During my life update post a few weeks back, I mentioned how I'd like to start following a more organized and consistent daily schedule, especially on work days when quality family and personal time is at a premium.
Well, I haven't totally succeeded on this front just yet. Still hauling butt out of bed most mornings at the same time as S which throws the whole day off-kilter. But! I've convinced myself that I just need to write down my ideal vision of an average work day, and then everything will flow like silk. Right? :)
So here's what I have in mind:
6:30 AM: Wake up with my alarm clock. Stretch, walk around a bit, have a glass of water.
6:35 AM: Shower, get dressed, brush teeth, put in contacts, dry hair.
6:59 AM: Feel like a human already! Yay! :)
7:00 AM: Make tea/coffee and light breakfast (including protein). Catch up on emails, news, blogging stuffs.
7:45 AM: Tidy. Go upstairs to see if S is up. (She usually wakes between 7:45 amd 8:00.)
8:00 AM: QUALITY wake up time with S! Giggles, tickles, books, toys, etc. Diaper change. (Feeling awake & energetic at this time makes things SOOO much more enjoyable - for both of us!)
8:15 AM: Breakfast for S.
8:30 AM: A bit more play time, ready bag for day care (diaper stuffs, extra outfit, milk).
8:45 AM: S to daycare
9:00 AM: Work
11:30 AM: Lunch
1:00 PM: Walk - 10-15 mins around neighborhood
1:15 PM: Work
5:00 PM: S back from daycare
5:15 PM: Make dinner (ideally based on a menu plan); play with S. Play music in background.
6:30 PM: Eat dinner.
7:00 PM: Bath for S
7:15 PM: Quiet play in S' room. Toys & books.
7:45 PM: Milk for S (bottle / sippy)
8:00 PM: Brush S' teeth. Bed time!
8:05 PM: Clean kitchen, spray down diapers, get laundry in, other basic cleaning/tidying.
8:45 PM: Personal time - blogging, reading, etc.
10:00 PM: Relax with hubs - hang out, talk, watch a couple shows, etc.
11:00 PM: Go to sleep!
If you've been kicking around here awhile, you may recall that I wrote a post last Summer on this very same topic. I held off reading my old schedule until my new one was written, however both renditions ended up describing almost identical early morning and late evening times and activities (with dramatically different happenings in the middle, obviously - since I was on mat leave with S all day when I wrote the first one). So clearly I have a consistent vision of how I want to take advantage of personal time over an average day - now just a matter of following through with it!
Getting up daily at 6:30 AM has (frustratingly) proven to be the loftiest goal of all, but the most vital one so I'm going to achieve it this time around, dern it! My coworker told me today that 3 weeks is the threshold for successfully forming new habits, so that's the milestone I'm shooting for. Wish me luck!
What about you? Do you attempt to follow a schedule for all or part of your days? Or do you prefer to go with the flow?
Maybe I should do a post like this. Heaven knows my evenings could use some tweaking (and by tweaking, I mean I need 2 more hours).
ReplyDeleteGetting up early sucks. That said, I still get up a half hour earlier than I need to in order to have alone time to drink tea and read. It's worth it.