Routine is the symptom, not the source
I've long been an advocate of waking up early and working out before school / work. I've told countless peers of how it's increased my energy, sharpness, and overall mood throughout the day. I've probably annoyed some of my friends by telling them "I'm better than you" (That's not what I said!) more than once. I'm an early morning evangelist.
However, over the last couple of weeks I have been waking up at 8:30am and getting to my laptop at 9.
I wanted to write this post to put out onto the internet that routines are not sacred. They are far too often considered a panacea of low-productivity. Not getting your work done? Just wake up early, take a cold shower, and use a pomodoro timer. But I tend to think that the routines of very productive people are often more a set of guidelines, then they are strict schedules. Mark Wahlberg just prefers not to tell you that he will sometimes push his breakfast all the way back to 4am. And most people are like Mark Wahlberg in this way, we like signaling. Although, even we don't pretend to practice our golf game at 7:30am.
The mistake we make is treating the routine as the main thing, when in fact the work is the main thing. We don't design routines to get work done. We get work done, and routines form.
So the routine: I've been sleeping 9 hours, and getting work started around 9am, at what feels like a near high, ~80% productivity levels. This increases up to 100% and then slowly drips back down towards half-empty. Then I have my first meal of the day around noon.
There isn't any immediate boost to my productive-energy levels after I eat, in fact it stays put for around 30 minutes. Then I have about 3 hours or so of near peak productive energy, what feels like between 80-100%.
As the clock approaches 5, unless I'm in the middle of programming or some other flow, my levels start lowering again drastically. This is when I go for dinner, followed up by a walk. I walk a few blocks to this little green-space and sit for at least 20 minutes on a bench in a community garden. By the time I'm back home, I'm always eager for my longest break of the day to slingshot me into another phase of highly-productive energy, but it's been taking a bit longer. By 7 though, I can get back to work and lose track of time for a few more hours.
I do hope I can return to my early morning schedule soon, but my current slower-paced routine has served me well over the last couple of weeks and I'm happy to ride out this wave. Don't be stubborn about sticking to a routine. Be stubborn about getting the work done.