How do you spend your first two hours of the day?

redduck

redduck

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Now that I’m down to working two days a week, I find I have a lot of free time after waking up in the morning (5:30-6:00). I appreciate the time, I just don’t know what to do with it. So, how do you spend your first two hours of the day?
 
Two miles on a treadmill watching CNBC .....shower.....read WSJ......head to Starbucks for coffee unless DW has something else for me to do.......breakfast after Starbucks.
 
Take the dogs to potty. Go back to the bed and read the emails and news. The above takes about an hour. Then out for a run (usually 3x per week) or to the gym (usually 2x per week). Then breakfast or brunch. On the gym days, the whole routine lasts more like 3-4 hours because I have to drive into town and back home, plus 15-20 minutes warmup time on the treadmill before working with personal trainer, then usually an errand or two while in town so I don't have to make the trip twice in a day. On run days, I might even be able to slip the breakfast in during those two hours.

Edit to add: I usually wake up with the sun. Right now, he's waking me between 6:30-7.

R
 
Like clockwork I get up and spend an hour in the hot tub watching the sun rise over Diamond Head drinking a thermos full of Kona coffee.....that takes about an hour and after that I really don't do much until I decide to do some yard work.............
 
My first two hours are more laid back than those of previous posters (except for Kimo! :LOL:). I tend to "putter around" and not do much of anything too constructive. I definitely don't exercise this early because I prefer to awaken gradually and exercise in the afternoons.

During the first 15 minutes, I shower, dress, make coffee, start the dishwasher if necessary, take out yesterday's kitchen trash, and lightly clean the countertops. By that time the coffee is done and the kitchen is more or less in order with minimal effort since I was half asleep while doing it.

Then I drink my two mugs of coffee with great delight over the next hour or more, while watching the news on TV and catching up with this forum and two others that I follow, on radically different topics from this one.

Right now I have been up for 1.75 hours or so, and I am just about to open my financial spreadsheet and enter yesterday's abysmal market results, check my spending to see how that is going, and check my calendar which I also keep in my spreadsheet. I'll quickly check Amazon to see where my order is while it is in transit and if it is still on schedule. I will play a silly little iPad game for about 3 minutes because that is all it takes, and because I can. Then I'll plan my day and get busy with it.
 
W2R....you reminded me about the financial abysmal results. :) I do that also although I wish I could be like others and look every couple Months instead....I just can't do that!
 
Kimo said:
Like clockwork I get up and spend an hour in the hot tub watching the sun rise over Diamond Head drinking a thermos full of Kona coffee.....that takes about an hour and after that I really don't do much until I decide to do some yard work.............
Click to expand...


Kimo, you misunderstood the question. The question is: How do you spend your first two hours after waking up? It's NOT "If you could magically spend the first two hours of each morning any way you wanted, how would you do it?"
 
:)

redduck said:
Kimo, you misunderstood the question. The question is: How do you spend your first two hours after waking up? It's NOT "If you could magically spend the first two hours of each morning any way you wanted, how would you do it?"
Click to expand...

That brought a smile to my face, Mahalo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
My first two hours are completely dedicated to coffee, news, and forums. It normally takes me that long to recover to human form. Once there the rest of the morning is exercise, breakfast, hygiene, with some time for reflection.
 
I stumble around for a short while asking myself these questions with a foggy brain:

1. What am I doing getting up?
2. Why do parts of my body hurt so much when I get up?

Then I find the Kruig machine which DW has prepared with my special blend an hour or more ago, and I make a cup of coffee (DW is an early riser). Then I head to the den to check my junk e-mail, drink the coffee, and plan the day (or the next hour).

If I decide to go to the office (part time consulting worker), I ask myself is this consulting gig all worth it or not?

Once I shower and realize that the last hour+ was not a dream, I move on.....;)
 
Coffee and breakfast, 5 mile run, shower. Maybe more coffee. Then I'm ready to start the day.
 
I'm out of bed at 6:50 and I feed the cat and set up the coffee pot. Then I get dressed and have about 10-15 minutes on the computer to check the weather and news and email. At 7:55 I leave to go to my school crossing guard corner (it's a really short commute!) and I'm there from 8:00-9:00. I'm in my car unless I see kids coming so I listen to the radio or listen to downloaded podcasts (usually the Dave Ramsey Show) or I also have a police scanner that I can take in the car.

I'm home by 9:03, start the coffee and make breakfast. Sometimes DH is still in bed, sometimes he's up and on his computer or the exercise bike.

I go back to my corner 3:00-4:00 (except on Wed 2:00-3:00).

On the weekends I tend to hang out in my jammies and robe until late morning.
 
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M-F I am up at 6 and out the door for the office at 8. I manage to fritter away those two hours sipping coffee, eating oatmeal or a couple of eggs and toast, reading the NYT and the local paper online, answering email, perusing here at E-R and Bogleheads. About 7:30, I take a quick shower, jump into my clothes, throw some fruit and yogurt into a lunch bag and bolt into the garage to the car. On week-ends it is just about the same thing except I get up at 7 and vary what I eat...bagel and smoked salmon is a favorite...and I head to the gym at a more leisured 9 or 10 a.m.
 
M-Th Up at 6:45, light breakfast then off to gym for 20-30 mins exercise, either treadmill or weights. Then coffee and chat for 20 mins, followed by an exercise class at 8:30 followed by more coffee and chat.

F-S-S Up with the dawn usually, bike or walk to a cafe for breakfast. (This morning it was a 10 mile ride to The Breakfast Place, big breakfast, then 8 miles home.)
 
Kimo said:
Like clockwork I get up and spend an hour in the hot tub watching the sun rise over Diamond Head drinking a thermos full of Kona coffee.....that takes about an hour and after that I really don't do much until I decide to do some yard work.............
Click to expand...

Compare and contrast the reply above with my first two hours... I cannot wait to ER :)

Out of bed @4:30, quick shower and dressed by 4:45. Go to kitchen, hit run on Keurig and slam a couple of Eggos into the toaster. Grab the lunch I made the night before, my PC bag, coffee and Eggos, kiss the wife and hit the road by 5:00. Drive on I35 for 42 minutes @75 mph while first eating Eggos and drinking coffee, followed by shaving with Braun electric razor listening to "The Wall Street Journal Today" on the radio. Pull into the parking garage @5:42 and make my way to the 5x5 cubicle on the 3rd floor that I will call home for the next ~10 hours with intermittent breaks for meetings and other BS.... I'm living the dream guys :blush:
 
I am not a morning person. My first 2 hours include watching TV (local news, Morning Joe, Daily Show rerun) while I check emails and forums such as this one until I am awake and hungry enough to prepare breakfast which is cold or hot cereal. WIth my setup, I can eat the cereal while I continue to watch TV and do the forum stuff (MY kind of multi-tasking LOL!).
 
Derslickmeister said:
Compare and contrast the reply above with my first two hours... I cannot wait to ER :)

Out of bed @4:30, quick shower and dressed by 4:45. Go to kitchen, hit run on Keurig and slam a couple of Eggos into the toaster. Grab the lunch I made the night before, my PC bag, coffee and Eggos, kiss the wife and hit the road by 5:00. Drive on I35 for 42 minutes @75 mph while first eating Eggos and drinking coffee, followed by shaving with Braun electric razor listening to "The Wall Street Journal Today" on the radio. Pull into the parking garage @5:42 and make my way to the 5x5 cubicle on the 3rd floor that I will call home for the next ~10 hours with intermittent breaks for meetings and other BS.... I'm living the dream guys :blush:
Click to expand...

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I eat right away after waking up otherwise my stomach is gurgling and begging for food within 15 minutes. After eating, I go online and check about 10-12 web sites in 30-60 minutes. After that, I will check my calendar to see if there's anything I need to do today then it's time to take a shower and get the day started. Usually try to run any errands I need to do between 9am and 3pm on weekdays. Never run errands when the masses are out.
 
I wake up at around 8:00am. First hour: laying in bed, cats next to me, reading news/forums/blogs on my iPad. Second hour: breakfast and shower.
 
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Alan said:
F-S-S Up with the dawn usually, bike or walk to a cafe for breakfast. (This morning it was a 10 mile ride to The Breakfast Place, big breakfast, then 8 miles home.)
Click to expand...

DW and I have not heard of that spot yet. We will have to try it soon! It's 7.7 miles from us. ;)
 
I wake up any time between 5:30 and 9:00 but usually around 7:00, get a Coke and drink maybe half of it, read the local newspaper, decide if I'm hungry or not and if so what I want to eat, shower sometime in there, read some online news and if it's not a gym day or something else pressing early, log in here. "Early" is defined as before 11:00 AM.

We usually try to get to the gym before noon but don't always make it.
 
Up at 5:30/6:00. Make coffee. Read the paper on deck overlooking the harbor. Check email, market news, watch a little CNBC.

DW gets up around 7:30/8:00. Make our breakfast. Plan the day. Shower.
 
Derslickmeister said:
Compare and contrast the reply above with my first two hours... I cannot wait to ER :)

Out of bed @4:30, quick shower and dressed by 4:45. Go to kitchen, hit run on Keurig and slam a couple of Eggos into the toaster. Grab the lunch I made the night before, my PC bag, coffee and Eggos, kiss the wife and hit the road by 5:00. Drive on I35 for 42 minutes @75 mph while first eating Eggos and drinking coffee, followed by shaving with Braun electric razor listening to "The Wall Street Journal Today" on the radio. Pull into the parking garage @5:42 and make my way to the 5x5 cubicle on the 3rd floor that I will call home for the next ~10 hours with intermittent breaks for meetings and other BS.... I'm living the dream guys :blush:
Click to expand...

Kimo said:
Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

+1

I also find it unbelievable that your wife wakes up to kiss you goodbye at 5am. She must be a wonderful woman. :flowers:
 
aja8888 said:
DW and I have not heard of that spot yet. We will have to try it soon! It's 7.7 miles from us. ;)
Click to expand...

It is in the same place Sunny Street Cafe used to be. We were so disappointed when that place closed down as it was a perfect distance for us. 2 miles further down the road is a french cafe, on the right, and that is also excellent. We found the french cafe the day we turned up at Sunny Street Cafe on our bikes, ready to eat and found it closed :(

The Breakfast Place is very good, biscuits made fresh every day, real hash browns, excellent grits etc.
 
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