Something of your own

There are sometimes a few minutes that have not yet been claimed by work, messages, appointments or other people. Morning can be a good place to find them, but it need not be the only one.

A personal project might be a book you are reading, something you are learning, a trip you are planning, a model you are building, a language, a garden, a sketchbook or something you are slowly repairing. It does not need a deadline, an audience or any prospect of becoming useful.

The ritual

The length of a cup spent on something of your own. Ten minutes counts. So does five.

Variations

Keeping whatever you need somewhere easy to return to removes the preparation. Those spare minutes can then belong to the project itself.

More for this moment

Rise

Start the morning with music

Let the first music of the day be something you chose

Recharge

A tea break somewhere else

A change of place can create a change of pace.