My New (Better) Morning Routine

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the importance of a morning routine for productivity, sharing their personal experience and evolution of morning habits. They describe waking up at 6:30 am, engaging in physical activity, a casual walk with audiobooks or podcasts, and a nutritious breakfast. The speaker highlights the benefits of learning in the morning, vocal practice during showers, and the strategic shift to afternoon workouts to avoid the afternoon slump, concluding with a recommendation for a learning platform called Brilliant.

Takeaways

• 🛏️ The way you start your day is crucial for productivity, with a structured morning routine providing momentum for the day's work.
• ⏰ Waking up on time and having a plan can prevent procrastination and wasted time, unlike waking up late or without a plan.
• 🕰️ The speaker now wakes up at 6:30 AM using a second alarm on an iPad downstairs to ensure they get out of bed.
• 🐱 Morning activities include feeding the cat, watering plants, and doing pull-ups to feel awake and maintain fitness for rock climbing.
• 🚶‍♂️ A casual 10-15 minute walk outside is part of the routine, often accompanied by listening to podcasts or audiobooks.
• 🎵 The use of an Echo speaker to start the day with a personalized morning routine, including calendar updates and a Spotify playlist.
• 🍳 A simple breakfast routine consisting of a wrap with eggs, cheese, bacon, and salsa, along with an apple and coffee.
• ☕️ A preference for Caribou coffee dark roast beans over more expensive craft-roasted beans, highlighting the value of taste tests.
• 📚 Dedication to learning in the morning, either through reading or engaging with long-form articles, to foster personal growth.
• 🎤 Utilizing shower time for vocal practice with the help of Bluetooth speakers and tailored Spotify playlists for targeted training.
• 💼 The speaker starts work at home or heads to a coffee shop for writing or research after completing the morning routine.
• 🏋️‍♀️ A shift from morning workouts to afternoon sessions to avoid the afternoon slump and improve work consistency and alertness.
• 📈 The importance of making time for daily learning to prevent stagnation and to enhance work quality and business growth.

Q & A

What is the key lesson about productivity mentioned in the script?

The key lesson about productivity mentioned is that the way you start your day really matters, as it can give you the momentum needed to be productive or lead to procrastination and wasted time.

What was the speaker's previous method for waking up early and why did it stop working?

The speaker used to schedule a tweet to be posted if they didn't wake up, which would tell people they were being lazy. It stopped working because it led to anxiety and negatively affected the quality of their sleep due to worries about waking up late.

What is the speaker's current method for ensuring they wake up on time?

The speaker now uses a second alarm on an iPad downstairs, which requires them to go downstairs to turn it off, ensuring they do not hit snooze and start their routine.

What is the purpose of doing pull-ups in the speaker's morning routine?

The purpose of doing pull-ups is to ensure the speaker feels fully awake and also to help maintain their physical fitness for rock climbing.

Why does the speaker recommend using an old towel with a door frame pull-up bar?

The speaker recommends using an old towel to wrap around the contact points of the door frame pull-up bar to prevent damage to the door frame, as these bars can cause damage if not padded properly.

What does the speaker do during their 10 to 15-minute morning walk?

During the walk, the speaker listens to a podcast or an audiobook, which is a habit they wanted to reintroduce from their post-college days in Iowa.

What is the speaker's breakfast routine after their morning walk?

After the walk, the speaker activates a morning routine on their Echo speaker with Alexa, which informs them of the day's events, weather, and starts a morning playlist. They then have a simple breakfast consisting of a wrap with eggs, cheese, bacon, and salsa, an apple, and coffee.

What was the outcome of the speaker's blind taste test between craft-roasted beans and Caribou coffee beans?

The speaker found that they actually preferred the taste of Caribou coffee beans, which were half the price of the craft-roasted beans, showing that price is not always an indicator of quality.

How does the speaker incorporate learning into their morning routine?

The speaker incorporates learning by reading books or long articles, such as Ray Dalio's article on paradigm shifts, which influenced changes in their investment strategies.

What is the speaker's vocal practice routine during their shower time?

The speaker uses a small Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom to practice singing during their shower, utilizing different Spotify playlists targeting specific types of singing practice, such as high-range and low-range training.

Why did the speaker change their workout routine from mornings to afternoons?

The speaker changed their workout routine to the afternoons because it allowed them to work earlier in the day, helped to eliminate the afternoon slump by providing exercise at that time, and made them more consistent in their morning learning time.

What is the speaker's recommendation for a learning resource to build a daily learning habit?

The speaker recommends Brilliant, a learning website with an active, problem-centric approach to teaching various subjects, which helps in building daily learning habits and improving problem-solving skills.

Outlines

00:00

🌞 Morning Routine for Productivity

The speaker emphasizes the importance of starting the day right for productivity, sharing their personal morning routine. They wake up at 6:30 AM using an iPad alarm to ensure they get out of bed. The routine includes feeding their cat, watering plants, doing pull-ups, and going for a casual walk while listening to podcasts or audiobooks. After the walk, they use an Echo speaker to get a daily briefing and start a morning playlist. Breakfast typically consists of a simple wrap, apple slices, and coffee. The speaker also mentions a taste test that led them to prefer a cheaper coffee option, highlighting the importance of not just following price as an indicator of quality.

05:00

💪 Shift to Afternoon Workouts

The speaker discusses a significant change in their routine by moving workouts to the afternoon instead of the morning. This change allows them to start work earlier and combat the afternoon slump, improving focus and productivity. The speaker also finds that this schedule helps them to be more consistent with their morning learning time, which they consider crucial for personal and professional growth. They recommend the learning platform Brilliant for its problem-centric approach to education, offering a free trial and a discount for premium subscription to the first 200 users through a provided link. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to subscribe and access additional resources.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency with which an individual or system performs tasks and achieves goals. In the video, the theme of productivity is central, as the speaker discusses the importance of starting the day in a way that sets a positive tone for work and efficiency. The script mentions that waking up late or without a plan can lead to procrastination and wasted time, which are counterproductive behaviors.

💡Morning Routine

A morning routine is a sequence of activities that a person performs upon waking up, often designed to set a positive and productive tone for the day. The speaker shares his personal morning routine as an example of a practice that enhances productivity. This includes waking up at a consistent time, engaging in physical exercise, and setting intentions for the day.

💡Momentum

Momentum, in the context of the video, is the impetus or driving force that helps one to continue moving forward with a task or set of tasks. The speaker suggests that establishing a morning routine can provide the necessary momentum to transition smoothly into work, indicating that starting the day with healthy habits can propel one into a productive state of mind.

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions, often resulting in decreased productivity. The video script warns that waking up without a plan can easily lead to procrastination, which is a behavior that the speaker aims to avoid by establishing a structured morning routine.

💡Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are a form of bodyweight exercise that focuses on strengthening the upper body, particularly the back, shoulders, and arms. In the script, the speaker mentions doing pull-ups as part of his morning routine to ensure he feels fully awake and to maintain his physical fitness, especially for rock climbing.

💡Habit

A habit is a regular practice or routine that tends to occur subconsciously due to its frequent repetition. The video emphasizes the importance of habits in forming a productive morning routine. The speaker describes habits such as going for a walk, listening to podcasts or audiobooks, and having a consistent breakfast routine as integral parts of his daily start.

💡Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio program that a user can download or stream, often covering a specific topic or theme. In the script, the speaker mentions listening to podcasts during his morning walk, using this time to both engage in physical activity and consume educational or entertaining content.

💡Echo Speaker

An Echo Speaker, in the context of the video, is a smart speaker device that can perform various functions through voice commands, such as providing information about the day's events or playing music. The speaker uses an Echo Speaker to activate his morning routine, which includes checking his calendar and listening to a morning playlist.

💡Vocal Practice

Vocal practice refers to the act of training and exercising one's voice, often for the purpose of improving singing ability or maintaining vocal health. The speaker mentions using a Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom to practice singing during his shower as part of his morning routine, highlighting the integration of personal development into daily activities.

💡Afternoon Slump

The afternoon slump is a common phenomenon where individuals experience a decrease in energy and focus during the late afternoon hours. The speaker discusses shifting his workout routine to the afternoon to combat this slump, allowing him to be more alert and productive in the mornings and clear his mind in the afternoons.

💡Consistency

Consistency refers to the ability to maintain a regular and steady approach to tasks or habits. The video emphasizes the importance of consistency in establishing a morning routine and making time for learning. The speaker finds that by working out in the afternoon, he can be more consistent with his morning learning sessions, which are crucial for personal and professional growth.

Highlights

The importance of starting the day right for productivity is emphasized, with a sequence of healthy habits providing momentum for work.

Waking up late or without a plan can lead to procrastination and wasted time.

Introduction of the speaker's current morning routine with a significant change from past practices.

A simple trick for waking up on time using an iPad alarm downstairs.

The speaker's morning exercise routine involving pull-ups and its benefits for rock climbing.

Tip for using a door frame pull-up bar without damaging the door frame.

Incorporating a casual morning walk with podcast or audiobook listening.

Use of an Echo speaker for daily calendar updates and weather information.

Breakfast routine including a simple wrap, apple slices, and coffee.

Coffee taste test revealing preference for a more affordable option.

Morning learning routine involving reading or delving into long articles.

Vocal practice during shower time as part of daily routine.

The absence of morning workouts and the shift to afternoons for better productivity.

Afternoon workouts as a solution to the afternoon slump and improved focus.

Consistency in morning learning time and the importance of daily reading or learning.

Recommendation of Brilliant for an active, problem-centric approach to learning.

Offer of free access to Brilliant's daily challenges and a discount for the premium subscription.

Transcripts

- One of the most important lessons

that I've learned about productivity

is that the way you start your day really matters.

Waking up on time and going through a sequence

of healthy habits can give you the momentum

that you need to roll right into your work.

While waking up late or waking up without a plan

can easily lead to procrastination and wasted time.

So, today I wanna share the morning routine

that I've been using recently.

It's pretty simple, but it does involve

one pretty big change from the way that I used to do things.

Though we're gonna get to that later

because well, first things first,

I just have to get out of bed.

And these days I'm waking up at about 6:30 in the morning.

And I do this using a pretty simple trick.

So, if you saw my video that I put out a few years ago

about how I used to force myself to get up early.

I actually used to use a social media scheduler

to schedule a tweet that would go out

and tell people that I was being lazy.

So, to prevent this from going out,

I would have to get up before the tweet's scheduled time,

turn my computer on, and either move it to the next day

or delete it.

And for a really long time

this was an incredibly effective way to get up

at the time I wanted to get up

and go through my morning routine.

But when I tried to use it again earlier this year

I found that it no longer works for me

because it led to me actually waking up

in the middle of the night worrying

that I had slept through my alarm

or that something else had gone wrong

and the tweet had gone out.

So, this method was literally giving me anxiety

and negatively affecting the quality of my sleep.

So, what I'm doing now is a lot simpler,

but it's just as effective.

I just have a second alarm on an iPad downstairs.

So, I have to actually go downstairs from my room

and turn it off.

And that alarm is set for about five minutes

after my main one, which virtually guarantees

that I'm never going to hit snooze

and I'm always going to go downstairs

and get both alarms turned off and then get into my routine.

Next I feed my cat, I water my plants,

and I do some pull-ups.

I'm trying to gradually increase the number

that I do in the morning,

but right now I'm doing just about 10.

This is a good way to actually make sure I feel fully awake,

but it's also just another good way

to make sure that I stay in shape for rock climbing.

And quick tip,

if you're gonna use one of these door frame pull-up bars,

when you get one take an old towel

and wrap it around the contact points

with either a rubber band or some tape.

That way it doesn't damage your door frame.

Because these things can definitely do that

if you don't pad out those contact points.

So, once I've done those pull-ups I will go outside

for about a 10 to 15-minute walk.

And this is really casual, I'm not power-walking.

I'm not out there jogging.

I'm just going to get a walk because this was a habit

that I used to do every single morning

after I graduated from college

and I was living back in Iowa.

And I really just wanted to add it back in.

And while I'm walking, I'll usually listen to a podcast

or an audiobook.

Right now I'm listening to Wondery's excellent

Business Wars podcasts, specifically the biker wars series

about Harley Davidson,

along with Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

And both of these I highly recommend.

Though with Tchaikovsky, you're probably gonna wanna start

with Children of Time,

which is the first book in that series.

Once I'm back from the walk it is time for breakfast.

But before I get to cooking,

I first activate a little routine

that I created on my Echo speaker.

Alexa, start my morning.

- [Alexa] Today, there are two events remaining.

At 2 PM, there's podcast interview with the Rock

and at 3 PM, there's call Matt to brag.

- This lets me know what's on my calendar for the day,

it tells me the weather,

and then it starts a little morning routine playlist

that I created on Spotify,

which I'll share down in the description below

in case you're interested.

For breakfast, I will sometimes make a smoothie,

which I made a video all about a couple of months ago

and you can check that out in case you're interested.

But recently, I've just been sticking to a very simple wrap.

Eggs, cheese, bacon, and salsa.

And I'll also slice up an apple and, of course,

make coffee.

And funny little side note about that coffee.

A few months ago, I actually decided

to do a blind taste test pitting the craft-roasted,

expensive beans in a local grocery store

with regular, old Caribou coffee dark roast beans.

And when I did that, I was surprised to find

that I actually like the Caribou beans better,

which was interesting because they were literally

half the price.

So, doing that test actually showed me

that it's a good idea to do these kinds of tests

on a regular basis to make sure

that you're making logical choices

instead of just following mere signifiers of quality,

like price.

After breakfast, it is time to do some learning,

which usually takes the form of reading

though I don't always just read books.

Sometimes I do, but other times

I'll dig into a really long article.

For example, one that I read recently

was Ray Dalio's article on paradigm shifts,

which I found pretty difficult to read, personally.

But it actually led to me making some changes

in the way that I'm investing my money.

So, I'll have that link in the description below, as well,

for anyone who's interested.

I do think it is a pretty good read.

Anyway, once that's done, it is time to shower.

And in my bathroom, I actually keep

a small Bluetooth speaker and I use my shower time

as time for vocal practice.

About a year ago, I started actual vocal lessons

and I found that singing in the shower

is actually a great way to get some real daily practice in.

And in addition to that, I've also created

several different playlists on Spotify

that each target a specific type of practice in singing,

like high-range training, low-range training, et cetera.

So, it's really easy to build up a queue

and get about 20 minutes of real, deliberate practice in.

And this is a great compliment to the more lengthy sessions

I do when I have time and the actual lessons, as well.

And that's it.

When I'm done with all this, I'll usually start work at home

or if I'm doing writing or research I'll usually head out

to a coffee shop to do it there.

Now, one thing that you might have noticed is missing

from this morning routine is working out

or going to the gym.

And that's actually the big change

that I alluded to earlier.

After stubbornly telling myself

that I needed to work out in the mornings

for a really long time, I've learned through experimentation

that it's actually better for me

to work out in the afternoons.

This is a pretty big improvement to my routine

for a few key reasons.

Number one, I just get to work earlier

because I'm not going to the gym

for an hour or 90 minutes beforehand.

Number two, and this is actually more important.

This neatly solves the problem of the afternoon slump.

Now, I don't know if you get this,

but personally when it gets around three or four PM

in the afternoon, I usually get this wave of brain fog

and it becomes hard to focus.

And in the mornings, I don't have this problem.

I'm alert, I'm easily able to do my work.

But again, when it gets to late afternoon

that ability really starts to diminish.

So, by going to the gym in the afternoon,

I'm able to use more of my morning on work

and then going to the gym is actually a great way

to get rid of that brain fog

because I'm getting some exercise.

Finally, number three, I'm much more consistent

about putting in that learning time in the mornings.

When I was working out in the mornings,

I would often feel pressure to get right to work

after I got back from the gym

and I've learned from personal experience

that I'm much less likely to read during the evenings.

And I mention this because even though it's easy to skip

since it doesn't seem urgent,

I think having this habit of reading or learning

every single day is incredibly important.

For me, doing this keeps me from stagnating

since I'm no longer in school,

and no longer being forced to learn new things

by teachers and professors.

But it also often leads me to making connections

and getting ideas that I wouldn't have otherwise had.

And a lot of times this improves the quality of my work

and helps me grow my business.

That's why I think you should be making time

for this habit, as well.

And one resource that I'd recommend you check out

during this time is Brilliant.

Brilliant is a learning website

that takes an incredibly active, problem-centric approach

to teaching math, science, and computer science.

And because they take this active approach to designing

all their courses and their challenges,

when you're going through the material,

you're actually stretching

your brain's problem-solving capabilities,

becoming a more capable, creative problem solver.

Brilliant's library includes over 50 in-depth courses,

and they also have a feature called daily challenges

where every single day you can log in

and get a new problem in a different area

which can expand your horizons and your interests

and again, build that daily learning habit

and build your problem-solving skills.

So, if you wanna get started for free,

go over to brilliant.org/thomasfrank

and you're gonna get free access to those daily challenges.

And if you'd like to upgrade your account

and get access to their entire course library,

be one of the first 200 people to use that link and sign up

and you'll get 20% off your annual premium subscription.

Big thanks, as always, to Brilliant

for sponsoring this video and being a big supporter

of my channel.

And thank you for watching, as well.

If you haven't subscribed yet,

you can do so right there to get new videos

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You can also click right there to get a free copy

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or check out a couple of other videos on this channel

right here and right here.

Thanks again for watching

and I will see you in the next video.