I've Woken Up At 5:30 AM For The Past 4 Years—Here Are The Tools That Power My Morning
How I make the most of the earliest hours in the day
In the past four years, I've slept past 7:00 AM just once. I've stayed up past midnight just three times.
Mornings are my "free time"—it's the time where I can exercise, meditate, write, finish homework, and do whatever I want.
Ever since I started using an iPad two years ago, I've been optimizing the tools I use every morning. Here's what I currently use:
Focus Modes
To set the foundation for my morning, I use a custom Morning Focus mode.
I don't use this Focus mode to block notifications—instead, I use it to set a custom Home Screen.
This Home Screen is perfect to start off my morning: it's a combination of functional tools (like the Weather and Todoist widgets) and relaxing thoughts (such as the Photos and Procreate widgets).
Todoist
Todoist is my go-to todo list app: it's easy and intuitive to use. In addition to tags and scheduling features, I love Todoist's widgets.
With a simple glance every morning, I can see the daily tasks I have for the rest of the day.
For more about Todoist, you can check out my recent post here.
Substack
I love the Substack app—for me, it's a better way of "checking the news."
Instead of constantly hearing about distressing issues facing the world, I can read content from fellow writers on the Substack platform.
Using the Substack app also helps me stay off the phone—with less content to consume (compared to other news apps), I'm less likely to be stuck in an endless scrolling cycle.
GoodLinks
Quick note: GoodLinks is the only paid app on this list.
In the morning, I use the GoodLinks widget to take a look at articles I want to read (for some context, GoodLinks is an article-saving Safari browser extension). GoodLinks has a cool feature that chooses a random unread article, and reading these articles in the morning can be a great way to start the day.
At just $4.99, I genuinely think that GoodLinks is a paid app that's worth it (Procreate and GoodNotes are two others I can think of off the top of my head).
Weather
Do I need to say anything else?
Notion
As I've mentioned probably hundreds of times, I use Notion for almost everything.
In the morning, I use it for journaling (or at least, I try to—I'm still working on creating a consistent habit). Whenever I journal, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, especially if I write about an issue I'm struggling with.
Spark
Spark has been my email app for the past couple of years.
I previously used Gmail and the pre-installed Mail app, though I found that Spark was perfect for me: it was clean, simple, and quick, while also offering advanced options.
Final Thoughts
"I look to build a lot of consistent routine. Same thing every day. Allows a steady state that enables me to be more effective when I do have something to react to out of band" - Jack Dorsey
Thanks for reading!
Adi