The Life Saving Habit of Having a Morning Routine for Jobless & Working from Home People

Last night, I had a conversation about morning routines with the amazing, awesome Margaret Quigley. Many people in tech have set up a morning routine, and there are many blog posts about it, so it's considered normal in our field. But when your day has no real purpose, or when you're working from home, setting up a morning routine can be a life saving habit.

Back in the 90’s, my mother used to work for a nonprofit that helps jobless people to get back on tracks. Some of them had been looking for employment for years, and slowly fell into personal decay.

The first things she told them was to set up a morning routine. They would get up at 7 or 7:30 and get dressed for a work day, or a job hunting day, instead of going to bed at 4:00, getting up at 12 and spending their whole day in pyjamas watching TV, playing video games or wandering in their flat. Then, as the habit took off, they were able to start deeper routines, like grocery shopping every week at the same time. And finally, this allowed them to start looking for a job again.

Indeed they were struggling a lot at the beginning, because they had to develop habits they had forgotten for a long time. As your life becomes a total wander without purpose, you forget what time of the day it is, at what time you go to bed, and you slowly drift out of society. You forget your job interview appointments, or even about looking for a new job. Taking these new habits was their first step to reintegrate into society.

15 years ago, a friend of mine had a burn out. He was leading the European marketing team of a major video game studio, and spent 9 months working 24/7 on their next product, which was a worldwide hit. After the launch, he decided to take an unlimited break so he could recover.

He opened up to me, and I gave him this advice I had from my mother's experience:

Whatever you do, go to bed before midnight, and get up everyday between 7 and 7:30, no exception. Get dressed. Do your grocery. Clean your flat. Everyday. Don't let you slip into decay. That's critical for you if you want to start working again someday.

We lost contact after this conversation, but one year later, I had a message on Linkedin.

Hey Fred, thank you for your advice. I went through really hard times, but forcing myself into a daily habit saved my life. I had to struggle to stick to it someday, but from all advices I got then, it's the one that allowed me to get back on tracks.

Photo: Hobvias Sudoneigh.