So I’m just going to be real here. I don’t actually have this fully fleshed out yet. This is more of an aspirational goal; but this week, I’m committed to taking you along for my journey as I try to get this down to a science. This has been on my to-do list for quite some time since Coronavirus hit and I had to completely rethink the way I eased into my morning routine working from home with a little one and the first goal that I’m going to tackle building my morning routine is to get up earlier so that I can be a little more productive in the mornings.

The other night, I was listening in on a Facebook live with the incomparable and genius Nicola Yoon, author of The Sun is Also a Star, and one of the things she shared about her morning routine is that she gets up every morning at 5 a.m. to write. My first question was, “How?!”. Now, listen. I understand the concept of setting an alarm and getting out of bed when said alarm goes off. But how many of you actually pop right out of bed and get to work when your alarm goes off? 

Oh…ok…so that was more of you than I thought would say yes to that question. Okay, then pray for your girl because I’m on the struggle bus. 

But here are 3 things that I’m committed to doing this week to put myself back on track to wake up earlier. —- Going to bed earlier, preparing an AM hit list, and 

COMMITMENT #1: GOING TO BED EARLIER

I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how working from home every day can make you feel like you can stay up all night and jump right into work the next day. I used to be someone who went to bed by 10 p.m. at the latest and was usually up between 6 and 7am. Now, I’m lucky if I go to bed before midnight. 

I’m learning that the key to me getting in bed on time is pushing our family dinner earlier in the evening and getting my daughter settled in bed at an earlier hour. Right now we don’t start the bedtime process until around 8:30 p.m. mostly because we’re not eating dinner most nights until 7:30 p.m. which is really too late to get me in bed by 10pm. So my new proposed schedule for myself this week is as follows:

5 p.m. Start cooking dinner 

6 p.m. Eat dinner with my family

7 p.m. – Family time 

8 p.m. – Start bedtime routine with my daughter 

8:30 p.m. – Layna in bed 

9 p.m. – In bed reading or TV

10 p.m. – Zzzzzz (off to 7 hours of blissful sleep) 

I’m thinking with this revamp of my nightly schedule, I should be able to get enough rest to make my 5 a.m. wake up call.

COMMITMENT #2: PREPARING AN AM HIT LIST

I’ve learned that if I don’t feel like there’s any compelling reason to get up early, I likely won’t do it. So I basically have to create my task list the night before and make it time sensitive so that my brain reads it as urgent. Last night I prepped my hit list and I also added the tasks to my calendar for the morning. 

COMMITMENT #3: GETTING AT LEAST ONE THING DONE

I don’t expect to get every single thing done on my hit list every day, at least not at first. This is a marathon, not a sprint. My main goal over the next couple of weeks is to build discipline and just make sure that I can consistently get up earlier. But one thing I will be sure to do is cross one item off of my AM Hit List. The rest will just be icing on the cake. As I become more consistent, I’ll set my expectations higher. 

So what’s one thing you want to be more consistent at this week?