5 Tips for the Wake Up / Clean Up / Eat Up / Get Out Process!

I recently read this blog article, “20 Unproductive Habits You Should Let Go“, and this was #10:

“#10:  Not having structure.  You don’t need to set a rigid schedule for yourself, Sergeant Crazy! Creating a general morning and evening routine will give you creative pillars to depend on so you can take more risks throughout the day.”

I l-o-v-e this statement.  After coaching for years on time management, I appreciate a new way to look at routines and why to have them.  General morning and evening routines give us a base for operating more fearlessly throughout the day.  Awesome!

There once was a teenager who abandoned her routine on days off.  Sleeping late, eating irregularly, not showering or getting ready as usual.  Sounds pleasant enough, until sleeping and eating late caused migraines, and not-getting-ready meant that she couldn’t be spontaneous or on time when she made plans with friends.

We can see the trouble so easily with the teenager, but fast-forward this scene to adulthood.  We all know, and may even occasionally be, the late sleeper, irregular eater, unwashed masses or non-routine person, and that is fine, once in a while.  But most days require us to get up and moving.  And a little planning can make morning time and anytime flow smoothly, providing both strength and structure, and flexibility and creativity.

Here are some tools and tips to make the wake up / clean up / eat up / get out process go better.

1. Make it your Own.  Wake up early and do yoga or write.  Wring every ounce of sleep from your pillow and sleep late.  I won’t judge.  But if you tend to sleep late, minimize your shower routine, lay out your clothes the night before, and grab granola bars and apples for a portable breakfast.  Don’t let me tell you what to do, do what you want.  Just plan ahead.
2. If you’re in charge, Focus!  Eyes on the goal, Mom or Dad!  The Goal for the Morning Routine is  getting everyone to school / work prepared and on time!  I have to get up and shower by 6, so everyone else can stick with their routines.  But early morning focus and motivation are often lacking!  So I have to look past my pillow, or my IPad for email and Facebook, or my work and to-do list, or even the novel I was reading in bed last night.  Some mornings require lots of internal reminders and hard-won discipline, but I must keep my eyes on the goal to get us where we need to be when we need to be there.
3. Make it a Team Effort: Whenever I present to parents, I encourage a team approach and asking for collaboration from children when establishing morning routines.  We all want to feel that our opinion matters, and that we have control over our situation.  Set the examples, and discuss what needs to happen and how.
4. Keep it Simple.  It may sound counterintuitive, but if you are maxed out, keep morning chores to a minimum and just cover the basics.  I have a bad habit of loading too many things into my morning.  Juggling wake up times for the younger two with drop off times for the oldest, fitting in writing and emails and billing and scheduling around drop-offs, drop-ins, laundry and spelling words could make me crazy (and occasionally does).  So I try to limit my work tasks before 8:30 to bare essentials.  As a self-employed business owner with a non-traditional schedule, that’s a challenge, but I try!
5. Slack off occasionally, but still stick with routine.  We had a day off this week, but I was still up and showered by 6:20.  So when the little guy asked to get donuts at 7:15, the answer was yes!  We could have fun and be flexible over a box of munchkins and a bagel because we had stuck to our routines.

So, rise and shine, give your morning routine some thought and Get Going!!  Have a great day!