A little morning update…

A few weeks ago I set out to maximize my mornings. It has been a bumpy ride, but most new habits encounter some resistance at first. I'm not giving up yet!  This post is a little update. (And a true testament to just how un-with-it I can be.)

Before I start, can I just say how much I love the picture my daughter drew for this post? The momma looks so happy!

At this point, it is almost impossible for my mornings to look how I want them to. I felt a little frustrated at first, but have since reminded myself that this time in my life is just a season. By “this time”, I mean having a baby who sleeps in my bedroom and still wakes up at night.  Although a quiet morning would be lovely, I certainly wouldn’t trade my baby for one! And this season is truly flying by too fast!

It would be easy to fill two hours with activity before the kids wake up: Bible study, prayer, exercise, planning.  As it is, I can only manage about one hour right now.  That is still extremely beneficial.

Sometimes I am able to sneak out of the room without waking the baby, but usually I can’t.  She is fairly content in the morning (unless she is still very tired) and I am able to do my Bible reading and prayer time with her right next to me.  It is sweet.

On twitter, Ashley mentioned drinking two cups of water while she reads the Bible. I have taken this advice and like it. Sometimes I add a little lemon, it is very refreshing and a good cleansing drink for first thing in the morning.

Actually, I really should say, I was drinking water with my Bible reading time…until I fell of the morning wagon last week.   I’m getting back on again now.

Exercise has been a struggle recently. Again it’s a matter of my wants! I’m seeing a pattern here…

Kat says to start slowly. I agree. That is the best plan for lasting change to take place.  But man, I want to get up and do P90X.  Seriously.

Kat hit the nail on the head when she spoke about creating a habit as the key to an effective routine. The post I am referring to made me laugh out loud.  Especially when she mentioned wanting to do “The 30 Day Shred EVERY day on the ADVANCED level.” That is so me!

I don’t know why it is so difficult to take baby steps and implement one small change at a time. Whenever I make some sort of adjustment, I see an unending number of other things in myself (and my family) that I’d like to revolutionize. I know many other women deal with this same problem.  Why do we want to jump in and go crazy?  Why are we unsatisfied with a little bit of improvement?  Or is it not we, just me?

My New Exercise Plan

Do 20 to 30 minutes of exercise after Bible reading and prayer.  If I can stick to this for a few weeks, then I’ll move up to the X or something else.  (My older children are staying in their rooms until I exercise. This works fairly well right now.)

Planning to Plan

This week we are adding a planning routine to our mornings. This includes creating a Master Calendar, making a Master To-Do List, selecting 3-5 recipes to make each week, and filling out a Daily Overview each day.  Here is what I’m doing:

Master Calendar
I already have a master calendar on my fridge. With it being right in front of my face, I usually look at it. I am trying to be more consistent with actually checking it in the morning.

In fact, I rest better when I check the calendar at night before bed and also when I make a to-do list in the evening.  But I still need to be in the habit of looking at both of these first thing in the morning!

Master To-Do List
I am already a crazy list maker. However, being the highly distractible person that I am, lists are often misplaced.  A quick fix would be typing my lists onto the computer. But I really don’t like looking at the computer!  So far I have found that writing my lists in a notebook works much better than having them on paper. The problem is I move the notebook sometimes, and forget where I put it! Perhaps I should tape it to my desk.

I am going to make a master to-do list of everything I want/need to do and will keep in my pending binder (I’ll post about that soon). I’m not sure how well this will work, since I am notorious for creating lovely binders and rarely opening them!

Dinner and Dinner Recipes

I already have a recipe cheat sheet, but think I will create an extra one with dinner recipes only. I’d also like to be in the habit of having the ingredients on hand to make three or four specific meals at all times.  But see what is happening now…I’m starting to want to implement a hundred and one changes!

Daily Overview

I’m going to print out the Daily Overview chart and post it on the fridge (a.k.a command central) and see how this works.

That’s it for me.  I’ll update with how everything is going in a week or so.

Thank you to all the Hello Morning Girls for your encouragement and transparency throughout this challenge!  Thanks Kat for the great e-book.  Thanks Michelle for hosting this challenge and motivating us to keep on keeping on.

How are your mornings?