💬 Bed made and curtains open before I touch my phone

For about 2 years I woke up at 7 and just lay there in a dark room with my phone. Curtains shut, blanket in a heap, and an hour gone before I'd even brushed my teeth. Then I got a new flat with a big east window and the curtain rod right by my bed. First morning I pulled it open just to see what was outside. A neem tree and an angry crow. That was the start. Now it's 2 things before the phone. Curtains open first, then the bed. It takes maybe 90 seconds. Sheet pulled flat, blanket folded in half, 2 pillows on top, done. My mother used to shout at us about this every single morning and I'd roll my eyes. She's not here to see it and I still do it. She'd be very smug about that. I skipped it for a week once when I had a fever. The room felt like a cave. I'd go back to bed at 3pm and it was a mess of sheets and old tea cups. Lying in that was worse than the fever. The day was already lost by then. When I got better, the first thing I did was open that curtain. Last month my friend Ravi stayed over for 2 nights on the sofa bed. He watched me do it. He asked if I was getting ready for a hotel inspection. I told him to shut up. On day 2 I came out and he'd folded his own blanket and opened the window. He denied it later. The crow was back by 7:15, shouting at both of us from the neem tree.

A neem tree and an angry crow is a better morning than most of us get. I tried the curtain trick last week and it took exactly 4 days before I forgot again. I did get the bed part right, mostly because my mother calls at 7 and asks. What kept you going after the first month? I think the phone is just too close to my bed.

I lay my clothes out the night before, which kills the closet standoff at 6:30 half asleep. Never thought of curtains though. My room faces a wall, so I doubt I'd get a crow. Might open them anyway, just to see the wall. Does that count as a routine? My mother used to wake me by pulling the blanket off, so I know the feeling.