I first got to know Nik through Mat Pike and his blog Buckets & Spades. Alongside contributing to Buckets & Spades, Nik is an Influencer marketing strategist and writer whose work features in The Holborn as well as on London Cheap Eats. He's also written his own short post apocalyptic novel 'A Last Fire' - he's a busy man. We have a lot of shared interests and he's been one of the biggest supporters of The All Night Listening Post since it started so it's high time we caught up about his morning routine.
Here's how Nik's mornings look:
"It’s a really interesting time to write this piece (well, I guess the readers be the judge of that) as I’ve just taken a ‘proper’ job - by which, I mean a full-time one, working for someone else, rather than for myself. You’d think that would disturb the old morning routine quite a bit, but to be honest, it really hasn’t; if anything, I get to sleep in later!
Back when I was freelancing - all of a month ago - I rarely stayed in bed very late. When your laptop is inches from your bed and the thoughts from a million tasks, jobs, and ideas are running through your head, it’s hard to lay in too long, even if (technically) you don’t have anywhere to be.
That said, about six-months into a two year freelance stint, I decided that crawling straight from my bed, to my laptop, via a pot of coffee, wasn’t the most productive way to work and, on top of that, I really started to miss getting out into London and seeing a day in the life of the city unfold before my eyes. So, it was more often than not that I’d be on the tube before 8.00, beating the rush, grabbing a Pret coffee (don’t judge me - they’re 99p!), and staking out a good seat in one of the best workspaces in town.
These days, life doesn’t seem so different. I don’t carry a laptop around with me anymore, which is ace - although, when I did, my Eastpak rucksack made it fairly easy - and I still get to wear my ‘classic’ uniform of black jeans (my favourite pair are from a little known brand called Last & True), Uniqlo shirt, and one pair of my many Nikes.
I’m still on that same tube, desperately trying to leave the house before the rush starts; but now, I’m usually heading in the same direction every day - five stops north to Oxford Circus and the brief walk to the office, via (you’ve guessed it) Pret for my 99p black filter.
Blimey, just writing these words, I’ve realised how routined I am as a person, even when I don’t need to be! I guess, in part, it’s born of an old commute I once did, where if I wasn’t on the tube for 6.30, I wasn’t getting to work on time - not by a long chalk. Ever been on the tube when it’s so early, empty, and cold that you can see your breath? Okay, it only happened once or twice, but that’s one hell of a way to start a commute! If only you’d ask me to write this back then, now that would have been one hell of a quick routine to describe."
Back when I was freelancing - all of a month ago - I rarely stayed in bed very late. When your laptop is inches from your bed and the thoughts from a million tasks, jobs, and ideas are running through your head, it’s hard to lay in too long, even if (technically) you don’t have anywhere to be.
That said, about six-months into a two year freelance stint, I decided that crawling straight from my bed, to my laptop, via a pot of coffee, wasn’t the most productive way to work and, on top of that, I really started to miss getting out into London and seeing a day in the life of the city unfold before my eyes. So, it was more often than not that I’d be on the tube before 8.00, beating the rush, grabbing a Pret coffee (don’t judge me - they’re 99p!), and staking out a good seat in one of the best workspaces in town.
These days, life doesn’t seem so different. I don’t carry a laptop around with me anymore, which is ace - although, when I did, my Eastpak rucksack made it fairly easy - and I still get to wear my ‘classic’ uniform of black jeans (my favourite pair are from a little known brand called Last & True), Uniqlo shirt, and one pair of my many Nikes.
I’m still on that same tube, desperately trying to leave the house before the rush starts; but now, I’m usually heading in the same direction every day - five stops north to Oxford Circus and the brief walk to the office, via (you’ve guessed it) Pret for my 99p black filter.
Blimey, just writing these words, I’ve realised how routined I am as a person, even when I don’t need to be! I guess, in part, it’s born of an old commute I once did, where if I wasn’t on the tube for 6.30, I wasn’t getting to work on time - not by a long chalk. Ever been on the tube when it’s so early, empty, and cold that you can see your breath? Okay, it only happened once or twice, but that’s one hell of a way to start a commute! If only you’d ask me to write this back then, now that would have been one hell of a quick routine to describe."
Thanks for sharing your morning routine, Nik!
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