These are a few things that make my mornings better:
1. Getting enough sleep. We're night owls, and have lately barely gotten to bed before midnight. It is a terrible habit, especially while having some kind of pregnancy insomnia. So "enough sleep" for me is better than 6 hours. It is preparing me for having an infant again, when "sleeping through the night" means longer than 5 hours at a time.
2. Coffee. You know I love it. And without it, I get a headache in the afternoon. So, it really makes the whole day go better.
3. A quiet time. At least 15 minutes with an open Bible and no interruption. Extra good if it comes with coffee. And the Holy Spirit, of course. Many bloggers are getting involved in Maximize Your Mornings. I have almost started many times, but have not made the dedicated commitment yet.
4. Setting realistic expectations for my day. This goes in all directions: Expectations of what I can accomplish, of what I can expect from my 21 month old, of what I can expect from my husband. If I think I can clean the bathrooms and organize the pantry and still go to the grocery store, while keeping peace in toddler-land and making a delicious dinner for all of us, you can expect me to melt down by 2 PM. I'm usually better off re-prioritizing before I go into angry, overwhelmed mode.
5. Having a dinner plan. If I know what I will make for dinner, a huge burden of stress has been lifted from my day. And if it's something easy, all the better.
6. If I can wake up before the toddler does, I feel like I'm 4 steps ahead of the game.
7. And if I can get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth, and perhaps even fix my hair and put on makeup, before anyone else needs me, I feel like I'm ready for just about anything.
8. This one is completely out of my control, but if there is sunshine in the morning, my day is that much happier.
9. Breakfast. Ideally something with a substantial amount of protein in it. Sam appreciates when I eat a good breakfast, too--I'm a lot nicer.
10. I have noticed that on days that my computer is not touched before noon, everything goes much more smoothly. As much as I love it, it sucks the life out of my days.
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1. This is the one that gets me everytime.
ReplyDelete2. No much of a coffee drinker, but love tea. Sorry, can we still be friends?
3. Get on it! I'm still not consistent, but I'm having more days of waking early to do this than not, and it seriously makes a huge difference.
4. I expect too much too. =|
5. I have a weekly menu but having that morning time to assess the day's plans helps a ton!
6. Definitely!
7. If I could live in my PJs all day everyday I would. So comfy! Getting dress helps me be more productive for some reason. =p
8. I can't wait for the sunshine. Need some Vit D!!!
9. I can't not have breakfast.
10. Same here.
Yes, yes, and YES! I agree with every one of these! Fantastic less. I'm REALLY going for that second cup of coffee now, because (a) it's raining here and (b) as you can see, I'm already on the computer. Not giving myself a good start! Yikes...
ReplyDelete...and by "less" I meant "list." Oh boy, it's starting already!
ReplyDelete