Making Mornings Easier

The Prelude:

I know I break blogger rule #1 by not writing much about myself and there is not a single picture of me on here, anywhere.  I’m a pretty private person and I’m intensely introverted.  But I realize that some of what I write about won’t make sense without some context.  So here goes.  I’m married to a great man and we have two awesome kids, a 9 year old girl and 6 year old boy. I work full time Monday through Friday and I try to run this house and care for my kids and myself and do some things that I love in my spare time.  What spare time, right?  Writing this blog is one of those things that I love that I make time for.  But, I have to say, juggling everything is HARD.  There are so many moving parts at all times that I definitely struggle with keeping everything together.  Ok, back to your regularly scheduled blog post…

Balanceroutines

I usually post Sunday through Thursday night, but this weekend, I got inspired.  Inspired is not really the right word.  I got frustrated because I struggle every weekend with balancing relaxing and accomplishing things.  I came up with some deadlines and routines to help me get some balance and not feel guilty when I want to take a break and read a book or take a nap.  I followed those routines and deadlines and I did relax on Sunday morning and I didn’t feel guilty because I had a plan. It worked out well.  I’ve already got a great morning routine that works for us.  I still have a couple of places that still need some work:  my evening routine, my paperwork routine and my exercise routine.

 

My evening routine is starting to come together.  I have several things that need to be accomplished every evening:

  • Homework x2 kids
  • Dinner
  • Load of Laundry
  • Clean the kitchen
  • Tidy up downstairs
  • Tidy up upstairs
  • Pick out outfits x3
  • Write a blogpost

Most nights that’s what gets done.  When those things get done, the morning moves along more smoothly and if I do those things consistently during the week, the weekend goes more smoothly, too, because I’m not playing catch up.

What I’m missing and what I think are the last two pieces to really start to get a handle on all of the chaos is a routine for handling paperwork and I need to find some time somewhere to add in a regular exercise routine. I’ve tried adding that to the evening routine, but it never sticks.  I’m so not a morning person, but I’m going to give it a try.  I have some ideas on how to work on the paper avalanche that enters this home every day and I plan to work on a system for that, once and for all, this weekend.  I’ll give you a hint.  It’s inspired by this:

 

Organizing Your Life: How to Go Paperless and Add Hours to Your Week

What tips do you have for juggling the craziness of life?  When do fit in working out and what do you do with the reams of paper that come through the door everyday?

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