Schedules, routines, and more
I posted this as a comment, but wanted to post it as a separate post:
Here's my basic schedule:
4:00 am Get up, shower, dress, makeup, hair
4:45 am Devotions
5:15 am Computer Time
6:15 am Make breakfast
6:30 am Start laundry/clean kitchen
6:45 am Daily cleaning jobs/make bed
7:00 am Kathrynne up, nurse, Family worship
7:30 am Cleaning/switch laundry
7:45 am K bath/dressed - clean bathroom
8:00 am Morning walk, Leave with K - errands/shopping/post office/field trips
11:30 am Home, make lunch
12:00 pm Lunch/Reading
12:30 pm Clean up kitchen
12:45 pm School with Kathrynne
1:00 pm Sing, rock, pray with K
1:15 pm Exercise
1:30 pm Email, business work, writing, blogging, work on website
2:30 pm Packages ready
3:15 pm Laundry, ironing
4:00 pm K up - Make Dinner
5:00 pm Get mail - Outside time
5:30 pm Quick pick up, set table, dinner ready
6:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Clean up kitchen - Scripture memory
7:30 pm Play with Kathrynne, jammies, nurse read to her, sing, pray
8:00 pm K to bed
I haven't done as good at getting up at 4 am this past week because of staying up late with Jesse while he studies. So, on the mornings I get up later, I usually spend less time on the computer and skip a few of the nonessential items and just follow the basic plan. This is my schedule for when Jesse is studying (especially leaving in the morning to give him a quiet home to study in - I usually wouldn't leave every morning for two hours.) So, I'll be putting together a new schedule when Jesse is finished - I guess that would be this next week! Yay!
As far as how to stick with a schedule, this is something I have struggled with quite a bit myself, as I've alluded to in previous posts. I recommend you get a copy of Twenty-Four Hours is All You Get by Susan Bradrick and also check out Candy's site and ebooks - she's been a real motivation to me in this area. Mrs. Wilt has some great and helpful printable here. I used her basic schedule and printables and tailored them to our home.
Don't bite off more than you can chew - DON'T start by trying to have a 15-minute-increment schedule if you've never followed a schedule before! Just try to make out a basic routine at first - maybe five things you want to make sure to do in a day in a certain order and try to stick with that for two-three weeks. Once you've done that, try adding in a few more things. If you can't handle that, go back to the five things. Keep it simple and slowly train yourself to be more disciplined. For me, having a detailed schedule helps keep me on track, for you, it might be better to have a basic routine. Do what works for you.
I don't follow this schedule exactly everyday. Sometimes things come up which are more important. Sometimes things take longer to do. Some days I get done early (not usually, but it does happen!). I just try to use the schedule as a guideline. Having it written down to refer to every so often throughout the day really helps. I also put mine in clear plastic protectors and use a dry erase marker to mark off each item when it is done. Somehow, checking things off helps to keep me on track.
You may wonder why I schedule to get up so early in the morning. Good question. I've tried a lot of different things over the past two years and at this season of my life, I seem to be the most productive early in the morning. It also helps me to go to bed earlier if I know I've planned to get up so early! If I've been up a lot in the night with Kathrynne and I wake up at 4 am still very tired, I usually go back to sleep for a few hours and then adjust my schedule accordingly. Like I said, it's a guideline, not a rigid taskmaster!
I thought you might have recently mentioned changing your daily schedule? Care to share? I really like the way you mentioned before that you keep your evenings free. I find it very hard to keep such a detailed schedule all day long. Any advice? -Lyn
Here's my basic schedule:
4:00 am Get up, shower, dress, makeup, hair
4:45 am Devotions
5:15 am Computer Time
6:15 am Make breakfast
6:30 am Start laundry/clean kitchen
6:45 am Daily cleaning jobs/make bed
7:00 am Kathrynne up, nurse, Family worship
7:30 am Cleaning/switch laundry
7:45 am K bath/dressed - clean bathroom
8:00 am Morning walk, Leave with K - errands/shopping/post office/field trips
11:30 am Home, make lunch
12:00 pm Lunch/Reading
12:30 pm Clean up kitchen
12:45 pm School with Kathrynne
1:00 pm Sing, rock, pray with K
1:15 pm Exercise
1:30 pm Email, business work, writing, blogging, work on website
2:30 pm Packages ready
3:15 pm Laundry, ironing
4:00 pm K up - Make Dinner
5:00 pm Get mail - Outside time
5:30 pm Quick pick up, set table, dinner ready
6:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Clean up kitchen - Scripture memory
7:30 pm Play with Kathrynne, jammies, nurse read to her, sing, pray
8:00 pm K to bed
I haven't done as good at getting up at 4 am this past week because of staying up late with Jesse while he studies. So, on the mornings I get up later, I usually spend less time on the computer and skip a few of the nonessential items and just follow the basic plan. This is my schedule for when Jesse is studying (especially leaving in the morning to give him a quiet home to study in - I usually wouldn't leave every morning for two hours.) So, I'll be putting together a new schedule when Jesse is finished - I guess that would be this next week! Yay!
As far as how to stick with a schedule, this is something I have struggled with quite a bit myself, as I've alluded to in previous posts. I recommend you get a copy of Twenty-Four Hours is All You Get by Susan Bradrick and also check out Candy's site and ebooks - she's been a real motivation to me in this area. Mrs. Wilt has some great and helpful printable here. I used her basic schedule and printables and tailored them to our home.
Don't bite off more than you can chew - DON'T start by trying to have a 15-minute-increment schedule if you've never followed a schedule before! Just try to make out a basic routine at first - maybe five things you want to make sure to do in a day in a certain order and try to stick with that for two-three weeks. Once you've done that, try adding in a few more things. If you can't handle that, go back to the five things. Keep it simple and slowly train yourself to be more disciplined. For me, having a detailed schedule helps keep me on track, for you, it might be better to have a basic routine. Do what works for you.
I don't follow this schedule exactly everyday. Sometimes things come up which are more important. Sometimes things take longer to do. Some days I get done early (not usually, but it does happen!). I just try to use the schedule as a guideline. Having it written down to refer to every so often throughout the day really helps. I also put mine in clear plastic protectors and use a dry erase marker to mark off each item when it is done. Somehow, checking things off helps to keep me on track.
You may wonder why I schedule to get up so early in the morning. Good question. I've tried a lot of different things over the past two years and at this season of my life, I seem to be the most productive early in the morning. It also helps me to go to bed earlier if I know I've planned to get up so early! If I've been up a lot in the night with Kathrynne and I wake up at 4 am still very tired, I usually go back to sleep for a few hours and then adjust my schedule accordingly. Like I said, it's a guideline, not a rigid taskmaster!
posted by Crystal Paine at 2:40 PM
10 Comments:
I'm really impressed that you're so organized. I *wish* I had that kind of energy and organization! A question though - your schedule stops when Kathrynne goes to bed - is that also your bedtime, and if not what do you do with the rest of your evening? Also, how does this fit with your husband's schedule? For example, is he also getting up that early, and if not, how do you manage not to disturb him when you get up, and conversely, if your husband is staying up later than you, how does he manage to not disturb your sleep? I'm partly curious, but I'm also talking about marriage and with me being an "owl" and him being a "lark", I'm foreseeing some conflict.
Thanks for sharing your schedule with us! It is always motivating for me to read how others organize their day. I have been trying to do more of that myself (though I am limited in I get soooo tired when I am pregnant, that I have to leave time for naps otherwise I start feeling sick again!).
Good question, T.Comfyshoes. I don't really consider myself all that organized, though I do try. I guess that being a wife and mom and having a home business sort of necessitates some order or we'll be in trouble! :)
Yes, the schedule stops when I put Kathrynne to bed. I tried scheduling past that, but it didn't happen so I just decided not to schedule it. I usually go to bed around 10:00 or so, earlier if I can.
Evenings are pretty relaxed around here. Recently, once Kathrynne is down, I've been reading, sewing, finishing up anything extra which didn't get done during the day, and sometimes I'll blog or catch up on blog-reading.
When Jesse is not studying, we'll usually do something together or just sit and talk. Or read in the same room - and often stop and discuss whatever we are reading individually. Or, sometimes on the weekends, we'll watch a movie together.
As far as how my husband's schedule fits with my schedule - it interconnects. :) I scheduled breakfast time, family worship time (that's when we read the Bible together and pray as a family), and other things to coincide with his schedule so that we are doing things together as much as is possible. Since he's been studying for the bar, things have been a bit helter-skelter and I've just been trying to adapt to whatever he needs.
He usually gets up at a similar time to me and we usually go to bed around the same time as well. We are both prone to be night-owls, but we both have found that we are much more productive if we go to bed earlier and get up earlier. So that's what we strive for. It doesn't always happen that way, but that's the goal. If Jesse stays up later than me (or, every once in a blue moon it is vice versa) we've learned how not to disturb one another. But, I wouldn't recommend doing it on a regular basis or it can soon become like two ships passing in the night.
If you can try to figure out what would work best for both of you and then try to keep each accountable to do it, I guess that's all I can say. No stunning words of wisdom, just figure out a way to make it work! Perhaps if you both give up a little (one going to bed earlier than usual and one getting up a little earlier than usual) you can come up with a happy middle. Or, you can both learn to adjust. :) For some, that comes easier than for others. :)
I always enjoy reading these types of posts. As Kimi said, they're very inspiring. (o:
Hello, I've never commented, but I read often! :-) I have been convicted recently that I need to rise early to pray and read my Bible, and I love the early mornings! It's just that they come so early! Any thoughts on becoming a morning person instead of a night person? I know that God will help me and give me the strength and energy I need as soon as I put my feet on the floor, but when that alarm goes off early, getting up is the LAST thing I'm capable of. Even if I go to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm thinking I'm just going going to have to use a sheer act of will at the beginning, believing God to help me, and eventually it will be easier. I LOVE the idea of beign up and having time with Jesus and starting productive activity in the cool mornings before the household is awake, but I can't seem to get from loving the thought to actually doing it! Any thoughts? PS I'm not a blogger, and I don't want to be anonymous, so I guess I'm "other?" :-)
Mariah, I am not naturally a morning person either, but I also want to get up early to get a good start to my day. I feel so much more productive if I'm up early and not snoozing half the morning away! What I have found is that it takes time for me to get my body on a rhythm of "early to bed, early to rise," and if something happens to mess up that rhythm (like travelling), it will take me a while to get back to where I was. So, be patient and persistant! Try moving forward your bedtime by 15 minutes to a half hour, and the same with your wake-up time. Do this gradually so that your body can adjust, until you've got the hours you want.
I also tend to be very groggy in the morning, so getting straight into the shower often helps. Sometimes it helps to gradually wake up my mind by reading a book or checking my e-mail. If you enjoy coffee or tea, fix yourself some in the morning. Give yourself enough time to wake up gradually without having to jump right into your day.
I hope these suggestions help!
Mariah: Laura had some great suggestions. What works for me is to: 1) try to go to bed early
2) try to leave the house in fairly decent order when I go to bed (there's something about waking up to a messy kitchen that just makes me want to roll over and go back to sleep!)
3) jump in the shower first thing
4) after showering and getting dressed, throwing in a load of laundry on my way to the kitchen, then making a pot of tea and sitting down and reading and praying
None of this might work for you, but it helps me. Do what works for you. And, maybe you are more of a night owl. In that case, it might be better to have your quiet time before you go to bed rather than first thing in the morning. I've tried that and it doesn't work for me but I know it works well for some people.
Also, do you look forward to each day? I usually am excited to get my day started and this motivates me to get up as well! I have so many things I'm anxious to do that I don't want to stay in bed!
You could also try putting your alarm clock on the opposite side of the room so that you have to get up out of bed to turn it off. I've done that during certain seasons of my life when the covers were constantly seeking to suck me in in the mornings!
Thank you, Laura and Crystal! I'm going to do the shower thing and get out of my pj's, and concentrate on getting to bed a bit earlier. Also I'm going to allow myself a rest in the afternoon to recharge if I feel the need. Part of my justification for staying in bed too long is thinking that I didn't get enough sleep to see me through the whole day and allow me to be fresh for my husband when he comes home. I'm thinking that if I know I can rest for an hour or so in the afternoon then I'll be able to think more determinedly about getting up. Don't know if that makes sense... I've GOT to learn to rise early. My study of people in the Bible who prayed and sought God (not just the Proverbs 31 woman, but many many others including Jesus Himself) shows me that they regularly rose early to do so, and I feel a definite urging of the Spirit of God to cultivate that in my own life. I don't know about 4AM, though! My hat is off to you, Crystal, and others who are able to maintain that! What a beatiful example! Thanks again for the input!
~Mariah~
Thanks for all that information - I really appreciate you being willing to share.
I used to be so much better at all of this! I have so many thing to get done that sometimes it is just overwhelming and I want to roll back over and go to sleep. It has been hot and I cannot sleep very well. I feel guilty when I read other people's schedules usually! Around here I am an odd one also because I get up before 8 (among most of my relatives) I went to something twice a month at 9:15 and no one will ever come with me because it is way too early! Another sister works nights so has a completely different schedule.
I have got to get some more sleep, but am afraid if I tell a doctor about my not sleeping it will mean pills that have a long list of side effects. "sigh"
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