Morning Routine

My morning actually starts the night before, when I'm setting my alarm clock. If I set it for 6:15am, I'm having a really great night, and I'm making plans to wake up and go to the gym. If I set it for 7:15am, I've had a long day, and I'm being realistic about the next morning. I have probably already made my lesson plans, and I clinically conclude that I need sleep more than exercise.

Then, the alarm goes off. And it doesn't matter how I felt last night: I reset the alarm for 7:30 and turn over. I mildly warn myself that I am choosing to settle for a lukewarm shower. (Here in the dorm, hot water is at a premium between the hours of 7-8am, and 9-11pm.)

7:30  Roll out of bed, and occasionally fall onto the floor. Where is the dexterity I practiced so expertly just moments earlier when I was resetting my alarm? Vanished.

7:31 - 7:45   I wander about the apartment a bit:

I press the power button on my ancient laptop.

I  start a pot of coffee. Drink a glass of water. Stretch. I mumble a bit to myself. I doubt I did this when I lived with other people. It's amazing how quickly one can wake up with just a little outside motivation; even the desire to appear friendly is enough for me.When one lives alone, there's no such need. (Perhaps lonely people are often grumpy all the day long because they just never wake up!)

By then, my computer is on, and I log in.

7:46 - 8:10  Shower. This may seem like a long time. And it is. It's ridiculous.

8:11 - 8:15   My computer has loaded all its applications, and I can now check the weather and my emails while sipping coffee, robed.

8:16   I realize that I still need to make copies of notes and create a vocabulary quiz for my English 9 class. I decide to hurry.

8:17 - 8:30   I make and eat breakfast (that is, I pour granola and rice milk into a bowl) while reading the poem of the day from MacDonald's Diary of an Old Soul. Look at the clock, look away, forget, look up again. I have to hurry. Sip. Sip. Sip.

8:32 - 8:40   The mania sets in: clothes, hair, makeup, keys, books, planner, out the door.

8:41   Wait. SHOES! Back in the apartment.

8:42   In my classroom.


What do we learn from this? I could eliminate serious time in the mornings if I only had a new computer.