What does the first hour of your day look like?

I suspect this question is asked with the intention of uncovering something akin to aspirational routine making. But there’s nothing about my first hour which is anything other than just trying to keep it together, for I am very much not a morning person. Let me share with you the following story to demonstrate how much that is true…

When first we moved, I started rising considerably earlier than usual. Himself has long started work at OMG o’clock, but typically gets up quietly and leaves without disturbing me. Except, since moving, he’s been suffering with worse than usual back problems, so my purpose in rising at that time was to help him put on his shoes. It was only intended to be a short-term requirement, which is fortunate, for I managed to sprain my index finger in so doing 🙄 If you’ve not sprained a digit, let me tell you, it is surprisingly painful. Fortunately, both his back and my finger are now able to rest (and hopefully recover) as he’s currently unable to work for an entirely different reason.

But other than this recent anomaly, what does the first hour of my day look like? Well, glossing over those things which take place behind the bathroom door…

  • Put the kettle on to make tea.
  • Clean the kitchen surfaces.
  • Wash up any items which mustn’t go in the dishwasher (we finally have a dishwasher after 5½ years, so you know I’m squeezing as much in there as I can!)
  • Sweep the kitchen floor.
  • Empty the dishwasher/washing machine (whichever I turned on the night before) either putting things away, or hanging them up to dry.
  • Make myself breakfast.
  • Sit down, drink my tea and eat my breakfast.
  • Check my diary in case I need to get a shift on for an early appointment.

That’s it. I don’t do yoga/pilates, answer emails, or plan my day. I consider ensuring I have a clean and tidy kitchen a major achievement for that hour of the day. Frankly, if I’m especially tired, I’ve even allowed myself to doomscroll my social media timelines having gone back to bed…

No matter how I work at changing it, I am naturally more owl than lark. Putting one foot in front of the other, managing not to drop things, not making a mess, not hurting myself – I consider all these things wins in the earlier hours of the day.

I know I’m lucky I no longer have to corral small children, nor to leave home to commute to work, but at age 67, I believe I’ve earned that respite.

Are you a quiet starter, or a busy bee? Has your morning behaviour changed during different periods of your life?

© Debs Carey, 2025

21 thoughts on “What does the first hour of your day look like?”

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  1. I’m a lark and other half isn’t! I creep out, make coffee and settle down to Wordle, Waffle, Square word etc! Kitchen is clean as other half does washing up and clearing away. Emails, read, iron till breakfast which we have together.

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  2. Himself does all the cooking, hence why I pick up the cleaning, washing up etc. He’s not a natural lark; indeed when I first met him, he was an owl like myself, but is highly disciplined and become accustomed to early hours. When I do wake up early, I find I get a huge amount done, but it takes a long time to make the change long term. I’m still yawning from an early morning start we made for a visit to the West Country yesterday.

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  4. Jane, I *can* get myself up and about early in the morning, but I am far from my best. I am certainly uncommunicative, even borderline grumpy! The lack of commute means I don’t have to start early, for which I am hugely grateful 🙂

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  5. I am a morning person. My day always starts out feeling like I’ve wasted so much time if I sleep later than 6AM but most of the time I’m up around 5.

    I get up, fill my 1st water bottle for the day from the filter pitcher and take my morning meds. Make my bed. I will typically turn on the local morning news and listen with one ear as I check emails then come here to WP and read blogs. I usually comment right away, like I’m doing now, but sometimes I will ponder over a post and come back later in the morning to comment.

    Then I am off to check the bird feeder and add seeds, then it’s shower/breakfast- sometimes that order is reversed. My most strenuous level of work at this point is to put dried dishes away before I make my breakfast 🙂

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  6. Quiet starter here. Black coffee, stillness, connection with nature. Don’t care what’s going on in the world, don’t care if the kitchen is clean, don’t care about planning my day [which I usually do the night before]. I just want to be in the moment, undisturbed, attempting to wake up.

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  7. I’m a morning person, but not so morning that I don’t despise Daylight Saving Time. When my kid was super little, we walk dogs together after breakfast. But once he hit elementary school, I had to be up early and get the dogs walked before my husband went to work. So it’s still wake up early, wash face, feed animals, then have coffee while checking emails/blogs/social media and making the day’s “to do” list. Then a dog walk, although sometimes my husband will walk them so I can swim laps due to injury. If I’m lucky and the cat is feeling cuddly, there might a few purring snuggles before I get out of bed. Or the cat might just bite me.

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  8. Wow Deb, despite being retired, you’re a member of the 5am club! I’m impressed. I’ve tried getting up at that time, and have even managed the slow process of getting myself used to it, only for the hay fever season to kick in, when anti-histamines turn me into a sleep-walking zombie. Once the season is over, I start all over again. Himself used to rise at 4.45am, and I’d wait for him to leave before getting out of bed between 5-5.30am. In our new place, it looks like it’s going to be more like a 4.15am rising, so I’m not sure whether that’s something I’ll be buying into again, not unless he continues to need my assistance.

    Except… you do demonstrate how much it’s possible to get done when you’re an early riser, so… Maybe if hay fever continues to ease off, I might be up for it. I know none of what’s on your list is strenuous, but the fact that it’s removed from your to do list is what can makes me consider joining that particular club.

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  9. Yup, this is me Ally. I continue with the struggle to do differently, but my nature is to start S L O W. Maybe when Himself retires we’ll slide back…

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  10. Oh yes, the changing of the clocks! Like you, I am not a fan of the messing around with clocks as children and animals do *not* make the adjustment easily, meaning that women – mothers especially – end up struggling with them. I see that Boss Cat continues to remind all of who’s in charge there! I’ve been at the beck and call of many a cat who demanded that I get up as soon as it turns light to let them out. My own cats were cat flap cats until they were elderly and needed cossetting, so my early morning cuddles meant the danger of “finds” or “gifts” being brought back to bed too. Even so, I miss having them. One day…

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  12. Donna, you sometimes fit language study into your early morning – I’m singularly impressed!
    Thank you for your kind words – I’m glad you like it 🙂

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  15. One downside of being retired and single is I don’t have that nudge to get up faster. I don’t have trouble waking up, but it was nice when someone was getting up and busy to encourage me. I’ve recently started doing two small exercise periods during the first hour: one while I’m still in bed includes sit-ups, the bridge, and leg and feet stretches. The other before I eat includes 70 jumps and numerous stretches. Before I cook breakfast, I read my emails and look through Facebook and X. Then I cook and eat. I don’t make coffee (half decaf) until after brushing my teeth.

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  16. I really enjoyed reading about your morning routine—and seeing everyone else’s in the comments too. I love a morning when I can ease into the day. During the week, that’s not always possible, so when it does happen, I’m extra grateful.

    My slow mornings sound a lot like yours: make coffee, tidy up a bit, do some soul homework, and then ease into the rest of the day.

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  17. Most weekdays, the first hour of my day is by bar the most active; I’m up at 5 a.m., and out the door or on the treadmill within 15 minutes for a 3.5-4 mile walk. I do give myself one day off (Thursday) to sleep in a little. On that day, and weekends, it’s all about coffee and Wordle, preferably with a cat or two on my lap.

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  18. We’ve seen a sea change in our communal garden which fortunately doesn’t seem to be used much by other apartment dwellers. Previously, it was used twice a day by Rumi – a shaggy old black dog – to roll around and chase his ball. But his owner has now moved out… and clearly the word has gone round, for we’ve seen two cats already. I’m surprised they didn’t visit beforehand, for it wasn’t like it was his sole domain. I’m singularly disappointed in their lack of sass.

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