INTENTIONAL ACTION ABOVE ALL
the odyssey chronicles
I have been in love with a good cup of coffee for a while now. In this pursuit of caffeinated perfection, I have also purchased and thrown away about a dozen different coffee makers. From the Mister Coffee standard drip to Keurig coffee pods, to the fancy Nespresso Vertuo coffee and espresso machine. I have tried it all. Each has its own sets of pro’s and con’s but all of them have one thing in common. All are based on convenience and speed. All attempting to make the best cup of coffee as fast as possible. Which in theory sounds great, but for some reason none of these gave me what I was looking for. One thing I kept leaving out of my equation for the perfect cup was that my mornings had nothing to do with speed.
I am extremely interested in patterns and processes. I function really well when I have several of them in place each day. For me, the most important one is the morning process, it sets the tone. I like to be awake far earlier than I need to be so there is quiet time for me to read, journal, and prepare. So going through and changing my coffee maker every few months was nothing short of a headache. I wasn’t able to establish a useful or meaningful morning routine. As silly as this sounds I wanted everything to match my morning pace. Slow, controlled, intentional and as close to “perfect” as I can get it.
at the end of the day what i wanted was something that mirrored my love for patterns. I needed something i could utilize each morning that didn’t disturb my current process.
While doing some online shopping for another coffee maker I came across a french press. I had seen these before but they looked as useful as using a typewriter in the rainforest. I love the hipster movement for its music and all around goofy use of noviley items, but I wasn’t trying to make my life harder by using old methods of production. Especially with my morning coffee. I wasn’t in the market to retry any of the previous coffee makers and the only ones I hadn’t tried yet were upwards of three hundred dollars, which wasn’t going to happen. After way to much time searching on Amazon and reading reviews I broke down and bought a small glass french press. This dude cost me a less than twenty dollars, shipping included.
I researched the best way to use this contraption and what types of coffee are best suited. I watched a few youtube videos explaining how long you should let the coffee sit before pouring it, how to mix it properly, how to clean it and so on. I landed on this method.
-Boil the water on the stove (or electric water kettle)
-Two scoops of grounds in the french press
-Pour boiling water over the grounds
-Stir and let sit for 4-8 minutes
-Press the plunger down slowly and boom, a cup of coffee.
Now, this has gone through a few different stages. I learned, through trial and error, that the small glass french presses aren’t good for much more than a single cup. I, like most red blooded Americans, like a few cups each morning. I also make coffee for me and my wife each morning, so one cup at a time is a no go. We upgraded to a larger metal french press which makes us both two cups. We have also changed up coffee grounds several times and landed on a mixture that we both love. If you made it this far into this blog you are probably asking yourself why the hell is this guy writing about french pressed coffee… Well this is all larger then the coffee, or the machine it’s made with.
it’s all about the magic of intentional processes.
We live in a world consumed with convenience and speed. We are so focused on these that we usually bypass the joy of the process itself. There will always be someone offering a quicker way to knock out the daily tasks we have to get done. A better microwave for our microwave lifestyle, if you will. The question presented to us is what is the best way to “save time”. We spend millions of dollars a year on convenience and speed. I know I spent far more than I should have on coffee makers chasing just that. If you are like me, which I can bet most people are, I failed to ask the next question in this equation. The next question we need to be asking is
“What heck are we saving time for?”
Knowing my coffee would be made quickly didn’t give me time to do anything else. However, it allowed me to rationalize my procrastination. I could wait longer to start the coffee each morning. Awesome, what a way to use saved time, use that precious time with waiting... Saving time can sometimes help me waste it. It turns out that I get more done each morning when I have to wake up earlier to go through the process with my french press. In order to make the coffee the correct way I have to wake up with intention, and start a process with intention. This focuses my mind on intentional action and creates a rhythm of focus for my whole day. I can then take that same focus and apply it easily, to other tasks. Once the intentional motor is running it’s far easier to jump into a project at work or get your lunch ready for the day.
If this all seems like a lot, then congrats, your human, it is a lot. Take some time and write down the morning process you go through. If you don’t have one, create one, a best case scenario version. Go over it a few times and ask yourself a few questions.
Does this save me time just for the sake of saving me time?
Does this process create peace and structure for my morning?
If you need to start small, go for it. Maybe it’s just a cup of microwaved instant coffee and a quick 20 min read. That’s great! We are looking for sustainable morning routines to get your mind focused and ready for the day. Anything is better than nothing. I know several people who enjoy waking up and sitting up in bed for ten min before they get up. Simple, easy and repeatable.
you set the tone for your day, you are the master and commander of this ship.
Starting your day with intention, even on something as small as a cup of coffee, allows your mind to start out focused. You are allowing your body time to wake up, get running and look forward to the day. The way you start your day dictates the processes and patterns your mind and body will lean on the rest of that day. If you wake up rushed and bothered because you are late it’s easy to see how you can and will probably feel rushed and late the rest of the day. I am not saying we all need french presses, however I am saying that taking the time to slow down, focus on one task in the morning like coffee making, reading, writing or so on will allow us to stay more focused and cognitively available the rest of the day.
Intentional processes rule the day. Be the owner of your time. You “save time” so you can spend it somewhere else. Don’t get caught in the trap of saving time just to save time. It is passing us by whether we save it or not.
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