Between Dog Days and Busy Days

When My Routine Was Working

I am a routine person. I thrive on routine. My morning routine with ADHD is what keeps me centered.

When 2024 and 2025 turned out to be slower years for me work-wise, I did what any routine-obsessed person would do. I built the perfect morning. And I mean perfect. 

I was up at 5 AM every single day. And before you say anything, I have been waking up at 5AM since I was a small kid. I am a weirdo. I know it. I own it. From there, I went straight into my workout, either a walk or a strength training session. Then I wrote in my gratitude journal. Made breakfast. Read my book. Took my shower and took my sweet time putting my makeup on. Then I made an Americano and eased into my work with a peaceful, settled energy. 

That was my life. And it was good. 

Then Q1 2026 showed up and blew the whole thing apart. 

When Work Disrupted Everything

Three shoots in January. Three in February. Two in March. Eight shoots across three months. On paper, that sounds like a win. And it was. It absolutely was. But somewhere in the middle of all of it, I lost myself a little. 

My routines went straight to the crapper. And I know that sounds dramatic. But if you have ever built a system that genuinely works for you, that holds you together and keeps you sane, you know exactly what it feels like when it collapses. It does not just feel inconvenient. It feels like failure. Like I white-knuckled my way through every morning with nothing underneath. 

I kept trying to force my full routine into a schedule that had no room for it. And every time it did not fit, I scrapped the whole thing and started the day already feeling behind. Already disappointed in myself before 8AM. And it did not stop there. For the rest of the day my energy was off. My creativity felt stunted. I was irritable. I was not the version of myself I wanted to bring to my work or to the people around me. 

What My ADHD Had to Do With It 

I was diagnosed with ADHD not too long ago. And I am still learning what that actually means for how I move through the world. 

One of the things I have come to understand about myself is that I live hard in black and white. All or nothing. Everything or nothing. If I cannot do the full hour of my morning routine, I will do zero of it. Because what is even the point of doing half?

I hate that about myself. I genuinely do. It is such a half-empty way to look at things, and I do not want to be that person. I do not want to let the pursuit of the full version cost me the value of any version. But that is exactly what I was doing. I was punishing myself for not completing something instead of giving myself any credit for showing up at all. 

I sat with that for a while. It was uncomfortable. Still is, honestly. 

What My Therapist Asked Me 

The shift did not come from me figuring it out on my own. It came from a therapy session that I walked into completely depleted. I had not slept a full night in almost a week. I had not eaten breakfast. No snacks. Nothing. I was running on empty in every sense of the word. 

I told her what had been happening. How the shoots piled up. How my routine collapsed. How losing it threw off my entire day, every single day, for months. I was emotional. More emotional than I expected to be, honestly. 

And she asked me, very calmly, if there was any reason I could not have two routines. One for regular life and one for the moments when things get busy and back to back. 

I just stared at her. 

It was so simple. And I had never once considered it. 

So that is what I built. Two routines. One for the slow seasons, the spacious mornings, the 5AM wake-ups, and the long breakfasts, the Americano and all of it. And one for the thick of it. A condensed version. Leaner. Not everything I love, but enough. The non-negotiables that keep me grounded when everything else is moving fast. 

That second routine is not glamorous. It does not look like the version I had in my head. But it holds me. And some seasons, being held is the whole job. 

I tried it on my last shoot day. I went in grounded. Present. Actually ready. The difference was not small. 

Where Things Stand Now

Q1 is behind me, and I have to say, coming out the other side of it feels like taking off a backpack I forgot I was wearing. Things have slowed down. I am back to my long mornings. The 5AM wake up. The workout. The gratitude journal. The breakfast, the book, and the Americano. All of it. And I do not take a single minute of it for granted anymore. 

But I have something now that I did not have before. A backup. A plan B that is not giving up. A shorter version of my routine that still shows up, still functions, still carries me through even when the conditions are not perfect.

There is more than one way to make eggs. More than one way to take care of myself inside a life that does not always cooperate. I do not have a perfect routine. I have two imperfect ones that together make something that actually works. 

That feels better than perfect ever did. 

Work With Me 

If you are looking for a food photographer who shows up grounded, prepared, and genuinely excited about the work, I would love to hear about your project. Whether you are building a campaign, shooting a cookbook, or need images that actually make people hungry, reach out through my contact page. I am always up for a good creative challenge.