Start the day with morning rituals

Many of us live our lives by the 9-5 clock restrainer, walking, driving, training or ‘busing’ to work or school a little before 9am, and returning at the end of the day to crash out, eat, perhaps watch television or pretend it’s the weekend and do some socialising. As a writer I like to build routine into my day, but I also like to start my day a long time before the rest of the world jumps on the moving conveyor mechanism that is the nine to five.

I have a few established rituals that I will complete while I transfer myself from wake up mode to writing mode. The kettle goes on straight away, with there being no prospect of getting anything done until a cup of tea has been consumed. I’ll wander outside to get some fresh air (at this time of year it means going outside in the darkness, but I almost prefer this – I feel as if there is a whole day ahead and I am not wasting any of it). The sunrise this morning is beautiful. It is coming just above the skyline as I type this post.

I won’t breakfast until I have written something. This could be a blog post, a very short article or even just an email.

Farming Today is an important morning ritual. It connects me to farming and environment news and might just trigger some inspiration for a future piece of writing. If something encourages an emotional well up then I might release this frustration, anger or sadness through social media, although more often than not I will control myself and instead channel these emotional flows on to my notepad instead.

People tend to be more productive at different times of day, depending on your body clock. Some people claim they are night owls and will work long into the evening, or get up in the middle of the night to work. I could name a few of these people in my immediate social circle. Most people work at ‘normal’ working hours, as suggested above. Farmers will often work all available hours of the day. Morning milking will begin for many at around 5am and a dairy farmer’s day won’t finish until well after 9pm, often 10pm. At harvest and during spring cultivations etc, arable farms will be pushed to get everything done and the farm team will have very early starts and late finishes. Indeed, the farming sector puts many of us to shame in terms of how they make the most of each day. We would do well to remember this. They are fantastically hard working people.

That’s my thought of the day. I’m off to do some research at the RAU in Cirencester today. Will rather feel like old times!