Your morning routine is just procrastination with better branding
Cold showers and journal prompts won’t save you from your own avoidance.
The morning lie we love to tell
Wake up. Drink lemon water. Meditate. Stretch. Journal. Light a candle. Set an intention. Read ten pages. Listen to a podcast.
And then, if there's still time, maybe - maybe - do something that actually matters.
Sound familiar?
You don’t have a morning routine. You have a morning performance.
It looks productive. It feels righteous. It gives you just enough dopamine to avoid asking the real question:
Why haven’t you done the thing yet?
Because here’s the harsh truth: you’ve tricked yourself into believing that preparing to live is the same as actually living.
Rituals don’t equal results
Somewhere along the way, we replaced action with aesthetics.
We worship routines. We idolize productivity gurus. We copy the habits of people who are successful and hope their magic will rub off.
But routines don’t make you successful. Work does.
There are billionaires who eat cereal over the sink and write emails half-dressed. There are also people with flawless morning rituals and nothing to show for it but a stack of color-coded notebooks and a burning sense of inadequacy.
Your morning routine isn’t sacred. It’s not a success spell. It’s just what you do when you wake up.
What you choose to do after - that’s where the truth starts.
Why we hide inside routines
Routines feel safe. They give us structure, predictability, and the illusion of control.
And let’s be honest: control feels a lot nicer than chaos. Especially when you’re scared shitless of actually starting.
So we build elaborate rituals to delay risk.
We perfect the system. We tweak the plan. We prepare the workspace. We light the candle. And we tell ourselves we’re getting ready - but deep down, we know better.
We’re avoiding the work that matters by drowning in the rituals that don’t.
Signs your morning routine is actually procrastination
- You spend more time on prep than progress
- You feel "productive" before doing anything of substance
- You need your ritual to be perfect before you can start
- Your actual priorities get pushed into the afternoon (or never happen)
- You feel anxious when the routine is disrupted
Spoiler: if missing a journaling session ruins your day, it wasn’t journaling. It was avoidance in a hoodie.
Burn it down and rebuild
Not every routine is bad. But every routine should be questioned.
What is it for?
What does it serve?
What happens if I skip it?
Your answers will tell you everything.
Here’s a radical idea: do the hard thing first.
Before the tea. Before the journal. Before you Instagram the sunrise.
Sit down and start.
Do one page. One email. One task. One sprint.
Do something that moves the needle - not your mood.
Then, if you still want to sage the room and chant over your protein shake, be my guest.
Final slap
Morning rituals are fine. But they’re not progress.
Progress is ugly. Progress is chaotic. Progress doesn’t wait for the perfect vibe.
So if your routine isn’t leading to action, it’s just spiritualized stalling.
Stop prepping. Start doing.
You can always drink your matcha later.
