At some point I had a morning routine that took 3 hours. Journaling, meditation, cold shower, exercise, reading, a very specific breakfast, some kind of gratitude practice. No, I am not exaggerating.

I'd cobbled it together from a dozen different books and articles and podcasts. Each piece had excellent reasons behind it. The problem was that by the time I finished my morning routine it was almost 10 AM and I was somehow more tired than when I woke up.

The whole thing had become a performance. I was optimizing my morning to feel like I was optimizing my morning. The actual goal, which was to do good work and feel decent, had gotten completely buried.

So I quit. Cut it all back to the things I actually liked. Coffee. A short walk. 20 minutes of reading. That's it.

Within a week I was getting more done. I know that sounds like the kind of thing you are not supposed to admit because it goes against the whole "routines are everything" genre. But it was true for me. I'd been front-loading so much effort into preparation that I had nothing left for actual work.

I think there's a real seduction to morning routine culture because it creates the feeling of control. You have done 10 intentional things before 8 AM. Surely the rest of the day will follow. But life does not really work that way.

The best mornings I have now are pretty unremarkable. I wake up slowly. I drink coffee. I sit somewhere quiet for a bit. Then I get started.

Not every successful day needs a 3-hour warm-up. Sometimes you are allowed to just begin.