Several times in the past, say, 18 hours (7 of which were spent asleep, mind you) people have spoken to me about their morning rituals and those other freakish beings who float into work looking fabulously well-rested and groomed. How does this happen, we wonder? I tend to set my alarm early so as to give myself time to plan an appropriately exciting outfit, solve any hair issues that have developed through the night, and, if all goes according to plan, eat a little breakfast, drink an little coffee and listen to Morning Edition. This scenario has probably only happened once and it was not nearly as cheerful as I had hoped.
Here’s what really happens:
• At 6:45a, my alarm goes off and at 6:45:30 I am usually back asleep.
• At 7:15a, I wake up in a cold sweat and a panic. I jump out of bed, get a cup of coffee and then get back into bed. I rationalize that I really only need about 20 minutes to get dressed and wash up. (Deparure time is 8:00-8:15a.)
• 7:45a: Get out of bed (the sequel). Stretch and sit back down. Lie down and exhale. Obligatory feelings of hatred towards the morning. Consider giving in to hypochondriac instincts and staying in bed.
• 7:55a: Wash up. Dress really fast. Pack lunch.
• 8:10a: Leave.
• 8:30a: Arrive at work. Notice cute, pulled-together co-workers. Plan to get up earlier tomorrow.
So, my dear readers, what do you do? Do like to put in the extra effort in the morning or to get 20 more minutes of rest? What dictates the choices you make? For me, I often end up putting something on that seems not as great after the second cup of coffee! Please show me the way because there is only so much Marcus Aurelius one can beat into oneself…
2 responses so far ↓
kait // March 19, 2008 at 8:24 pm |
well, Z, let’s see.
My morning ritual starts the night before. At about 11pm (EST) I contemplate whether or not I’m dirty enough to bathe. If Yes, I then think about whether or not I want to do said bathing now or in the morning. Because my hair is really long this depends on many things. 1- is it going to rain tomorrow (wet hair doesn’t really matter, then) 2- am i going to bed now or later? (wet pillows suck) and some others like Am I going to shave…. yadda yadda.
Now that i’ve thought about those things it usually turns out not to matter much. Let’s say for this experiment, I don’t need to shower, per se.
I set the alarm for 650a. My clock is 12 minutes fast but I’m banking on the fact that i’ll be too drowsy to remember that.
638a- I’m not. I hit snooze
650a (really)- I may remember that the clock is 12 minutes fast but I can never remember that I hit snooze already. SNOOZE AGAIN!
7a- SHIT! I wonder how I got up so late, what hapened to my alarm!? (Also sit bolt upright as if I awoke from the dead)
701a- wander to living room. look around. everything still here? k, good.
702a- kitchen and make some coffee and/or think about making coffee.
710a- have no idea where those minutes went. realize its too late to drink coffee or make coffee. Run and wash face while thinking of what to wear.
715a- in bedroom- what to wear? what to wear? tip toe around room bec. boy is still sleeping. what to wear? catch myself in mirror, say hi
720p- well now i have ten minutes to leave the house so i usually pick leggings. or jeans. and then a shirt. mostly white teeshirts. SHuffle through accessories under the impression that if i can’t dress interestingly maybe anecklace will make up for it.
729a- brush teeth (don’t know why I do this later) because i’ve gotten really paranoid i also have to rinse with hydrogen peroxide.
734a- again, don’t know where the time went- run out door, down street, to train.
so yeah- that’s my morning!
coffeeandoranges // March 19, 2008 at 8:38 pm |
Kait I think you should add “searching for good flights to LA” to your morning ritual, just to twist in a little more suspense!