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  • - This video is sponsored by CuriosityStream.

  • Get access to my streaming video service, Nebula,

  • when you sign up for CuriosityStream

  • using the link in the description.

  • I have a confession to make.

  • I am fascinated by morning routine videos.

  • It's just interesting to see the habits

  • that successful people pack

  • into the first parts of their day.

  • But there's a slight problem with most of these videos.

  • Most of these routines take entirely too long,

  • and replicating them yourself is just not practical.

  • You simply don't have time

  • for an hour of meditation in the morning,

  • or a long session at the gym,

  • or writing eight pages in your gratitude journal.

  • By the time you wake up in the morning,

  • you've probably got an hour tops

  • before you need to be doing

  • the first thing on your calendar.

  • So, here is my proposition.

  • Let's put that hour to good use.

  • Let's build a morning routine that only takes an hour,

  • but, that is still comprehensive,

  • and that covers six major areas.

  • Nutrition.

  • Hydration.

  • A bit of exercise.

  • Hygiene, of course.

  • Some learning.

  • And finally, number six, sunlight exposure.

  • And sure, you won't have time

  • to mindfully pour water over your teapot for 30 minutes

  • to build up a patina, or log 20 miles on Strava.

  • But, hitting these six areas

  • will give you a great start to the day.

  • And with some good planning and timing,

  • I do think that it's doable in under an hour.

  • And here's one way that you could do it.

  • (muted jazz music)

  • First, throw yourself out of bed

  • the moment your alarm goes off.

  • Don't let the snooze button waste any of your precious time.

  • If you can avoid that,

  • this should only take about 30 seconds.

  • Once you're up, do all the basics.

  • Brush your teeth, shave if you need to,

  • and take a shower.

  • Now you could also shower at night to save time,

  • but I like to shower in the morning,

  • and I've found that it only takes about four minutes anyway.

  • To save some time while you're getting dressed,

  • you can lay out all your clothes the night before,

  • so that they're waiting for you right when you wake up,

  • and so that you don't have to spend time

  • deciding what to wear.

  • All told, this part should take you about 15 minutes tops,

  • as long as you don't find yourself

  • staring at a styrofoam head.

  • With hygiene taken care of,

  • the next item on your list is hydration.

  • I find the three most important things

  • for feeling fully awake in the morning

  • are sunlight, movement, and hydration.

  • So, right after showering, I'll drink a full glass of water.

  • Now, this is probably the quickest step in the routine,

  • unless you're like me and have plants

  • that also need hydration.

  • Even so, after two or three minutes,

  • you'll be moving on to the next step,

  • which is my favorite, making coffee.

  • Now with only an hour to spare,

  • my brewing method of choice is gonna be drips,

  • as you can just set it and forget it.

  • And since your cuppa Joe

  • is gonna take about five minutes to brew,

  • you've got some time to get a bit of exercise in.

  • Now like I said before,

  • you don't have time for a lengthy gym session.

  • But, with an inexpensive pull-up bar on the door,

  • you can do some pull-ups.

  • And most people, other than those who live here,

  • have access to the ground,

  • which is great for crunches, push-ups,

  • and lots of other things.

  • Breakfast is one area that can eat up a lot of your time.

  • But, if you choose the right foods,

  • you'll make prep, eating, and cleanup

  • all go really, really quickly.

  • I like to start with a piece of toast, and here's a trick.

  • Put some frozen spinach in a bowl

  • with olive oil, chopped garlic, and salt.

  • Microwave that for 90 seconds

  • and you've got a serving of vegetables

  • to go with your toast.

  • Finally, hard-boiled eggs

  • are a great way to round things out.

  • You can make them in bulk on the weekends,

  • or just buy them boiled and peeled from the store,

  • like I do.

  • As an alternative to all of this,

  • you could also make a smoothie,

  • and I'll link to my smoothie recipe

  • in the description down below.

  • Either way, prep should only take six to eight minutes.

  • Now, you could bundle nutrition with learning

  • by reading while you eat.

  • But with the time limit that you're on,

  • you probably don't have time to get deep into a book,

  • so instead you might want to opt for an article.

  • In this case, the book that I'm reading right now

  • has chapters with several article-length subsections,

  • so it's easy to read one in about 15 minutes.

  • After that, cleanup is also really quick,

  • since we didn't use that many dishes.

  • Now the last thing that we mentioned wanting

  • was some sunlight exposure.

  • And normally, you would go outside for a walk, to get that.

  • But, perhaps, like me,

  • you currently have 18 inches of snow outside your window.

  • And it's freezing cold outside.

  • In which case we're not doing that.

  • Instead, open up a window

  • and then maybe use the rest of the time for extra reading.

  • Or meditation.

  • Or really anything else that you're trying to learn.

  • Starting your day

  • with a bit of progress on a goal feels great.

  • But, whatever you decide to do,

  • try to keep the 20 second rule in mind.

  • Set things up so that it takes less than 20 seconds

  • to start using them.

  • This will save you time, but more importantly,

  • it'll remove friction

  • that could prevent the formation of good habits.

  • Of course, you could also just use this extra time

  • to pack up your bag, so that way once your hour's up,

  • you can easily roll into whatever it is

  • that you need to do next.

  • Which, in this case, is filming a video.

  • Now, this routine is just a suggestion,

  • and there are definitely changes that you could make.

  • For instance, if your commute involves walking or biking,

  • then sunlight exposure is already taken care of.

  • And, if you wanted even more time

  • for exercise or for learning,

  • you could just skip breakfast altogether.

  • A lotta people practice what's called intermittent fasting,

  • where they restrict their mealtimes

  • to an eight-hour window during the day,

  • and then fast for the other 16.

  • Plus, all that stuff about breakfast

  • being the most important meal of the day

  • is just marketing by cereal companies.

  • Though, while we're talking about breakfast,

  • I do wanna note that reading

  • isn't the only way to bundle learning with it.

  • In fact, maybe you're watching this very video

  • while you eat breakfast.

  • That's something that I do all the time,

  • I love watching videos in the morning.

  • But, what I don't like,

  • is sitting through ads before they even start.

  • Which is why I got together

  • with a bunch of other educational creators and built Nebula.

  • If you haven't heard about it,

  • Nebula is a completely self-funded streaming service

  • that lets you avoid ads,

  • and allows us to create what we want

  • without worrying about YouTube's algorithm.

  • You'll find my content there,

  • alongside people like CDP Gray, Wendover Productions,

  • Kurzgesagt, and more.

  • Plus, originals that we'