I’m very late in getting this posted, but this morning, afternoon, and evening just flew by and I finally have a chance to sit down and get this written! That’s life sometimes, isn’t it? Thanks for your patience as I’m not always the most dependable blogger ever. 🙂
I got up at 5:15 a.m. this morning. And I’m thrilled because today I felt really rested and energized when I got up. I’m hopeful that my body is starting to adjust to me being on an early-to-rise schedule again?
My One Nightly Must-Do: Create Tomorrow’s To-Do List
Today’s assignment is about creating a nightly checklist to encourage you to have better mornings. I love this idea and think it can be key to successful mornings.
I shared my evening routine yesterday — which sort of serves as my checklist. But I wanted to share one thing that has really helped me to wake up, jump into my day, and be more productive.
That one simple thing is to create a to-do list the night before. This one small thing makes a world of difference for my day. And I find that I sleep better, too, because I have mentally gone through the next day, thought through all the must-do’s and activities, and have created a plan for the day.
This simple exercise frees up so much space in my brain and truly relaxes me.
How it usually works is that I consult my Google Calendar (aka my “brain”) and see what is on tap for the next day — whether that’s a writing project that’s due, a phone call that must be made, an interview that is scheduled, an errand I need to run, or an activity one of my children has going on.
Once I’ve looked over my day, I then plan out our routine. We have a basic routine we follow everyday, but it varies based upon what needs to be done and what’s going on. So every evening, I write out my plan for the next day — including time blocks of when I plan to do everything.
This has been crucial for me, because it not only helps me go into the day with a Game Plan, but it also helps me to know if I need to bump some things I’d planned to do to another day or delete something I’d hoped to do altogether. I only have 24 hours in a day and planning accordingly instead of trying to cram in 36 hours’ worth of work into the day and then being frustrated and overwhelmed makes a huge difference!
I always try to include two to three hours of Margin Time — time when I don’t have anything scheduled. This is typically from 6-9 p.m. It doesn’t always end up being completely empty, but it allows wiggle room to finish things or catch up on laundry when inevitable interruptions or unexpected things come up throughout the day. It’s my sanity-saver!
This Morning’s Report
- Got up at 5:15 a.m.
- Read my Bible and devotional books. Prayed over my day.
- Made some coffee, unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it.
- Started the laundry. Made Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes (My second try turned out beautifully — yay! You can see pictures of my first flop and my second success here.)
- Exercised.
- Finally had a chance to wash my hair. (I usually wash it every three days, but I had gone for six days without washing it. Yikes!)
- Opened the laptop, answered emails, answered comments, scheduled some posts.
- And then it was time to start homeschooling. 🙂
Monica Leite says
I do rise early but I’m not consistent on the time, so I’m working on that. I also have a pretty good routine for my am’s during the week but I find myself flounder on the weekends runnig through my to do list trying to decide if I want my fun time or down time to be during that early morning before the kids wake or do the serious gotta get done “chores” first.
My question for you is what do you do for exercise and how long do you exercise for?
Monica
Crystal Paine says
Right now, I’m mostly running for exercise. I’m also trying throwing in some exercise DVDs into the mix to change things up.
My exercise time is dependent upon how much time I have that morning. So it depends, but it’s usually never longer than 30 minutes and sometimes only 10 minutes. My philosophy is that something is always better than nothing when it comes to exercise! 🙂
Rachel says
I totally agree about planning the next day ahead of time! I don’t always get everything on my plan done, but if I at least go into the day having a plan, I am much more productive.
Crystal Paine says
Yes! I’ve found this to be so very true!
Jennifer says
I’m not doing the challenge but I had to comment on preparing a to-do list the night before. I’ve fallen out of this habit but I need to pick it back up. I sleep so much better when I have at least an outline or a few jots of what absolutely must be done the next day or what I’d like to attempt.
p.s. I only use actual shampoo once a week. On another night, I’ll wash my hair using baking soda and hot water. And, my hair has never looked better. If it’s been an active, hot, sticky summer day and I feel dirty, I’ll scrub my scalp in the shower but no soap.
Crystal Paine says
Yes! It’s amazing what a difference writing down a list makes, isn’t it??
That’s interesting about using baking soda on your hair. I want to try that sometime!
Lana says
We are up at 5:30 everyday so that I can get hubby out the door on time. Some days I think I only have one eye open! I plan out the entire week on Sunday. I have a sheet with all of the days. I look at my chore charts and list all of those on my lists and then add in the laundry for each day. Then I add any appointments and then I add in extra projects, errands or chores that I need to complete. I also add what needs to be cooked or baked outside of regular meals. I do sometimes move things around as the week goes on since some days just get overloaded. It has really helped me to see the entire week on one page instead of day by day. At the end of the week I can see how much I accomplished and that is a real moral booster at times.
Crystal Paine says
You’re so organized — and SUCH an inspiration! Thanks for sharing!
Lauren @bPatty says
Wow! Reading this post reminded me of reading Proverbs 31. You certaintly do not eat the bread of idleness and it shows in how God has blessed you and your family.
I love that you put Him first, that’s something I’m still working on.
Also, do tell, what is the secret to the hair because after a day of no washing, I look as if I poured a gallon of cooking oil over my head! 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Aw, you are so sweet! This comment encouraged me… even though I’m far from the Proverbs 31 woman!
And I shared some thoughts on not washing my hair every day in the comments above. But I just realized one thing I didn’t mention is that I don’t use many products on my hair and I think that helps a lot, too, in lowering the grease factor.
Have you ever tried going to every other day for a week… maybe a week when you were on vacation and it would be okay if your hair looked greasy? It might be interesting to see if your hair would adjust.
Elizabeth says
I used to schedule out my whole day but it doesn’t change much now so unless I know there is going to be a hiccup I don’t write out a list in the evening. — Morning… tired. I got to bed early last night aka 11:30 but didn’t fall asleep until my husband got there sometime around midnight… then I’m back up at 6 this is the most sleep I’ve gotten in nearly a week so pretty exhausted and stuff at work has gotten my head spinning just not restful.
I couldn’t do the whole not washing hair thing. If I miss a day of not getting cleaned up (which I know isn’t the same but it’s the only time I miss) I’m in one sorry state of feeling totally icky.
Crystal Paine says
I totally agree that not getting presentable makes me feel icky, too. But I can’t imagine washing my hair every day… I have longer hair and it takes awhile to wash and blow dry, though, so that’s partially why.
I hope you have a more restful and relaxed weekend after a busy and exhausting week.
kari says
Hi, I am a newbie to your blog, and I’m loving your challenge! It’s totally motivating me to make some healthy changes to my overwhelmed, sleepless days and nights. Question about your hair…I am trying the “not wash my hair everyday” thing, but am struggling with working out and not washing after. I notice that you exercise in the mornings too. What do you do with your hair after you sweat from jogging, for example?
Crystal Paine says
Um, should I confess that I often just let it air-dry and then fix it? Yeah, that’s what I do. No one’s going to want to be my friend anymore now that I’ve outed myself. 😉
However, I do try to save my really intense workouts for days when I’m already planning to wash my hair. 🙂
Tiffany says
What is your trick to keeping oil free hair if you don’t wash it daily?! I’m interested!
Tina says
I was wondering the same. Do you use dry shampoo? If I don’t wash my hair, after two days it starts getting oily and my scalp starts to itch.
K says
I did four things for my hair, which has resulted in saving me time, money, AND having healthier hair.
1. I stopped using shampoo after I read that conditioner cleans too. My scalp itched at first, but gradually adjusted to the change & resulted in less hair loss, less expense, & healthier hair. It probably took 1-2 months for my hair & scalp to adjust to the change.
2. After my scalp & hair adjusted to using conditioner to clean my hair, I started increasing the time between “washings” one day at a time (every 2 days for 1-2 months, every 3 days for the next 1-2 months, etc.) My scalp again itched until it adjusted. I now “wash” my hair with only conditioner 1-2 days a week (more often in the summer than the winter depending on how my hair feels & looks.
3. After reading that Crystal had cut her own hair, I watched YouTube videos & started cutting my own hair at home. I do this with conditioner on my hair straight out of the shower, which only takes me 10-20 minutes.
4. And, I color my own hair at home. This probably doesn’t make it healthier, but definitely saves me time & money.
Jen says
For me, it just was a gradual transition of every other day, then every three….your scalp just produces more oil when you strip it everyday with shampoo. Once it figures out it’s not so dry, oil production cuts back. Kinda crazy! It also was MUCH less oily during pregnancy, so I could go even 4-5 days, but it would get pretty itchy and oily by then. Maybe Crystal has an announcement for us?!?! Ha! 😉
Crystal Paine says
I have found that the less you wash your hair, the less you need to wash it. {At least that’s how it’s been for me and I’ve heard this is the same for others.}
Start out by trying every other day and see how that goes. Then move to every third day. That’s usually where I land… but I sometimes go 4 days and every once in a blue moon, every 5 days. If I got 4 days, I’ll put my hair up (been experimenting with a messy bun or “blob” and this seems to work well on hair that’s a little greasy.)
I’ve heard that dry shampoo works well for some people, but I’ve only tried it a few times and haven’t had that great of success when I tried.
Diana says
Since I have two really littles, I don’t like to plan the whole day ahead of time. But I’m going to experiment with planning one thing to get done before they wake up (besides my regular morning routine). If it doesn’t get done, no worries, but if I have time, then the decision will already be made and I won’t have to think about it.
Crystal Paine says
I LOVE this! Thanks for sharing!
Diana says
I did it! That day it was homemade laundry soap (which has been on my to-do list for months) and I actually got it done 🙂 Hooray! Thanks for the encouragement 🙂
Crystal Paine says
I am SO proud of you!!!
Melanie says
A question about your margin time. If you have plans/commitments late in the day when you would normally have your margin time, do you still try to leave margin time in your schedule? Also, have you ever put margin time in a schedule in 1/2 hour blocks throughout the day?
Crystal Paine says
I sometimes put margin time in blocks throughout the day or earlier in the day… it just depends upon the schedule and to-do’s of that particular day. If we are going to be gone all evening, I try to leave a block of margin time at least an hour before we’re supposed to leave to give some extra breathing room.