🗃28.Your morning routine

A jetpack to a great day

📝 I like reading about how successful people spend their days, as I wrote the daily newsletter I must have thought people might be curious about how I spend mine. So I would write posts like this. It’s important to note that the shape of my days evolve dramatically. - I have a toddler and I shape my days to be able to maximize the time I have with her. These days, I don’t feel how I spend my days are an interesting topic to read or write about. But it’s only by writing daily that I could come to this insight. Anyway if you what to know how I spent my mornings when I was starting out, it went something like this…¹

On Habits and Routines

I use an acronym to help me remember my morning routine J.E.T.S. Depending on the available time I’ll do this in levels. Level 1 is the minimum. And the other levels may be added on or may replace the preceding levels.

J: Journal

Level 1 - is a Five Minute Journal, which I’ll do in an app. You’ll be surprised that this takes me 5 minutes to complete.

Level 2 - I write morning pages It’s a practice I’ve gone to for half of my life, I don’t. do it daily. But it’s. a great tool to have at my disposal.

Level 3 - I may read something and journal my thoughts. This tends to be Non-fiction or Scripture.

The overall goal is to gain a perspective and operate for a perspective of purpose rather than the urgencies of inboxes.

E: Eat

Level 1 - A protein shake or a bowl of nuts and A digestive cookie (or 3) with milk, Coffee

Level 2 - Eggs and beans

The goal here is to have enough fuel to keep going through a session of work.

T: Train

I’ll admit “train” is a stretch of a word, but I needed to make the acronym work. Exercise is probably a better word. Up till recently whenever I thought of exercise I always think of ‘The Rock’ and “Arnold Schwarzenegger”.

That’s where perspective needs to come in. I’m not a movie star or Mr Universe, I’m an illustrator. So my training is to help me get through long bouts of sitting at my desk drawing and to give me the energy to work through my drawing sessions with a sharp mind.

Level 1 - 2 mile walk with a 9 KG weight strapped to my chest (her name is Zelda)

Level 2 - Pilates

Level 3 - 4 Mile Run

S: Sketch

This is my gym. This is where I work out with the goal of being world-class. I started seriously using my sketchbook for workouts and as part of my process for about a year and it has really transformed my work and career. Just like the gym, it looks like nothing is happening, but the hours spent working out eventually show results.

Level 1: 30 minutes Sketchbook time

Level 2: Workout bits for jobs.

See you tomorrow!

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Still got a few minutes, here are a couple of similar posts:

M.U.S.C.L.E

Four types of energy.

1. This note was added in 2023, As I went back to edit and organize my previous newsletters. I wanted the archive to have well some archival value. Together these notes tell a story of how I Became a Picturebook Illustrator.