In order to make a change, you must first determine what it is that isn't working and what you want to be different.
The next phase of my day to address following the bedtime routine...is the morning routine. Makes sense right?! Sometimes there is a logical pattern to these things, lol!
Week one was devoted to gaining much needed sleep and developing a routine for going to bed on time. Week two was devoted to developing my bedtime routine and creating a habit.
Notes on the bedtime routine: for me it was more about the personal-care aspect rather than the cleaning aspects...but I've been noticing it's easier each night to empty and shine the sink. And those 5 minute mess nest cleanings seem to multiply and what once was a giant mound of paperwork, shoes, towels, etc. are no more than anthills or completely gone! 5 minutes is better than no minutes and little by little I am getting there.
Developing the morning routine was a bit more difficult than the bedtime routine. I do a ton of different things in the morning...and I didn't see at first how to manage adding a task each day that made sense. For the morning routine, it was important that I made sure that whatever I was doing prior to beginning my daycare day would be able to be accomplished between the alarm and the doorbell. I assigned time-frames to each task...not to rush me through, but to allow me enough time to have a relaxed morning, not one full of rushing, stressing and craziness!
Here's what I came up with:
Monday: Shower, dress including shoes, do my hair and make-up.
No-brainer right? Of course, I already shower each day, but now that I have my clothes already picked out, I can dress quickly. Doing my hair and make-up seemed at first to be a bit over the top, cuz really do toddlers really care about what I look like? As long as I'm fun, and play with them...does it matter? It apparently matters to me. I feel different when my hair is 'did' and my 'face is on'. I feel like I'm making a viable contribution to my home because I AM going to work. I mean really, who doesn't like to look good?!
Tuesday: Shower, dress including shoes, do hair and make-up
Spray, Swish and Swipe
Spraying the shower with daily shower cleaner after every use is a good way to keep mildew and soap scum at bay. It only takes a minute while the shower is steamy, not only that but I swish the toilet bowl with a tiny bit of all-purpose cleaner and a toilet brush, then I wipe the counters, sink and mirror with a micro-fiber cloth and bit of all-purpose cleaner. Doing this daily keeps the grime and gunk from even building up! Now, when it's time for a deep clean, it'll take that much less time since half your work is already done!
Wednesday: 20 Minute Movement
Shower, Dress including shoes, Do Hair and face
Spray, Swish and Swipe
With no formal exercise time for me throughout the day, a vigurous refusal to pay for a gym membership, and little time. 20 minutes is all I've got right now to spare for exercise. Yes, I know it's important to exercise for a variety of reasons, but I've never liked it (hate to sweat, ya know!?) However, from what I understand exercise in the morning can really set your day up right, increase your metabolism and help me lose weight. I plan to do yoga videos or borrow a friend's zumba workout videos. Eventually, I hope to add time in the evening to walk the dogs...and between the extra energy of the proper amount of sleep at night, and the added boost from daily exercise in the morning, something tells me it won't be long before the dogs and I are huffing along after dinner.
Thursday: 20 Min Movement
Shower, Dress including shoes, Do Hair and face
Spray, Swish and Swipe
Coffee and breakfast, take vitamin.
My daily breakfast is usually a couple cups of coffee and that's it until my tummy is rumbling too loudly too ignore and then maybe a granola bar. Not a good start to the day. I'm finding now that I'm getting up on time, and actually feeling better sleep-wise I can really tell when I need to eat. I menu-plan every week for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner every day, mostly for the daycare, but why can't I eat what I serve them for breakfast? They are healthy, nutritiously balanced meals and could give me the extra oomph I need in the AM. Plus, now I can serve my hubby a healthy balanced meal to make his military job that much easier and we can eat together...more time with DH...nice!
Friday: 20 Min Movement
Shower, Dress including shoes, Do Hair and face
Spray, Swish and Swipe
Coffee and breakfast, take vitamin
Check Planner
Again Attachment Planning at it's best! Taking this baby with me everywhere, remember? Taking a few minutes in the morning to plan my day, while eating a healthful meal, perfect! Takes no time at all since I check my planner at night...but it does give me a reminder that I need to iron that shirt for dinner tonight with friends, take the hamburger out of the freezer for spaghetti with meat sauce, remind DH that it's trash night, etc.
So, now I've been alarmed, exercised, showered, dressed, shoed, dolled-up, fed, caffeinated, and planned. By the end of the week, I was getting used to doing all of these things. I still have to remind myself. I have sheets of paper outlining my routine for the day in my planner, so when I'm checking my planner, I'm reminded and I can go do the task quickly. I have had moments where I just don't want to...but I try to remind myself, it's about the dishes, or the mess nest, or whatever I'm not wanting to do...it's about the feeling of accomplishment, the pride in a clean home, the ability AND TIME to do other things and share them wholeheartedly with my family.
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