My Morning Routine

My life is in a weird place at the moment. Two days a week, I work in Cambridge, and since I start at 7:30 AM, I’m up at 6 at the latest. Two other days a week, I have class in the afternoons. The weekends are for homework and blog work and Wednesdays are for blog work and medical appointments. With all this change in routine from day to day – although my schedule of what happens on what days of the week remains the same – it’s extra important for me (and my anxiety) that I have a morning routine on the five days I week I’m not out the door at 7 AM. Since it can be interesting to see what other people are up to, I’m sharing that routine today.

When I first wake up – I like being up on the earlier side, depending on your definition of early, so I’m up around 7, and definitely by 7:30. It takes around an hour for my morning stiffness to wear off (thanks, arthritis), and I take that time to drink my coffee, catch up on what happened online while I was asleep, and to watch news programs. I’m personally a big fan of the Today Show, so I have that on in the background. If there’s my bread, granola bars, or my breakfast cookies available, I eat that after I drink my coffee. If there isn’t, I make oatmeal for breakfast about an hour after I’ve woken up.

Getting down to work – I am significantly more productive and in less pain earlier in the day, so I try to start working by 9 AM at the absolute latest. If it’s a day with a new blog post, once it goes live at 8 AM EST, I share it on Google+, the blogging Facebook groups I’m a part of, Tumblr, and Instagram if applicable. (There’s actually a lot I do to promote my blog posts.) If I don’t have a new post, I make sure that I have promotions scheduled for an old post. I also try to respond to emails and comments, participate in Facebook groups, etc. A large part of being a blogger is social media presence, so I’m very aware of posting regularly, what I post, etc. I spend some time at the beginning day making sure that my scheduled social media is all good to go, and that way I don’t have to worry about it later in the day.

Serious work time – This is the work that requires serious concentration and the work that is the most important. The day of the week and what I’ve accomplished so far that week dictates the work that I do. It’s either writing a blog post – which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours – or working on TLM. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that, it’s my second novel, which I am 77% of the way through. TLM stands for the current title, but since I’m not 100% sure if that’s going to be the final title, I refer to it as the acronym. When I’m able to, I try to write a couple thousand words of it, but that’s not always possible. Regardless, I write several thousand words every week through blogging, which is great because writing is a seriously important part of my life. I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, and I feel wrong if I don’t write. It’s a major part of who I am, which is why setting aside several hours every week to write something is so important to me.

With all of the work I do, plus the constant pain and anemia, coffee is a crucial part of my life. I drink anywhere from two to five cups a day, often half-caffeinated so I can drink more without getting shaky. So you can imagined that I jumped at the chance to review some coffee from Atlas Coffee Club.

Atlas Coffee Club is a monthly subscription where you get coffee from around the world. “Each batch is hand picked, roasted fresh, made to order, and shipped to your door so quick the “roasted on” date stamp might still be wet” – that’s how fresh it is (info from here). You can subscribe to the club or buy individual bags. Their coffee is from all over the world so you can try all different kinds of coffee depend ing on you preferences.

They sent me their Brazilian blend, a medium roast coffee with notes of hazelnut and chocolate, giving it a full-bodied flavor. I can definitely taste a (delicious) difference in it! It is definitely better than some of the coffee I buy elsewhere. And the coffee came with a card explaining the region where its from, the short version of coffee growing in Brazil, how they recommend you brew the coffee, and where the beans fit along the spectrum of light to dark. I prefer medium or light roasted coffee, as that is less bitter (and actually stronger), and the Brazilian coffee they sent me definitely fits the bill.

The Atlas website features profiles of all the coffee they have, as well as profiles of the communities they work with. This is especially great a) if you have very specific coffee preferences or b) if it’s important to you to be aware of the impact your purchase has in the community’s source. And if you subscribe to the club, you’ll get a bag of coffee delivered either every 30 days or every 15 days. You’ll never have to leave the house to get more coffee!

Overall, I have been very satisfied with the taste and quality of the coffee as well as my interaction with the company. All good things! I definitely recommend them, especially if you’re interested in trying new types of coffee.

What’s an important part of your morning routine? What is your coffee preference?

Disclaimer: I received this coffee from Atlas in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own! For more information, check out my disclosure policy.