Paula Borowska
Paula Borowska is an author, blogger, and user experience designer based in San Francisco, California.
What is your morning routine?
I usually wake up between 10 and 11:00am and fiddle in the bed for another hour.
Eventually I’ll get up, shower, and get on the computer for at least a minute to see if I have any interesting emails lined up for me. I don’t actually answer any right away, but the curiosity kills me. Same with Twitter, I scroll through the feed to see if anyone posted a useful link that I can read later.
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
I quit my job in mid-April, so since then.
How has your morning routine changed over recent years?
When I went to school and (afterwards) got myself a job in an office I’d wake up much earlier. When I had a commute I’d read saved articles in Pocket or an eBook of sorts. I never used to bother with email or social media until much later in the day.
When I used to work in an office, I’d have a rough routine where I’d get up, get dressed and leave the house all within fifteen minutes. I didn’t get up an hour earlier to sit with a cup of coffee and read a book and I didn’t stop by the same local bagel shop. I literally just went to work; no interruptions.
That’s kind of a morning without a routine. I did that for about a year.
What time do you go to sleep?
Usually around 3:00am, which explains why I sleep in.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
Oh yeah. I’m terrible at waking up. I found the best way to get out of bed is if I start the alarm process at least thirty minutes before I’m due to get up, this way I can say to myself “five more minutes” a few times. Otherwise, I’m just sad I have to leave my bed; it gets really attached to me so I always feel bad having to leave it behind ;)
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typically have?
I don’t like to eat breakfast. I don’t eat a lot to begin with so I can go for hours without much food.
My first meal is usually about two, maybe three hours after waking up. However, pancakes are the best thing in the world and are good any time of the day.
Do you have a morning meditation routine?
I love the idea of meditation and I tried to practice it when I graduated college because I was stressed. I think it’s a fantastic method to get ones mind right, but I never seem to remember to do it.
Do you answer email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
I check my email in the morning but I don’t answer it until much later.
I don’t want to start my day by having to deal with email – email is a terrible thing. During the day I’ll remember that I have to respond to this person, or email another. I also don’t have my email app open on my computer so I’m not bothered every time an email comes in just because a new email came in. I find that ridiculous. I also don’t have email on my phone, hell no.
How soon do you check your phone in the morning?
If I’m waiting for something, like if one of my articles was published the night before, then I check it right away. If not, I still check it right away. I hate that so much! I’ve been trying to kick the habit but it’s a tad difficult.
I think I found a way to help myself with this by simply leaving my phone far away, such as in another room. Here is my dilemma: my only alarm clock is my phone. If I don’t have an alarm set I can sleep 10-12 hours per night, no problem.
What are your most important tasks in the morning?
To roughly plan my day. I try my best to set myself up for success and only assign manageable tasks for the day ahead, but if I don’t succeed I’ll improvise and revise my plan the next day.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
I love tea – it’s a Polish thing. I usually make a big mug of raspberry tea (or sometimes a mango green tea) for me to drink after I take a shower.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
This depends on where I am.
I’ve been renting different Airbnb places for the last three months in order to travel around Europe. This hasn’t posed a problem for my morning routine at all. However, if I’m visiting family and they have kids they usually won’t allow me to sleep in until 10:00am, but I don’t mind.
What do you do if you fail to follow your morning routine, and how does this influence the rest of your day?
It doesn’t bother me if my routine is disturbed; I don’t depend on it.
If I fail to follow my morning routine I just improvise and move on with the day. My routine is just something I got used to doing in the mornings. I’m sure if I moved in with roommates, hell, even back with my parents, my routine would change somewhat. I don’t mind that either. And if it happens sporadically – like when I visit my young cousins – it doesn’t disturb me.
I’m not OCD about my mornings. They’re just mornings.
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