Lately I have been getting up at the (slightly obscene) hour of 4:45 am. My current morning ritual looks something like this:
4:45 alarm
4:50 out of bed
4:55 coffee, check email
5:00 look at planner and plan out the day
5:10 read something with a meditative bent (previously Kabat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go, There You Are and now Waking Up by Sam Harris)
5:25 journal/write out any thoughts on what I read and intentions for the day
5:35 change and go for a run (usually outside, treadmill if Josh is away) or workout (barre3)
On some days (like today) I might write a blog post in lieu of reading.
I am in the shower by 6:30 and the kids have been sleeping until closer to 7 lately*. Although as soon as I write this I’m sure they will decide to stop 🙂
This routine looks slightly insane but it is working for me. The tradeoff is that I go to sleep most nights around 9:30. Annabel goes to bed around 8:30 these days, so my evenings are short. But this is actually a pretty nice balance for me.
Once a week or so, I sleep in and skip everything. And on weekends, I do not typically get up early because I am usually up later. I have to admit I do sort of miss my ritual on those mornings.
Other notes:
1) 2016 HOBONICHI PLANNERS ARE UP — as of today! I’ve already ordered mine.
2) Annabel started her 2nd year of preschool (the “3s” class) and it was a roaring success. She informed me that the two “words of the day” were focus and enthusiastic. And when it was time for bed and I reminded her she had school the next day, she said dreamily: “I’m going to listen exactly to the teacher!”. She is NOT always easy at her current age, but when she is being good she is just so much fun.
3) September is going to be a month of NO lifesucking web surfing. I have somehow managed to stay off of Facebook almost entirely, but other bad habits have crept back in. A pact with Ana is in progress 🙂
* of course, this will end with the time change on November 1! But there are 2 months to enjoy between then and now, so I won’t think about it too much.
7 Comments
I’m a long time reader (first comment though). I love how you incorporate stories from your personal and professional life each week, together with fitness and planning. I’m also a runner/toddler mommy with a professional career endeavoring to accomplish all I set out to do in a day.
4:45! Makes me feel wimpy calling my twice a week 5:30 wake-ups "early". My main issue with getting up earlier is that if I go to bed at 9:30 (my kids bedtime inches towards 8:45-9 some days), I’d get no time with my husband. Usually, we just chat for a bit and watch some TV and then I go to bed well before him anyways, but if I head straight to bed, it feels like I haven’t seen him for days at a time!. Do you guys just resolve to hang out more on weekends, or is Josh busy himself, getting home from work late and doesn’t mind?
This sounds like my mornings! Well, to a certain extent. I just started running with a new partner, and she is a teacher so she has an early start. I wake up at 4:45 AM and grab coffee and a snack and drive into Carrboro to meet up for a run at 5:15. I LOVE it. I get home by 6:30-6;45 which gives me time to shower and get ready before Griff wakes up and we all have breakfast together. I love how much less rushed I am in the mornings. I don’t have a lot of downtime for reading blogs and such in the mornings but I’ve shifted that to during lunch at work.
G started his PreSchool 3 class last week too. He loves being one of the "bigger kids" and is learning a lot!
And one more thing. This past weekend, we left for a day of beach and camping at Carolina Beach. 20 miles from home I realized I had forgotten my phone. I was initially really upset because I wanted to listen to podcasts on the drive, but then I really embraced my unplugged weekend. I had good conversations with dan and grifin, didn’t feel the need to take pictures of every thing we did or ate, and wasn’t texting with friends or checking facebook every few minutes. When we went to Myrtle beach last month, I also did a "No facebook week" and that was really rejuvenating. I don’t think I’ll quit entirely because I do maintain some relationships with a running club and book club, but I’ve been using it less overall. The majority of my posts are because I share instagram to my FB feed. It’s really liberating!
I also get up early daily – usually 5am in order to have some quiet/spiritual time, plan our day, and fit in some exercise when I can. 🙂 I also go to bed suuuuper early around 9pm. I just cannot last at night and my morning routine is too important to me to compromise.
Also "She is NOT always easy at her current age, but when she is being good she is just so much fun." Amen and amen said mother of 1.5 year old, Camille. 🙂
I bought a planner this morning. I was so excited that I didn’t even try to convert yen to USD to see how much it cost before purchasing it.
I love reading about other working moms routines!
I wake up at 4:45 too. I have time to run, shower, eat and have coffee before my kids wake up. My husband works swing/nights (3pm-anywhere from midnight/3 am) so going to bed early is no problem for me. I am a much better person/momma when I have that downtime in the mornings.
Yay for new Hobonichi planners! I hope they don’t sell out – it’ll be a few more weeks before I’m able to order mine. I was soooo excited about the ‘avec’ versions – the only think I don’t LOVE about my techo cousin is how heavy it is – between that, a notebook, a drink bottle, my ipad and a few essentials (eg glasses) my bag is super heavy and not great for my back. But alas – there’s no weekly pages in the avec version – having monthly, weekly and daily all in one place is why I love the cousin so much so I just can’t switch. Maybe an ipad mini when my ipad dies, maybe a smaller water bottle, maybe buying a little handcart to carry my life around in 🙂