Laura Roeder
Laura Roeder is the founder of Edgar, a smart social media scheduler designed to give your best content new life. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and young son.
What is your morning routine?
I wake up when my toddler starts singing to himself, and I get out of bed when he moves on to calling, “Moooooooommy, Daaaaaaaaaddy.” This is usually around 7:30am.
I get my son ready and feed him breakfast while I make myself a green smoothie and unload the dishwasher. I usually listen to a podcast while I do this. Then we play together until my husband takes over parenting duty at 9:00am (I don’t shower in the morning, so I can get ready in a few minutes while on mommy duty.) Once my husband takes over I bike to my office, which is about a ten-minute bike ride away.
Once I’m in the office, the first thing I usually do is process my inbox and catch up on Slack. We’re a remote team, so the East Coast has already started working by the time I get to the office. I don’t have email or social media apps on my phone, so it’s nice to go into the office and really start my day instead of trying to catch up on my phone first thing in the morning. I don’t keep my phone in the bedroom so I won’t be tempted by the horrible habit of lying in bed looking at my phone as soon as I wake up!
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
My son is twenty months old, so my mornings have changed a lot over the past year!
How has your morning routine changed over recent years?
My pre-kid mornings seem so luxurious now! If I can actually get up and get myself totally ready before my son is up, I always feel better. But honestly, it’s hard to make myself miss out on those extra minutes in bed!
Maybe someday I will get ambitious enough to actually be out of bed at 7:00am every morning so I have some time before he gets up.
What time do you go to sleep?
Around 10:30pm. I have a no-tech-after-9:00pm rule, which forces me to use the time before bed to read and journal instead of staring at Facebook.
Do you do anything before going to bed to make your morning easier?
I check my calendar app before putting my phone away in the living room and moving into the bedroom. It’s nice to know what’s going to happen the next day.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
Only my son!
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typically have?
Within a half hour or so of waking up I have a green smoothie for breakfast. My current go-to recipe is kale, carrots, banana, pineapple, coconut water, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and hemp seeds.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
Unfortunately, my short bike rides to and from work and playing with my son are the only exercise I get these days! I definitely find it hard to make time for everything with a toddler, and exercise is something I’ve sacrificed.
Do you have a morning meditation routine?
No.
Do you answer email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
Later in the day.
How soon do you check your phone in the morning?
My first action on my phone is to go to Sonos to pick a podcast to listen to over breakfast. Some of my favorite podcasts are Love Your Work (Editor: Love Your Work is hosted by former interviewee, David Kadavy), The Longest Shortest Time, and HBR IdeaCast.
I’ve removed email and social apps, so there really isn’t anything to check besides the weather!
What are your most important tasks in the morning?
Since I’m the CEO, my day is mostly meetings. That probably sounds terrible to most people, but I love it! I really enjoy everyone I work with, and basically I get to chat with them all day.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
I love coffee but get chronic headaches when I drink it, and decaf just makes me crave regular coffee. I find that I actually get great energy from a green smoothie, so I’m no longer drinking coffee or tea in the morning.
Do you also follow this routine on weekends, or do you change some steps?
Since I take the first parenting shift during the week, my husband will get up with our son one or both weekend days and let me sleep in. (It’s usually more like “lie in bed” than “sleep in,” though, as our house is tiny and toddlers are noisy!) Once I get up, we’ll have a family breakfast together at home or ride our bikes to get breakfast tacos.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
Yes, my routine is pretty simple, and with a toddler you have to be adaptable! I travel a lot, and I’ve recently started bringing my NutriBullet along so it’s easy to make green smoothies for breakfast wherever I am!
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