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Relaxed morning starts and midday walks keep Stratton Sloane feeling cool, calm, and collected.
How Working Outdoors Helps Our Front-End Developer Stay Motivated
Relaxed morning starts and midday walks keep Stratton Sloane feeling cool, calm, and collected.
If you’ve ever scrolled our website, or even navigated our journal, our front-end developer Stratton most likely wrote some (if not all) of the code involved to get you from A to B.
Most people are blissfully unaware of the time and precision it takes to carry out what developers do every day, so we wanted to ask our dev-wizard what he does to stay feeling fresh throughout the work day.
From relaxed morning starts to working outside, here's everything Stratton gets up to in the first half of his day.
Hi Stratton! Welcome to the Bed Threads Team Morning Routine Series! Can you tell us a little bit about what you do at Bed Threads?
Hi, glad to be here! I'm the front-end developer – I'm essentially responsible for a lot of the background technical stuff on our website, and play a role in making sure everything looks and functions as it should. Every time you add something to your cart or scroll through product images, it's probably running some code that I wrote!
What time do you typically wake up? Can you walk us through your morning routine?
I'm a fairly late riser so I typically get up at around 8 am. My wife works late and she's usually still asleep, so I sneak out of the room as quietly as possible. Our cat, Moki, will normally be waiting at my feet so she'll follow me out as well.
After that, I'll open up the blinds, make some breakfast, feed the cat, and if it's a nice day I'll sit outside in the sun to eat. After this, I'll typically unpack the dishwasher, get changed, clean my teeth, and then walk over to my study to start work. It's a pretty simple routine!
Most days, later in the morning my wife and I will go out for a quick coffee break. It's a really nice way to break up the day and have a chat.
What are some essentials that you can’t start your day without?
Personally, I need some exposure to the outdoors. I work inside all day so this really helps me wake up and feel refreshed, especially on a crisp winter morning. As you can imagine it's much more difficult on a rainy day... in winter I make do with sitting in front of a heater!
What do you typically eat for breakfast to kickstart your day?
I have unsophisticated taste so my go-to is two or three Weet-Bix, which I'll usually crush up and eat with a bit of sugar. If I'm feeling particularly adventurous that day I'll have some sourdough toast and a coffee.
Is there anything aside from coffee that helps when you feel too tired to function?
I find that just going for a short work around the block really helps. Not only does it give me a boost of energy, but I also find that it's a perfect little break to help you process everything. I've had so many ideas and solutions come to me on a walk!
Beyond that, I find that just working in the garden for a bit does the trick. When you're already tired, being inside in a warm stuffy room is a quick way to start feeling very sleepy indeed.
How do you prioritise your tasks and organise your morning to ensure a productive start?
I find that early in the morning it's really beneficial to just get started on something right away. If I have a big backlog of work, looking over it all is likely to make me feel overwhelmed. If I'm just working on something immediately, I'm instantly productive and that tends to carry through to the rest of the day.
Do you have any specific strategies to help you stay focused and motivated throughout the workday?
It's easy to lose focus and motivation when I'm chipping at one task for a long time. Taking a break from that task and instead getting a smaller task completely finished and out of the way helps keep my motivation up. Changing the environment I work in across the course of the day is another strategy that works effectively for me.
Which Bed Threads colourways do you currently have on your bed?
We currently have the Cacao & Hazelnut Bedding Bundle. We love our Bed Threads linen as they're super comfy and the colours are perfect for making a room feel warm and cosy.
