Morning Things: Changing Habits during the Lockdown

I’ve never been a morning person.

It’s a personality trait that I’ve grown up with. All through my adolescent years, my parents would be amazed at how late I could sleep in on the weekends. 10.30, 11.30, 12noon, past lunch time – all acceptable “mornings” for the teenaged me. My response to them always used to be, “But I have nothing to do early morning, so why not sleep? I do wake up on weekdays when I need to, don’t I?”

And so, I entered adulthood. Living in my own home, being responsible for my own self. My working mornings were timed to the minute and alarms set accordingly. Sleep-in as much as possible was always the mantra. Surprisingly though, it isn’t as if I was a late-night bird either. It was just one of those things – I’ve never been a morning person.

Then, my little bundle of joy came into this world. And as a parent you soon realise that any “person” you were before is exactly that – before. With all the drama that comes with a school going child and full time working parents in a nuclear family, I was forced to wake up early and I can’t say I enjoyed it. Sure, I did it as something I had to do. But given a choice, I told myself, I would never wake up early – I’ve never been a morning person.

Fast forward to 2020.

As we wrapped our heads around a world “gone crazy” and figured out how to survive inside our home for 4 months (and counting!), I realized that there are certain benefits to not having a morning commute to plough through or the school bell to beat. There’s suddenly no need to do an early morning, because I have the rest of the day (and night) to get things done at my own pace. And yet, I suddenly found myself craving the early hours!

But wait, I’ve never been a morning person.

The lock-down, contrary to what I would’ve thought, actually made me cherish the benefits of waking up at a “godly hour”

• I get to sit peacefully with a cup of coffee without another human to think about. Decision fatigue is a very real problem that takes away from productivity. Having some minutes in the morning to yourself before you start wondering about what to cook, when to clean, whom to call etc. is a game changer. It’s like letting the neurons make their connections before overloading them with their load for the day.

• It’s the best time of the day to read inspirational content. The mind is fresh, and very often the deeper impact of something I read in the morning comes to me as the day progresses. You mull over an idea longer if you just sow the seeds earlier in the day.

• For similar reasons as above, the best time to indulge in a creative exercise is early morning. For me, I’m able to write my heart out. Blog content or short stories that would otherwise take me hours or even days to pelt out, get done with one early morning session.

• Last, but certainly not the least, I can feel the difference it makes to my day when I hit my exercise goal before the house is abuzz with the routine of calls and online meetings. I read somewhere that fat-burning happens more effectively when one works out early morning since at that time, fat is the only energy reserve that can be accessed. Scientific reason aside, I’ve found workouts in the morning to be more effective as there is no mental or physical fatigue to take away from your best intentions.

So, I learnt to listen to my mind and body. And, even without having an external schedule forced upon my day, I finally let go of the trait I’d been holding on to.

I’ve never been a morning person.. until now.

There would be many of us that have let go of assumptions about ourselves during this oddly inhibiting time; have you considered what those changes are?

I’d love to hear about habit breaking or habit forming that you have had to do, share in the comments below.

This post is part of a blog hop hosted by Prisha Lalwani of Mummasaurus.com – Let’s Blog with Pri Season 2.

Do hop on to the train and read what my fellow bloggers Amritha (The Mumma Startup) and Hansa (Mumma Talks) are writing about. They share some interesting insight into social media etiquette.  

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Prisha Lalwani Mummasaurus.com
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