My Morning Routine: December 2020 in Dallas, Texas

Last updated: October 11, 2023

I’ve been living in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas for the past few months.

Here’s what my typical Dallas mornings are like.

Previously: My morning routine in Florida, from April 2020.

Wake Up

6:30 AM

• I wake up naturally without an alarm clock. What a luxury!
• I tell Alexa to turn on all the lights.
• I put on my Apple Watch, which charges next to my bed.

• I stretch for a minute. (Best stretching app, still.)
• Then I walk to another room and look at my phone. I’m experimenting with a phone-free sleep environment again. It’s nice.

Bone Broth

6:50 AM

I read somewhere that it’s good to start the morning with a warm beverage and protein.

This is my way of killing two birds with one stone: warm bone broth, plus some added protein.

Bone broth is also supposed to be good for my skin and gut health.

Here’s my recipe:

• 8 oz of chicken bone broth. I buy it in bulk from Costco. My friend Justin Mares started a bone broth company, Kettle and Fire, which is also tasty.
• 8 oz of 190F hot water, from my Zojirushi always-on water heater. (Larger model here)
• 1 tsp of coconut oil.
• 1/2 tsp of mushroom powder (Stamets 7 “Immune Support”).
• 1 raw egg. I’ve put a raw egg in my smoothies for years and have yet to get salmonella. I try to buy cage-free, free-range eggs from the grocery.
• 1 scoop of collagen peptides. I’ve used this collagen powder from Sports Research for years.

I measure all of these ingredients with my trusty metal spoons ($5 on Amazon) and blend them in my NutriBullet blender. Then I drink it.

The links to Amazon are affiliate links. I get paid if you buy something. Then I donate that money to charity.

While I’m drinking the bone broth, I look through Instagram and email on my phone. Sometimes I’ll even indulge in an early morning TikTok scroll session.

Green Tea

7:10 AM

Caffeine time!

All of my tea is “loose leaf,” meaning it isn’t in a tea bag or sachet. I brew it in this glass pot from Rishi.

I weigh my tea using this digital scale, which I really like.

• I brew 4.5 grams of kukicha, a Japanese green tea, sold by Rishi. I buy it in bulk from their website here.
• I like kukicha tea because it is supposedly high in L-theanine, an amino acid that is responsible for the “good” mellow feeling you get from tea. It also doesn’t have too much caffeine. Many people take L-theanine pills for stress or anxiety.
• I’ve also ordered this brand of kukicha on Amazon six times. It ships from Japan.

I brew the tea for one or two steeps, three minutes each steep. Then I drink it.

Quick Gym Visit

7:30 AM

One of my favorite parts of living here in North Dallas is that there’s an amazing gym nearby: Cowboys Fit. It is the training facility for the Dallas Cowboys football team.

They have a gigantic workout center that is only a five minute drive from my house.

First, I do a round of abdominal exercises. Like planks!

• Then I do a few leg presses, bicep curls, and a couple of pull-ups.
• This whole thing usually takes me about 11 minutes.
• When I said quick, I meant quick. I just like to pop into the gym to “wake up” a little and get my heart going.

Cryotherapy

7:45 AM

For only $80/month, I get to have unlimited cryotherapy (or “cryo”) sessions at the gym.

• Cryotherapy is an extreme cold immersion that fills the air around you with -220F nitrogen.
• You stand inside a tank-like thing, nearly naked.
• The session lasts about 3 minutes. Your body gets very, very cold.

• I’m not sure if it actually does anything, but it sure does feel cool. No pun intended. (Definitely pun intended.)
• My heart rate variability scores, or at least my Recovery scores, seem to improve on the days I do a cryo session. This is measured by my Oura ring, which I’ve used for two years to drive myself crazy with data about how bad of a sleeper I am.

After the cryo, I put my clothes back on.

Sometimes I grab a cub of coffee from a nearby coffee shop. But I’m trying to drink less coffee.

On the drive home, I drink an 11 oz pre-packaged protein shake that I keep in my car.

Breakfast Eggs

8:15 AM

Before you judge this part of my morning routine, I want to say this:

I am incredible at making scrambled eggs.

I am perhaps the best scrambled eggs blogger in the world. I’m very good, my eggs are delicious, and if you think you make good scrambled eggs, I will happily challenge you to an egg-off. Email me here to set it up, but good luck. My eggs are amazing. My secret ingredient is coconut oil. And lots of grassfed butter.

OK, but here’s the problem:

I noticed that many days, I wouldn’t cook eggs because it was taking too long. My amazing eggs became a victim of their own success.

Then one day, I saw these microwave eggs at Costco:

I purchased them on a whim. I was surprised how tasty they are. The bacon bits are nice. And now I’m addicted.

• I microwave two little egg quiches for a quick breakfast snack.

Then I walk across the house to my makeshift office for computer time.

Computer Time

8:30 AM

Now I check my email messages.

I probably shouldn’t start my “work day” this way, but alas, I do.

I recently ordered a standing desk and an accompanying treadmill, so I hope to build a treadmill desk in the near future. I’m very excited about that.

I get about 55 emails a day from various projects I’m working on. Or from newsletters that I’m constantly trying to unsubscribe from.

I have a Friends Newsletter that I’m quite fond of. Sign up for it here and feel free to unsubscribe any time. Over 9,000 CEOs, Founders, and even art curators seem to love it. Find out why here.

What I’m Working On Now

After looking at my emails and being reactive, I tend to work on various projects.

Things like:

• I recently made a major investment (at least for me) in a publicly-traded software company. For a few months, I was researching the company several hours per day.
• I continue to explore new tech gadgets. One day last week, I was wearing five different health-monitoring devices: an Apple Watch, an Oura ring, the new Halo band from Amazon, a continuous glucose monitor to look at blood sugar (the FreeStyle Libre), and the Lief HRV monitor.
• I continue to help and consult with TeamBuilding.com, the parent company now run by the buyers of my old company Museum Hack. Massive respect to Michael Alexis and Tasia Duske for what they’re building!
• Thinking about moving to Austin: looking at rental properties there, and trying to learn more about the city and various neighborhoods.

And a bunch of other random stuff that happen to interest me, like taking private ping pong lessons.

The End

I like it here in Dallas! Mostly I like having access to a big house to spread out and have so much space.

I’m thinking of moving to Austin. There are lots of neat people in Austin. I enjoy being around people.

If you liked reading this post, take a look at the last time I wrote about my morning routine: What I Did This Morning (April 2020).

My friend Tynan told me about Rishi and how good their products are. Check out Tynan’s home museum that I previously featured on my blog.

Do you have any suggestions for my morning routine? Email me at [email protected] or Tweet at me here, @nickgraynews.