Routine Reeboot

I feel incredibly fortunate to be back here in Paris. I really like my apartment, especially its central location. I want to start fully embracing the potential of this place. Although Mathieu still has all his stuff here, the good news is that my sister Louise, my cousin Mathieu, and Marie-Mathilde have found an apartment where they’ll all be living together. They even have their own rooms, which was something they had to compromise on when they were struggling to find a place before.

Yesterday, we went to Alma to celebrate with Mathieu. There’s an app for content creators and influencers in Paris called Hemblem App. If a restaurant accepts your reservation through the app, they invite you in exchange for three Instagram Stories if you’re an influencer, or a video the restaurant can use on their Instagram if you’re a content creator. I love using the app to try out new places. The great thing about it is that not only can I choose which restaurants I want to visit, but the selection on Hemblem App is already pretty good, so I usually trust their recommendations.

Sometimes I start my day by asking myself, “What do I want to create today? What do I want to do? How do I want to spend my time?” I love these questions because they usually get me excited to start my day. I really look for the excitement in the things I want to do. I try to take advantage of the morning to make space and time for the things I want to do more of but haven’t had time for lately.

The problem is, I sometimes start my days with less healthy questions like, “What do I have to do today? Where do I need to be? What are my constraints?” When I ask myself these questions, I usually feel stress building up. I feel annoyed and trapped. I typically ask these questions when I haven’t planned enough in advance. When I start my day knowing I have tons to do but not exactly what, that’s when the day feels overwhelming. It’s usually the kind of day where I struggle to be productive or do anything meaningful, or where I never get to the things I really want to do.

It’s interesting how many people take time in the morning to do something for themselves. Whether it’s a workout, like it used to be for me, or writing, like it is now, I feel that this specific moment in the day is crucial for setting the right tone. You might not need to spend three hours a day on the meaningful thing you want to do—maybe just one hour is enough. What if you could squeeze it in during the morning? Wake up earlier, even if it’s challenging, but wake up excited to start your day with one clear objective. I could see myself doing that for an hour of reading each day.

I believe morning routines are essential. I think it matters less what you do during that time, because it’s so personal and can change often. I stopped working out in the morning because I felt it was taking time away from my day. When I worked out in the morning, I had to be awake enough to get through the workout. As a result, I never made myself wake up at 6:00 AM for exercise. It was always challenging, and although it got easier over time, it was still physically demanding. Despite the music, the glass of water waiting for me all night, and my healthy breakfast ready right after I put on my clothes (which were also prepared), it was tough.

While this can build discipline and be a great challenge, I’ve come to believe it’s not healthy to force things too much. When I push myself too hard, it usually doesn’t last, and I end up giving up quickly. Now, I believe it’s healthier to wake up happy and in a more aligned energy to start the day smoothly. I also wanted an activity where I felt productive and that was meaningful to me. For me, that’s writing and sharing what I write.

When I get bored of writing or feel I don’t have much interesting to share, I might switch to reading. The good thing about reading and writing is that I can do them while I’m still waking up. My reward, after starting my first productive activity and reaching my goal for the day, is a cup of coffee. After writing for about an hour, it’s the perfect time to enjoy it.

I learned from a Mel Robbins podcast episode about sleep (I can find the link later) that drinking coffee right after waking up is actually counterproductive. There’s a specific scientific reason for this. When we wake up, we still have epinephrine in our bodies, also known as the sleep hormone. That’s why we can feel a bit groggy and not fully awake. This hormone takes about one to two hours to fade away before it starts building up again, making us tired at the end of the day. The interesting part about coffee is that its caffeine doesn’t eliminate epinephrine; instead, it traps it for a few hours, tricking you into feeling energized. But once the caffeine wears off, the epinephrine is released, and you feel even more tired. This creates a vicious cycle of needing more coffee. The healthiest time to drink coffee is probably when you’re not tired.

This was a mind-blowing fact that helped me refine my morning routine, placing my coffee at the right moment and choosing the right activity to start my day happily, rather than grumpily forcing myself through an early workout on caffeine.

I hope this offers some insight. I strive to share my thoughts freely, just like in a diary, though here I’m aware it’s published, so I might hold back just a bit from being the complete health nut that I am 🙂