Daily Routines Aren’t Foo Foo Talk, They Actually Work

The Problem:

I wasn’t a morning person… or a routine person (because daily routines are monotonous, right?!)…

I used to hit the snooze on my alarm each and every morning…eventually waking up 25 minutes before I needed to be out of the door.

It only took 5 minutes to pull my hair back and quickly put on simple makeup.

5 minutes to quickly down a protein shake while picking out my clothes for the day.

5 minutes to grab everything I needed before heading out the door.

The extra 10 minutes were for running around like a chicken with my head cut off because I wasn’t certain I was remembering everything.

That led to chaos each and every day. I was flustered, I felt rushed and that’s not the best way to start your day.

I would ignore the mess in my home and actually create extra messes because I didn’t have the time. Hoping, perhaps, that someone else in my family would clean up for me. I was 99% of the time disappointed when I got home to find the house was still the way I left it (sometimes worse).

I felt like I wasn’t in control of my day or my home.

Have you felt the same way?

Are you tired of feeling like a slave to you home?

Does it feel like it is filled with more burdens rather than blessings?

Do you feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants every single day?

The Solution:

I have two words for you: daily routines.

By setting up simple routines, you will be able to start and end your days the best way possible. Try a creating a simple routine like mine and you’ll see some pretty major results in just a month.

A simple to do list is made of up small things, that once you get in the habit of doing them, they really make life easier.

The key is simplifying. Don’t create a giant to do list for yourself, that will be counterproductive and you won’t be able to maintain it.

Morning Routine

• As soon as I wake up, make bed. This helps at the end of the day when I’m tired and it makes me feel good.
• have “me time” over coffee. Once my coffee is done, it’s time to get myself ready. This is when I scroll aimlessly through Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. I’m not going to lie and say I meditate, though eventually, I would like to.
• unload dishwasher and put away. I make smoothies in the morning and every morning I have a clean ninja blender to make them.
• start a load of laundry if I have one… usually only twice a week.

Evening Routine

• unless I’m ill, I tidy the main living spaces every night.
• start the dishwasher before I got to bed.
• sit down with my calendar and look at what my day looks like the next day. Then I pick the top 3 most important things to accomplish. This saves me from overwhelm.
• choose my clothes for the next day. If you only try one thing, do this! Prepping the night before has been so amazing for me.
• fold and put away laundry.

 

Are you worried you won’t have time to do this?
AM routine takes me 30 minutes.
PM routine takes about the same.
I never feel rushed or unprepared for my days by incorporating these routines. Here’s the shocker, the routine still takes the same amount of time that I used to have when I was super rushed.

The last thing I want is to have a huge to do list in the morning… I don’t want to think, but what I do want is to slowly slide into my day.

I do the hardest things at night. That’s the best time for me to do the thinking things. When I take the time to prep the night before it sets up my morning to be good.. sometimes great… because when I walk down to the main floor, it’s all tidy and ready to go. I feel like I can breeeeeath. It’s great!

Now, if you’re a morning person, I would do pretty much the opposite of my routine.

So tell me, do you have daily routines?