Maximize Your Mornings

As of September 15, I began a maximize your mornings challenge.  Since starting, I've found that it only works if a bed time routine is also in place.  The past week, I've aimed for getting up at 6:30 before the kids do, and while that is working, I've been overly exhausted.  Then, the lightbulb went off.  If I want to manage crawling out of bed a little earlier, I should probably crawl in it earlier as well.  Easier said than done, my friends.  I'm hoping this will even itsself out over time, preferably over the next week, because I'm so tired today that absolutely nothing is going to be done, other than a nap and the dishes.  BUT, I will have had my quiet time, and the day will go so much smoother.

The Good Things: 

Quiet/Prayer Time: 
Before now, I  haven't taken time to do that daily since, oh, probably middle school.  To be honest, I'm not sure if I even took the time to do it monthly.  Now, with this challenge, I have made an effort to spend at least twenty minutes of my hour or so in prayer/reading something spiritual.  I have found that in doing so, I am slowly growing closer to God, and allowing my children to learn and do so as well.  It is a nice feeling when you finally feel back on track with your life.  I guess God, this challenge, and the right timing have hit me just right.  This sure is one habit that will stick, whether I get the queit time in the morning, during naps, or wherever I can squeeze it, it will be squeezed in. 

Laundry:
So, I'm rather convinced laundry wasn't a part of the whole maximize your mornings challenge, but I have found it a big part of mine.  In the past four days, I have started a load the second I walk down to the basement.  By the time I'm done with my quiet time and what not, it is ready to dry.  After breakfast, it is dried and ready to be folded/put away.  Yay for progress!  Now, Mount Washmore has nothing on me and will soon be reduced to a molehill simply because I now know how to accomplish more than one load at a time.  (This can be saved for another post on a day I don't have much to write about.)  Three cheers for a work in progress.

The Rest of the Day:
It has been about two and a half weeks since starting.  In these two and a half weeks, my days have gone so much smoother.  I don't feel like I'm hunting for ME time, and I don't feel like I need the entire day for that.  I have a house to clean, kids to feed, kids to entertain, and overall, there just isn't much time for ME at the end of the day.  Now that I've started this, the ME morning time has solved my hunt issue, and now, I have that sense of, well, personality.  I'm not just the wife/mom; I'm ME too.  That feeling, right there, is amazing in every way.  Knowing who you are and that you can find time to figure out who you are on a regular basis makes everything much easier, or so it seems. 



The Bad Thing:

Sleep Patterns:
My sleep patterns are so out of whack.  I am only getting up about 45 minutes earlier than pre-challenge, but that 45 minutes is less time for sleep.  Like I stated above, hopefully this one just smooths itsself out over time, because I cannot handle being so exhausted all day every day.  Luckily, this is a small itty bitty problem, and I can handle it easily.  It in no way cancels out all those good things.








Overall, I love this idea, and even when the challenge "ends", it won't be over for me.  I always keep things that work hanging around as much as I can.  If you haven't already started something like this, I highly recommend it.  There's even more good that can come if you allow that.