My 2020 routine

I love reading about people’s daily routines but I’ve never managed to craft my own. Not one that sticks, at least.

I’m only 10 days into my all-new 2020 daily agenda, and this time I think it might last. Why? It all comes down to a new sleep routine, inspired by reading Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep. Here’s the big change: I’m going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.

It’s hard to stick to a routine if the layout of your day changes all the time. The main problem for me has always been drinking. Not that I have a drinking problem (at least I don’t think I do). But it’s easy for me to have a couple of drinks in the evening, which then stops me sleeping properly and encourages me to go to bed later. 

If I don’t sleep properly, then I’ll be tired when my alarm goes off. So I don’t get up. And my carefully planned day is derailed from the word go.

This year, I’m drinking way less. As soon as I started doing it at the tail end of 2019, I started sleeping through the night. That hasn’t happened for ages! So I’m better rested when I wake up, which gives me the willpower to stick to my routine throughout the day.

Here’s my routine, in all its nerdy glory.

• 06:00 – wake up and write morning pages

• 06:30 – run / do yoga / work out

• 07:30 – shower

• 07:45 – eat breakfast, read daily books (A London Year and The Daily Stoic), dip into Pocket and Reeder

• 08:30 – answer urgent emails, make to-do list in Notion

• 09:00 – do client work

• 12:00 – walk Hyko

• 13:00 – eat lunch

• 13:30 – take a nap

• 14:00 – do client work

• 17:00 – do something creative: write / make music / read

• 18:00 – eat dinner

• 19:00 – walk Hyko again

• 20:00 – read a book / see friends

• 22:00 – go to bed

If you want to read more about routines, I recommend Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. It details the daily habits of hundreds of creative giants. 

And if you have your own daily routine, I’d love to hear about it. Just pop it in the comments.