# Routine A good routine starts the night before. A good bedtime ritual at a good time leads to an early bed, meaning you are rested for an early rise in the morning. In the morning the first thing (or the first thing after the toilet) is a meditation – the mind is clearer and less bogged down than later, and then you've done at least one meditation today already. Next – some form of exercise. Doesn't have to be extensive, the main thing is no zero days. Get the endorphins flowing. As meditation and exercise are the most important things one will do each day,[[Meditation and exercise are the most important things I will do this day.|º]] I can't think of a better combo to start the day with than this. And you get home in good time to shower and get ready before work, and if there's time, it's even a good time to do your daily morning questions, setting your intentions for the day, receiving a spark of serendipity[[Serendipity|º]]. So before you've even "started" your day, you've already meditated, exercised and reflected. Such is the benefit and the beauty of a good morning (and therefore evening) routine. If not bound by a particular time to get to the first "official" activity of the day, I really like [[Oliver Burkeman]]'s idea of the "running order":[[The running order|º]] a sequence of things that one may aspire to do, and the aim is to work through them in order as soon as the opportunity arises, instead of assigning specific timings to them. So instead of trying to fit 1 20-minute meditation, 1 30-minute exercise, and 1 20-minute daily review in to your 2-hour block before work, in addition to all the ablutions, shaving, eating and other daily things you need to do, instead you just say: "I want to meditate, then exercise, then do my daily review, then eat, then shave, then shower, etc". If not particularly time-bound, I think this is a great way to start a day, to tick off the things you *want* to do before you get on to all the other things you "*have*" to do. %% # Reference ```dataview LIST FROM [[]] OR # AND !outgoing([[]]) AND -"Templates" WHERE file.name != this.file.name SORT file.name ASC ``` # Archive - %%