Finding Time: Part 7 - Developing a morning routine
Missed the first posts in this series? Start here.The more organized I am, the less time I waste and the more I get done. And I really mean that. I've had to learn the hard way that without a plan and some organization, everything turns quickly into chaos and I seem to spend most of the day running around in circles keeping very busy, but accomplishing very little.
After Kathrynne was born, I dabbled into having a schedule here and there. I would make up an elaborate schedule and be all gung-ho about following it but my enthusiasm and discipline would last all of two or three days. By the next week, I'd be back to disorganization again and wondering why I just couldn't get my act together.
I had all sorts of excuses as to why a schedule just wasn't working but I finally realized that a schedule wouldn't work unless I made it work. Writing a schedule was not waving a magic wand and creating instant organization in our home--I had to discipline myself to make the written schedule work.
Being the highly-distracted and flighty person I am, I've spent the last 2 1/2 years slowly learning to make myself be more organized. Why? Because I love the peaceful, calm, efficient atmosphere we have in our home when I have a plan and stick with the plan. And, needless to say, my husband loves it, too.
If you're new to scheduling and overwhelmed by the thought of it, let me suggest you start out simply. Don't begin by creating a massive 15-minute-incremented schedule for every member of the family. Believe me, doing something like that is setting yourself up for total failure.
Instead, begin by creating and implementing a morning routine. Write down five things you want to do in the same order every morning and commit to getting up and doing these first thing every morning for three weeks.
Here's my current morning routine:
1. Get up, wake Kaitlynn up to nurse, read God's Word, journal, spend time in prayer
2. Exercise while Kaitlynn watches nearby
3. Put Kaitlynn back down, shower, dress
4. Make Jesse's lunch, spend time with him before he leaves for work
5. Start load of laundry, make tea, take vitamins
Since you have a different husband and family and might be in a different season of your life than me, your five things will likely look much different than mine, like Tammy's here. Think of what would work best for your family (ask your husband for input, too!), then write it down, put it in a conspicuous location (on your bathroom mirror to see first thing each morning, or on the refrigerator, etc.), and commit to sticking with this routine for at least three weeks.
After three weeks, evaluate if there is anything you should tweak or add to this morning routine and consider how it is working for you. If you've never had much organization in your life, I am quite sure that this one little step could make a huge impact on your entire day!
As always, remember that this list of five things is not a slavemaster--it's just a guideline to help you. If your children or husband need help or something else important comes up, take a detour from it and then come back to the next thing as soon as you are able. You never want to be slave to a to-do list or schedule so that you are bull-dozing over your family or others in the process. The morning routine is there to benefit the family; if it is not being an asset, it needs to be tweaked or changed.
Once I had well-established a morning routine and had been reaping the fruits which came from this, I was excited to develop even more organization into my life. We'll talk more about what I did next soon!
Do you have a basic schedule/routine for your day that you follow? If so, what has helped you to develop this discipline and stick with it? If you don't have a schedule/routine, what is your greatest struggle or hurdle to overcome in trying to do so?
posted by Crystal Paine at 11:00 AM
11 Comments:
I have a related question. I am like you and NEED a schedule of some sort. My baby is 5 weeks old today and is just starting to get the difference between night and day, but still his wake up time in the morning varies widely and when he needs to eat varies each day. So what do you do. My alarm goes off at 6:30am. Sometimes Ben has already been up to eat and sometimes he is still sleeping. Do I just start at 6:30 regardless and do what I can until he gets up and start from there?
my greatest struggle is getting up on time. It's so hard for me to get out of bed until I HAVE to to get ready for the day in a rush.
I am a routine person. Not necessarily tied to the clock, but to doing things in an orderly fashion, consistently. But I also get easily weighed down by procrastination if I am not dilligent.
It's funny, tuesday is my day to blog about this theme as well and provide "tricks of the trade" in the area of routine and organization.
The thing that has helped me the most is learning to treasure the "doing" rather than just the "getting it done". And baby steps in all things.
My biggest hindrance to order is procrastination over BIG things. Thus the baby steps rule.
Crystal, I love all of your organization posts and the spirit in which you write them. You are so helpful with these tips, yet not legalistic. And I like that you treat homemaking as something you love, but also something you can make more organized and efficient, like you would with a career outside the home. So many of your tips apply to me, even though I am a single college student.
For me, getting a planner has been the most helpful thing I've done in 2008. I always had one before, but never used it much, and in fall 2007 I couldn't find one I wanted, so I didn't use one. Finally I found a great FranklinCovey planner at Target, and have been using it daily. It is so incredibly helpful.
Finding a workable morning schedule has been a huge struggle for me. I usually stick with one for a week or so and then I wind up off track. And once I start to let my mornings become lazy it affects the whole family and day. I have found recently that getting up early and reading my Bible first thing really helps me get going. I then make hubby breakfast and exercise once he heads to work.
Thanks for all the great ideas on finding a workable schedule. You are a fantastic homemaker and reading your blog helps me to be a better one too.
Erin
http://frugalhomestory.blogspot.com/
I find too, that doing things gradually helps me. I get overwhelmed when I try to get super organized or scheduled all at once.
Example. Say my goal is to spend 2 hours each day cleaning my house. If I start scheduling 2 hours each day and fail, then I feel like a failure. If I start with 1/2 hour, then when I succeed with this for a week, then I can move it up to an hour and so on, until I reach my goal. This works for me at least.
I am currently doing something very similar to your 5 things.
I wake up, spend time in the Word, exercise, shower, get ready, unload my dishwasher, start a load of laundry and fold one, and then I nurse the baby, and we all eat breakfast together.
But recently that has been a bit much for me. So I have cut out exercise for this week only. I am making sure I get my other things done first. Next week, when I feel I have more of a handle on my schedule, I will make sure I have the time to exercise in my morning routine.
I have tried "scheduling" my day many times, and would feel frustrated watching the clock and feeling that anything unexpected just threw my whole schedule, and therefore my day, off.
Now I'm working with a "routine", no times, only an order of events, and an approximate idea of when these things will happen. I have an early morning routine, a morning routine (up until lunchtime), an early afternoon routine, and a late afternoon routine, and my planning stops after dinner cleanup, because that is my time with my husband and family (if anyone is interested, I've posted my daily routine on my blog, in my Getting Organized category).
My current morning routine is:
1) Wake up and shower/dress, etc.
2) Nurse the baby/ prayer time
(sometimes #1 and #2 are switched in order- depends on when the baby wakes)
3) Bible/devotional time
4) Blog work
5) Make breakfast for my family
And to comment on what you said about having to make your schedule work for you, rather than the other way around, you are so right. Having a good schedule is a great place to begin, but if I'm not disciplined in acting upon that schedule, it doesn't translate into much being accomplished.
Thanks for this series- it's great!
I agree about organization makes peace! I, too, am highly (highly) distracted and flighty, so routines are a must if I'm to get through my day without forgetting to do something or feeling like I'm constantly last-minute for everything. We have a pretty solid morning routine, but I do have a question for you, if you don't mind answering.
You include in your morning routine putting Kaitlynn back down to bed. How exactly do you do that? I know every child/family/parenting style is different, but for the life of me I can't wake up without my daughter (9mo) waking up and once I'm up, she's up. If I want her to go back down I have to lay down with her or I spend close to an hour rocking her to sleep.
I'm just curious what works for you, how you put your babies down for naps and bedtime. Maybe something will resonate with me and I can use it to modify our current pattern. Thanks so much!
I love the 5 things idea! I often get stuck feeling like I have to stick to our 30 minute increment schedule and that can lead to feeling like the day was a failure sometimes. As I read through your post, I saw the wisdom of your words and realized that I already do something very similar. Thanks for pointing it out!
For myself a big struggle has been just not knowing day-to-day how I will feel. I can often plan out tomorrow but then discouraged if I am not feeling my best & don't accomplish what I'd like. This happens more often than not.
Perhaps I need to make smaller goals, but I would be open to any advice, Crystal.
I really am enjoying this series too & am looking forward to what else you have to share.
Signed, Easily Distracted (Lyn)
My biggest challenge - is being disciplined enough to get up and ready before my kids. If I do the day goes well and I get a lot accomplished. When I am lazy and stay in bed then I drag all day and the kids seem to drag too.
Michelle
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