⏰ The Myth of "Morning Routines"

In this week's P.O. Box:

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for "life optimization" and "bio hacking" content. I enjoy the occasional Huberman podcast (unless it's a 4 hour deep dive on fertility) and I like hearing about people's morning routines (like when Patrick Laird told us about his cold plunges in the Pacific).

But let's be honest, this genre of content has completely jumped the shark with each poster in a hyperbolic game of one-upmanship with the previous one. Seriously, listen to this guy describe his typical morning:

I wake up every morning at 5:30 am. The alarm goes off. I don't hit snooze because I don't have a snooze button.

No snooze button? What a flex on us normies with our basic ass alarm clocks. I assume there is some service out there where you can send your existing alarm clock to David Goggins and for a small charge he'll surgically remove the snooze button and send it back to you. 

I drink my 30 oz of water. I send out my three gratitude text messages.

These morning routine descriptions always start out relatively harmless, but then drop a real head scratcher out of left field.

"First, I brush my teeth and then I write a letter in calligraphy to all one hundred of my mortal enemies before the rooster's first crow."

Imagine getting woken up to a text message from this dude at 5:30 in the morning telling you that he's thankful for your friendship. "Um, thanks, dude. I would feel even more gratitude if you could send these in the afternoon."

I'll get my coffee, my protein shake, and my water again...

This dude is out here triple fisting beverages while you are still in REM Stage 3. Drink up, you are getting outworked. 

And I'll sit at my kitchen counter and I'll attack my GSD list. My Get Shit Done list.

Ah yes, of course he has an acronym for his To Do list. "TO DO LISTS ARE FOR THE MENTALLY WEAK. REAL MEN GET SHIT DONE."

Since having a kid, my "morning routine" has, dare I say, been flipped on its head. It's funny, though: I used to have a routine that included meditation and yoga every day. Sure, I miss having the time to do those things, but I've since discovered that a lot of the benefits I derived from that routine (taking some time to not be tethered to a screen and being present in the moment) are now just coming in different forms (feeding April, taking her on a walk, etc.). 

The routine is now less about the number of things I'm getting done in the morning, and more about not being distracted and soaking up the free time I do have before the work day starts. 

I'm in the middle of reading a book right now called Four Thousand Weeks (a fun wink to Tim Ferris' The 4-Hour Workweek that also highlights how short our lives actually are; 4,000 weeks is roughly 80 years) and it lays out a compelling case against the romanticizing of hustle culture that is so en vogue right now:

The basic premise of the book is that when we constantly chase peak efficiency and getting everything done, all we are actually doing is making room for...more stuff to add to our To Do Lists, err, Get Shit Done lists.

It's obviously a fine balance. There is, indeed, stuff that still needs to get done, but conflating a morning routine with busyness undermines the entire goal of a morning routine in the first place: spending your time in a meaningful way that is enjoyable for you. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go chug 69 ounces of water and prepare the voodoo dolls of my haters.

🎉 Giveaway for P.O. Box subs ⬇️

Got this signed football when I was out in Arizona for Super Bowl week. Anyone who is subbed to the newsletter will be entered to win it. I'll draw a winner on an upcoming stream. Just fill out this form with your name & email you subbed to The P.O. Box with:

🍳 Best Ball Breakfast is back. Yes, it's February and we are drafting best ball teams. I know, I know. I was clearly rusty on Monday, though, and started my first draft with two straight RBs. I blame the bot.

💦 Which players are overdrafted? Pat Kerrane joined us on Splash Play this week to discuss current ADPs and battle with Spags about Breece Hall's price.

🗣️ A big Trey Lance debate. We drafted a Big Board team on Ship Chasing the other night and found ourselves arguing whether Lance's ADP is too rich or not. 

🎙️ Behind the content scenes. Pat Mayo swings by LOLz to discuss being a solo creator, touts and pick selling, sports betting content, why PGA is such a great sport for gambling, and our dream ideas for sports companion streams.

⚾ Best ball baseball for dummies. I got bullied into drafting a team in The Dinger, Underdog's big baseball best ball contest with $100,000 up top. The Badge Bros walked me through all of the baseball equivalents for Zero RB, Week 17, stacking, roster construction, and even the Skyy Moore and Ronald Jones of the MLB.

🏀 Mac McClung mania. Mike Zakarian joined us in The Club to recap his trip to NBA All Star weekend in Salt Lake and the shockingly enjoyable dunk contest. Andy weighs in on Blur vs. Opensea. Clay shares his thoughts on the NFT royalties debate. I cry about my dusty Moonbirds.

Right before the pandemic I became an XFL Thought Leader for a few short months. It's somehow back again and I've predictably got sucked in (despite telling myself I wanted a break). The allure of chasing Josh Gordon in DFS for the 19th time is apparently just too strong of a pull.

I use Run The Sims for both the Showdown and Main Slate contests. It's a great way to see how often a player appears in the top lineup across thousands of simulated lineups. You can then benchmark that number to projected ownership to find underutilized players, or match your own exposures to the optimal rate.

For when you get Kyle Pitts in the 6th round...

Alright, that's a wrap. Let me know if you like this format or if you have any other suggestions/things you'd like to see in this space. My plan is to write a new one every Friday. You can also always find me writing the Fantasy Life Newsletter during the week. See ya around.