The Hell I Escaped — Snoozing My Old Bad Habits. | by Viv Pranjal | Activated Thinker | Aug, 2025

I’ll give you a little story of what my morning routine was before I found Myself.

It was something along the line of: you go to bed whenever, you wake up whenever. A few years ago, I would just sleep in all day, stay up late, and waste my time away.

I wake up early but stay in bed. By the time I get the energy, I’m crawling out and eating sugary food in the morning.

Then I crawl through the whole day, very slow and slothful. The best way to put it: I’m going through the world with a narrow thinking.

But the way you should go throughout the world is to conquer it.

And without knowing yourself, you won’t be able to do anything productive.

You have no purpose. You’re playing video games all day, only leaving your room to eat or use the restroom.

You go out to social occasions bored out of your mind, tired, and feeling empty.

I think when you have a strong fundamental morning routine let alone a timetable you can go throughout the whole day with purpose.

I really recommend making one of those. A morning routine built on productivity is very important. It changes the way you live.

The first thing I do when I wake up is try to jump out of bed and start doing push-ups, sit-ups, sometimes a cold shower.

Sometimes I’ll run upstairs and weigh myself, then get the jump rope and go at it for 10–15 minutes.

After that I’ll run downstairs, make my bed, and get that first task of the day done. Getting your heart pumping makes you awake.

When you wake up from a dream, you’ve got adrenaline I try to recreate that so I stay awake.

You could sit there tired, lost in your head but you have to shut your brain up and start doing tasks. One, then the next, then the next.

Once I’m back downstairs, I’ll make my bed, gratitude journal, and shower. Then I meditate, grab some coffee, and head straight to my boring office. By 9 or 10, I’m back.

Then I eat breakfast, but by then I’ve already led the day with many small victories. Conquered tasks.

I’ll read in the morning while drinking coffee that’s something I really enjoy.

By the time work starts, I’ve already accomplished a lot. Later in the day, when you’re tired, it’s hard to tackle difficult things. You keep pushing them back.

That’s why you need to get the most difficult things done in the morning. Then the rest of the day feels like smooth coasting.

Masculinity Loves Accomplishment

Having a great morning routine means I wake up early, workout, eat well, learn, read, workout again, then head to work.

At work, I feel great because I’ve already accomplished a lot. That carries into better social interactions, better learning, and even a better mood.

Accomplishing tasks and goals feels amazing. That’s part of masculinity moving forward, checking things off, doing what needs to be done.

Back then, I’d just wake up and mess around, scrolling my phone instantly. Now, I don’t look at my phone until an hour after waking.

Okay that’s not true. I do log calories or weight. But I don’t respond to messages for 1–2 hours. That time is for tasks, for productivity.

My productivity is best in the morning. That’s when I get deep work done: brainstorming, work, whatever it is. I work in 30–90 minute intervals and crush through tasks.

That’s the foundation. Even if the rest of the day turns out shitty, I still have that good foundation.

And if one day really is terrible, I just make sure the next morning starts with a solid foundation again.

Because I remember my old days instant gratification from the second I woke up. Scrolling endlessly, watching TV shows in the morning, doing nothing, not working out. That was hell.

So yeah, I’m just trying to get better at this stuff, but the point is clear: you’ve got to be productive from the moment you wake up.