What I do before I open my laptop
A short routine that keeps the first hour of the day mine.
The laptop is the last thing I open in the morning, not the first. This is the only routine I have that I have not had to negotiate with myself about for months.
The order#
I drink water before coffee. I write one sentence in a notebook — not a journal entry, just one sentence about the thing I want to be true about today. I walk for twenty minutes, with the phone on do-not-disturb. Then I make coffee.
The laptop opens after the coffee is poured. That is roughly one hour from waking.
Why it holds#
If I open the laptop first, my day becomes a response to what is in it. Email, the dashboard, an overnight bug. None of that is unimportant, but none of it is mine either.
The hour before the laptop is small but it is the only hour I get to write on a blank page.
What I changed#
Nothing dramatic. I moved the laptop to a different table at night so it is not the first thing I see. That single decision did most of the work.