Ricardo Laborin
Ricardo Laborin is a former investment banker turned small investor from Mexico City, passionate about family, good food, coffee, and the outdoors.
What is your morning routine?
I wake up around 7:00am most weekdays, sometimes earlier if I hear my two year old daughter screaming “papa, papa!” to get her out of the crib.
If the kids are asleep (I have one brand new five month old in the mix too), I head straight to the bathroom for a quick pee and then to the water filter for a big glass of water (I’ve been waking up kind of dehydrated lately).
Now that I’m in the kitchen, I start my coffee brewing process, which lately has been traditional drip using Mexican organic coffee, bought locally. The joe takes about five minutes to be ready, so I walk to a big window in my third floor apartment, and just stare outside and do a quick meditation. After the beep of the machine, I walk back into the kitchen and, being recently stung by the fatty coffee craze, cut a big chunk of grass fed butter and blend two cups of it in the Vitamix (tried other blenders before, this is the best by far).
I’ll then start sipping slowly while opening my laptop. I don’t read email until 9:00am, strict rule, but I do read my Feedly blogs, starting with Zen Habits if they have something new (I always try to start my day with something inspirational).
By 8:00am my wife, kids, and the maid are all up and running…
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
This routine started July 5 2013, right after quitting an eleven year career as an investment banker at Credit Suisse.
My routine changed DRAMATICALLY. I used to wake up at 5:45am, shower, put my suit on, and run for the office to get there before the financial markets opened. I don’t miss it at all!!
What time do you go to sleep?
I try to go between 11:00pm and midnight most days.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
I used to use a Bose alarm with a kiddie song CD in it to wake me up in a good mood, but have recently changed to the Sleep Cycle app on my iPhone and love it.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typical have?
If I do fatty-coffee, breakfast is off the table; I make myself go until lunch. If not, I’ll do eggs with vegetables (three eggs, arugula, avocado, broccoli), and coffee with coconut milk.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
I used to run in the mornings, but I’ve since found I much prefer working out later in the day, usually from around midday.
How about morning meditation?
I squeeze five minutes daily, maybe even less. Thich Nhat Hanh meditation style (Plum Village). I also do guided meditation every Monday afternoon.
Do you see to email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
No email before 9:00am, new rule since being out of banking.
What are your most important tasks in the morning?
1) Kissing my wife and kids good morning, 2) taking my little girl out from her crib and giving her breakfast.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
Glass of water right out of the bathroom. It’s the second thing I do after waking up.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
In this situation my routine goes wacko.
I normally don’t do fatty coffee while traveling, but I do try to wake up early and have coffee with the blogs.
What do you do if you fail to follow your routine, and how does this influence the rest of your day?
I’ve come to the conclusion that the mornings have an awful lot of leverage on the rest of the day. If my routine gets severely interrupted, I have to make double effort to save the day from becoming a bad one.
Then again, if I’m traveling or have something different first thing (an early business breakfast, or something) I’ll usually adapt easily.
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