Make. Morning. Routine.
Sounds so boring doesn't it?!
If you ask my husband about me and
routine when we first met he would tell you that I would balk at the idea and
do what ever I could to sabotage his attempts at getting me in to one,
especially in the mornings. He however has been the master of them since the dawn
of time (slight exaggeration but this man thrives on routine!) and you could
set your watch by what he did and when he did it.
Cue parenthood and a screaming
newborn...
And so routine - any routine really, all went to shit for a while
as we got our heads around the whole thing, a year passed and I settled in to
being a working mama but still no real routine for me and the babe, husband -
still morning routine like clock work (however at this point after dealing with
the messy and unpredictable experience that is raising a child he had learned to
cope with a bit of variation, flexibility and the odd spontaneous twist of fate
that a puking toddler can bring into the mix!).
Then, enter baby number two and I
realised, very quickly, that if didn't get my shit together this time then two
small people - one of which had to be somewhere, at a certain time, would be
very challenging and on top of that, as if we weren't a gluten for punishment
enough, we had also just moved house and husband was trying to re-establish his
business in a different part of the country.... oh and the baby had a cows milk
allergy so lots of reflux, screaming and sleepless nights while she fed for
comfort... and oh yeah, I suffered with PND and my eldest was about to start
school and the chaos of our life was just immense....
So what did I do?
Yes you've guessed it (title was a
bit of a give away right?!), I started to carve out a morning routine for us!
No longer could I rebel in my
independence, I needed to be organised, I needed to achieve and I needed to get
shit done, and actually I needed to make sure I was taken care of too. Finding
something to wear that didn't make me feel like an über frumpy mum, blow drying
my hair and putting on some make up are all part of building up my self love.
Eating well and not just living on coffee and rice crispies was and still is
important to my health and well being and only having roughly 20 mins to just
exercise/set intentions/write to do lists/feed the cats/unstack the dishwasher
or whatever else that needs to get done early without two grumpy or excitable
girls, depending on the day, hanging off my legs is a game changer for the rest
of the day.
So a conversation took place between
me and the husband, much to his delight and fueled by my utter frustration of
always being late, looking like crap and forgetting to eat or pack something
important. We thrashed out a morning routine that seemed to tick at least a few
boxes for each of us and would get all of us where
we needed to be at the right time feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed.
It wasn't easy to come up with one
that worked right away, my husband and I both work from home but he likes to
get started super early and I don't want to be left to deal with toddler
tantrums and dramas about homework/hairstyles/school lunches (yes she is five
going on fifteen!) all by myself!
A few slight disagreements and some
compromising later we came up with a plan and it works! It has totally
transformed our morning dynamic as a family - grown ups get what they need to
get going for the day, children get what they need (and so do the cats!) and
for most of the time we are on time and feeling good about it, yay!
As our girls get older, as our needs
as working parents, business owners, husband and wife (not trying to be sexy
here!) and as individuals change we will have to adapt it and have actually had
to do this with a few ongoing tweaks already but man oh man, life is so much
better with a morning routine! And if my husband is reading this he's about to
come and tell me I told you so!
So what does your morning routine
look like?
Stumble out of bed with alarm on
snooze or rude awakening by child/pet/bin man?
Do you run or work out, meditate or
visualise?
Do you shower, eat breakfast and run
out the house forgetting to put underwear on?
Maybe it's an utter disaster and you
need to re-haul the whole thing or maybe it's OK but a bit of inspiration to
make some positive changes would really set you up to get your shit done, each
and every day ready to make that change? - well, keep reading because Im going
to share with you some small changes that can have a big impact on your morning
routine and what to do when your day starts off a disaster....
1. Preparation is key - you may or may not of heard this before but getting even
semi organised the night before really helps. In our family once the clock
strikes 8pm we're good for nothing so our night before prep is minimal but what
we do make sure we do every night is pick out clothes for the next day, write
out a to do list or daily plan and sometimes if I'm feeling super energised
I'll prep for breakfast, have school bags packed and have laundry reading to
chuck in to the machine first thing - all these things help massively to start
our day off better and if there is only one thing you tweak for a better
morning routine it should be this one, what prep could you do the night before?
2. Get up earlier - I can hear you moaning already, especially if you have
small people who wake through the night like I do or you tend to be a night owl
and are up late the night before, however even an extra 10-15 minutes will make
a massive difference to your day, think of all the extra things you could
achieve in that time, even just having more time in the shower to shave your
legs, drink a cup of coffee or not having to run to catch your bus/train or
whatever, starting your day slightly earlier will give you less stress and more
calm and control, who doesn't want that?!
Here are more ideas of what you can
achieve by getting up earlier
Exercise
Meditate
Read the newspaper
Paint your toenails
Make a super healthy breakfast
Getting some extra hugs from the
people you love
Write a chapter of a book or a blog
post
Phone a friend
Write out your to do list and tick
some of it off
Apply for your dream job or book
your dream holiday
Get to work earlier or even just on
time
Stop for a coffee on the way
Morning sex!
What would you do with an extra 10,
20, 30 minutes?
3. Take care of you - what I mean by this is doing something that enhances your
well being, it could be anything on the list above and actually getting up
earlier makes this easier and more likely to happen but you can also fit it in
to what you're doing already for example you can listen to an podcast or audio
book whilst showering, eating breakfast or traveling to work. You can stretch
and move your body to warm it up for the day ahead - this is one I personally
struggle with, the last thing I want to do when I wake up is exercise but I can
tell you now when I make the effort to do this, which actually means making the
effort o care for myself, I feel amazing, motivated and ready to take on
anything (even a mega toddler tantrum!)
Weaving these 3 changes in to your
morning routine will super charge it, I can guarantee you. You also need to ensure you have the basics - wash, dress,
eat, it may seem obvious but I know lots of people who don't put as much time
in to these things as they could but actually these basics are essential for a
good day ahead and can leave you feeling off balanced if you don't prioritise
them too.
Remember you are instigating a
lifestyle change here so it may take time to find a routine that's right for
your life, try out different combinations of
what order you do things until you have something in place that works and feels
positive. Making a change a first may feel hard, you may give yourself an
excuse that you simply aren't a morning person but change doesn't come easy or
with out commitment or dedication. Inevitably there will be days when it all
goes wrong - our family are experts in cocked up morning routines so here's
a little tip we remember when our morning start off on the wrong foot...
Except that today is different, that
it might have its pitfalls and then let it go, you can and will start again
tomorrow!
Here is some more morning routine
inspiration you might like:
So, feel ready to make
your morning routine?
I'd love to hear more
of your ideas on how you streamline your mornings, what you do to feel
organised and motivated, or maybe what you are struggling with the most with a
routine.
Sharing tips and ideas
means we can all benefit so don't be shy....
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