Turns out caffeine is not the most useful part of my morning tea. 🌞

Turns out caffeine is not the most useful part of my morning tea. 🌞

Hear me out.

Yes, the caffeine helps “wake up my brain", especially after a night of poor sleep.

For a long time, I thought that was the point of tea - get me going in the morning, help me get shit done.

So I'd make my tea and drink it while emailing on my phone, or I would head straight to my desk to start work.

But then one morning I did something a little different:

I made my tea...
and sat.

No phone
No to-do list
Just me, my tea, my backyard tree, and some squirrels and birds

And guess what?

That fifteen minutes of quiet set me up for the most focused, clear headed day I'd had in a long time.

Because in that quiet, I found the brain space to sort through what truly matters today, right now.

And from there, I stepped into a thoughtful and focused day (albeit a day with plenty of distractions along the way 😉)

The caffeine helped clear out the cobwebs.

But the ritual and the quiet were what I needed most.

> choosing the tea
> heating the water
> letting it steep
> sitting and drinking it
> looking out at the world

Do I do this every day?
Nope. 😂
I am a parent
I have pets
Life happens

But when I can, I try to start my day with this small ritual, and whatever little sliver of nature I can find.

What about you?

What ritual(s) help you focus on what matters most?