A few moths ago I realized something I was lacking (among other things) was routine. My days lack any sort of structure and I pretty much do what I want to do, when I want to do it. And quite honestly, I never feel very accomplished and nothing runs very smoothly around here. What a sad way to live your life; frustrated, disorganized and unaccomplished. I want to feel at peace, organized, and effective!
So here is a morning, afternoon and evening routine I developed for myself. It's pretty detailed, but that's what I need until it all comes naturally (which could take a while).
I printed it off and put it in a page protector and hung it on my fridge.. I check off each task with a dry erase marker right on the plastic sheet (so I can erase it and reuse each day). It's been working pretty well....when I work it that is. I find that my greatest problem is that I just plain forget to do my routine. Good habits are hard to make!
Morning Routine
-Get up no later than 8am, make coffee, head to sun room to read, pray and journal.
-Get dressed in workout clothes and tennis shoes, brush teeth, put up hair
-Exercise at least 20 minutes
-Make daughter breakfast
-Get daughter dressed, brush teeth and hair
-Make beds, straighten bathroom, put in a load of laundry
-Turn off televisions for home-school lessons, play and reading time
-Lay out frozen meat for dinner
-Take time (myself) to eat, when hungry
Afternoon Routine
-Make daughter some lunch
-Clean kitchen, putting dishes away
-Daily chores (per flylady.net...give or take a few)
-Fold and put away laundry
-Outside play with daughter
-Shower and change clothes
-Take time to eat, when hungry
Evening Routine
-Make dinner
-Eat dinner (if hungry, otherwise, just enjoy family time)
-Clean up dishes, wipe down all kitchen surfaces
-Quick vacuum and Swiffer of the floors
-Set coffee pot
-Daughter ready for bed
-Spend time with hubby
-Me time (computer, read, write, tv, etc.)
-Wash face, brush teeth, put on nightgown
-Lay out next day's clothes
-Bed by 11:30pm.
Sounds great! I love routines and schedules. Each year I would adjust our homeschool schedule to reflect that year's current needs.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm not homeschooling my routine is different, obviously. Sometimes it's hard to have a routine based on my current schedule so I have some benchmarks of things that HAVE to be done at a certain time, etc. That way I know that the important things aren't neglected.