I am most definitely NOT a morning person! I love to snuggle under the covers and sleep til the sun comes through my window. My oldest child is the same way. I often have to go to extreme measures to get him to rise and shine.
So, naturally I used to struggle to get myself out of bed in the morning. When my husband’s alarm goes off and he leaves for work by 6AM , I would roll over and try to go back to sleep, and was usually still in bed until the kids wake up between 7:30 and 8AM.
We have a rooster on our property who loves to crow at ungodly hours of the morning. I’m talking like 4AM ungodly! He used to do it right outside our bedroom window until I couldn’t take it anymore, and my sweet husband moved the chicken coop for me!
Now it’s across the property where he can crow until his little heart is content without waking up the whole house!
Mornings. What’s good about them anyway? I mean, honestly?!
Alarms. Sometimes multiple alarms.
Kids waking up and running through the house because apparently that’s how you’re supposed to wake up?!
Babies waking up with a diaper blowout while crying for their bottle.
Hectic craziness of getting kids dressed while simultaneously attempting to come up with some semblance of a decent breakfast to start the day…often with the kids in and out of the kitchen with a million “When’s breakfast ready?”
…because they’re JUST. SO. STARVING!
We all would love an easier start to our days, because let’s face it: typically our mornings set the tone for the rest of the day. So we’re usually behind schedule, running around like crazy, and end up plopping into bed at night, feeling like we haven’t accomplished much of anything.
BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
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Here are 5 ways I have transformed my mornings from chaos to success!
- Wake up before the kids!
This is by far the biggest game-changer of any of these tips, and I cannot stress it enough! Starting your day earlier, even just a few minutes before your husband or little ones wake, will help you get your day sorted a bit before everyone begins to need you all at once.
This can be as simple as getting up a few minutes before everyone else, or as much as an hour or two before, as it’s really a matter of what you hope to accomplish during this time.
In my house, my husband leaves for work around 6AM during the week and I typically get up shortly thereafter, no later than 6:30AM.
This gives me enough time to…of course, brew my first cup of coffee, and then get a few “Mommy” things done before the kids get up! Speaking of Mommy things…
- Don’t check your phone!
This bad habit can be so tempting, and I used to be just as guilty about rolling over in bed, grabbing my phone and “just checking real quick” before I got up.
But that always turned into 30+ minutes, without fail! Scrolling socials and checking emails have their place, but it certainly shouldn’t be when you first wake up.
One of the biggest reasons for this is (aside from the obvious time-waster it can quickly become), we tend to think about whatever we view or hear first in the mornings. When we put all those cares of the outside world on our shoulders right when we wake up, we’ll be carrying that all day!
Wait to check in until at least after breakfast.
Just this little habit shift in my morning routine has actually changed my whole viewpoint on my role in the home, and helps me stay focused on the more important things of my morning routine.
If you are serious about it, I have found that using your Focus mode on your phone, or turning off your app badges/notifications at night helps tremendously!
I’m one of those people that can’t stand to see a badge waiting for me anywhere on my phone screen, hence my need to really make this a priority!
- Start a load of laundry!
Seriously, this quick little habit is life-changing!
I don’t know about your house, but in mine, the laundry seems to never end! Throwing a load of laundry in the washer as soon as you get up will be a surefire way to kickstart that list of chores that also seems to never end.
Just doing this one small task always makes me feel a little more accomplished, even if I don’t get to anything else that day.
Now, folding it? That’s a completely different story! Haha!
I do try to get it folded the same day, but between babies and homeschooling and dishes and making dinner and cleaning up spills, sometimes those shirts have a few wrinkles in them from sitting in the basket too long, just being real with you!
- Have some quiet time!
This is also a HUGE game-changer for me, and I can tell the difference on days when I skip this step!
This right here is one reason to get up before the kids, because this can set YOUR mood for the whole day! Seriously!
Having a few moments to yourself to gather your thoughts and prepare your heart and mind for the day ahead will truly help you feel more focused and it will help to keep your plans on track the rest of the day!
Starting this habit can be so beneficial!
After I fix my coffee in the mornings, I will sit down at the kitchen table and open my Bible or do my devotions, depending on what I’m currently working on.
This can also be a great time to read a chapter of a book, look over your planner for the day/week, exercise, meditate, take a walk outdoors! The options are endless and so very helpful in getting your mind focused and ready for the day’s happenings during this quiet, focused time.
Some of my favorite devotionals come from The Daily Grace Co. (I am not an affiliate with them, and am not collecting any commission for mentioning them, just a shameless plug for one of my favorites!)
They have a vast assortment of beautifully designed workbooks, digging into so many necessary topics of our world today from a Biblically sound worldview. The devotionals are so well-written, in bite-sized nuggets with thought-provoking questions at the end of each section.
I am currently working on When Fear Meets Faith, and have gotten such a tremendous blessing from it so far!
If you’re looking for something new to read, check out my list of 14 personal favorites!
And last, but certainly NOT least…
- Eat Breakfast!
Now, I’ll be honest with you, I have struggled with this one a lot lately because of my baby’s morning schedule(he’ll be 11 months old next week), but I’m getting better at it now that he’s eating more table food like the rest of us. It makes it much simpler to sit down together for breakfast.
Eating breakfast is so vital for many reasons, but the most important is that our bodies have been in “fasting” mode all night, so we need that kickstart to power our bodies for the rest of the day.
When we fail to give our bodies what it needs to start the day, we’ll end up reaching for quickie things to tie us over like granola bars and the like. We end up “snacking” like this all day because now we’re knee-deep in whatever the day demands of us, which in turn causes us to feel famished by late afternoon/evening.
So we eat a big dinner, and then what? We plop down on the couch for the evening, weary from the day and then get in bed to try to catch some Zzzs.
All that feasting we just did to make up for not eating much throughout the day now sits inside us all night and….you guessed it, adds to all those contours of our body that we groan about every time we look in the mirror!
Now this doesn’t mean breakfast has to be anything fancy, by any means. Simple breakfasts like eggs and toast, oatmeal, and pancakes are some of my kids’ favorites.
Breakfast gives all of us the nutrition we need to power our brains and bodies for starting the day off right! I’m one of those people that can’t eat the same thing everyday. I seriously just get bored and end up not eating, so I try to keep our breakfasts simple yet different each day, so neither myself nor my kiddos get bored! Easy peasy!
A great way to keep these mornings simple and flowing smoothly is to plan ahead so you know what you’re serving in the mornings. I set aside some time each Friday or Saturday to plan out all our meals for the upcoming week!
This has been a HUGE time-saver, insanity-saver, and money-saver all in one!
You can grab my free meal planning printable and start saving yourself some time, stress, and money! Who wouldn’t love that?
If you’d like a bit more in-depth planning, you can check out my Meal Planning Bundle, where you’ll find monthly and weekly planner sheets as well as kitchen inventory, areas for weekly grocery lists, and more!
Well, there you have it!
Those are my 5 secrets of a successful morning! Not the most glamorous, but they certainly get the job done! Plus, I can see the visible difference in myself AND my kids on the days when I DON’T do these, and I don’t take control of running my day first thing! The day ends up running me, and everyone’s stressed, and yeah…..it’s just not pretty!
Which of these areas do you struggle with the most? Which one are you most excited to try out? I’d love to hear from you! Drop your comments below!