour just on coffee. So the way I got around this was by determining how long each thing should take and then setting alarms for them.

Wow this is a fantastic idea because this literally happens all too frequently with me. The ADD is real, and there are days where I've blown an hour+ just cooking/eating breakfast and making coffee. I forgot to also mention I have to shower in the morning, duh, which also eats up way more time than it should. All these things combined just puts me in less than ideal frame of mind leading up to the warm-up for a PT -- which at times I'm forced to rush through just to emulate the timing with respects to a real LSAT administration.

@"Darth Jurist" said:
OP, have you tried working out at night instead?

I've tried and it definitely works! Unfortunately I'm just too inconsistent when I plan to exercise in the evening and simply don't end up doing it half the time due to general exhaustion from the day.