Money Saving Mom®

Last night, I went to a ladies’ get-together and then had an 8 p.m. dinner meeting with some folks from a company in California that I work with. I knew that it was going to be a late night and I knew there was going to be no way I’d be able to get my evening routine done and get to bed on time.

And I didn’t.

In fact, I didn’t get home until 10 p.m. and then I couldn’t fall asleep until 11:30 p.m. — thanks to the extra cup of coffee I had in the afternoon to try and help me be alert for the meeting! As a result, I got up late this morning (well, “late” is a relative term, but it was quite a bit later than I usually get up) and I started the day tired and behind.

So what do you when you fall off the bandwagon?

1. Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Life happens, things come up, and things are never going to go along perfectly smoothly all the time.

When you hit a rough patch, have a disruption to your normal schedule, or you’re up all night with a sick child, don’t beat yourself up or feel all frustrated that you got off track. This won’t do anything to help you — and it will likely only make matters worse.

2. Have a Plan B

You’re going to have disruptions. That’s life. Whenever possible, though, plan ahead for them.

Since I knew that I wasn’t going to get home until late last night, I went ahead and planned that I would be getting up late. Knowing that this was part of the plan helped me to not feel so off-track when I got up “late”.

3. Do The Best You Can Do

When things are out-of-sorts or your schedule gets thrown out the window, just focus on doing the best you can do. For instance, I simplified my usual morning schedule today, made sure my to-do list wasn’t too long, and just prayed for God’s grace to help me go through today even when I was tired and feeling behind.

It wasn’t the best or most productive day, but I got the main things accomplished, and I’m going to bed with the house in fairly good shape and things mostly back on track.

4. Don’t Let a Bump in the Road Knock You Completely Off Course

Falling off the bandwagon can be a great reminder of why you’re making the changes you’re making. I realized last night that staying up until 11:30 p.m. felt like I was staying up until 2 a.m. My internal clock is getting re-adjusted back to a schedule that works better for our family — and that is encouraging!

When you fall down or hit a bump, don’t let it throw you off course. Just dust yourself off and keep moving forward.

Don’t give up! Tiny steps in the right direction are always better than standing still or moving backward.

Day 14 Project

1. Did you determine your bedtime and 5 Evening Must-Do’s? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did on them last night.

2. Did you determine what time you’re going to commit to waking up every morning for the next three weeks? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did this morning!

3. Did you get in some exercise yesterday and eat a nutritious breakfast? If not, make a commitment today to a specific way you’re going to incorporate exercise and a nutritious breakfast into your day.

4. Did you create a morning plan of action? If so, tell us how it went this morning! If you haven’t created one yet, go ahead and create one and tell us about it in the comments.

On yesterday’s Make the Most of Your Mornings post, Ashley left the following comment on Facebook:

I really appreciated her willingness to chime in with a differing opinion than many of the commentors. I learn so much from those who have personalities and viewpoints that are different than mine — and so I’m grateful when people have the courage to speak up.

Here’s what I wrote back to her on my Facebook Page:

I’ve shared a lot of different things in this Make the Most of Your Mornings series and I hope it has been an encouragement to many of you. That said, I want to reiterate something that is imperative to remember when reading anything written by anyone: what works for one family won’t work for another family.

My heart’s desire in writing this series is to challenge and inspire those of you who are struggling to be intentional with your mornings. I want to give you some things to mull over and some practical ideas to try.

However, if you love how your mornings currently are, please skip these posts. There’s no need to fix what isn’t broken!

And in the same vein, if you try some of the ideas I share and it just doesn’t work for your family, please move onto something else that works better — and leave all guilt behind. The last thing I want to do is make you feel exhausted, frustrated, or discouraged!

The longer I live, the more I realize how much I don’t know. But one thing I do know: there is no one right way to do anything.

(Well, that might be a sweeping generalization and I’m sure you can come up with a few instances — such as brain surgery or something — when there is only one right way to do something. But for the most part, it holds true in most circumstances.)

You are a unique person. You have a unique family. You have your own unique set of struggles, difficulties, and burdens.

I’m not walking in your shoes, so I can’t tell you what will work for you. I can give you some ideas, I can share some things that have worked well for me, but, ultimately, only you can know what works for you and your family.

So be free from guilt, okay? Whether you get up early or get up late, whether you have a to-do list and a plan or just live by the seat of your pants, whether you set goals or not, and if you wear your pajamas all day long every day, I love you and am grateful to have you here as a reader!

My Day 12 Project Update

Bedtime: Didn’t make it to bed until 10 p.m. last night. 🙁

My Top 5 Evening Must Do’s: Done!

Wake Up Time: 5:30 a.m.

Showered & Dressed by 9 a.m.: YES — well, actually, it was 9:07 a.m. Does that still count??

Morning Plan of Action: Bible Reading/Prayer, 30 Minutes Blogging, Exercise, Shower/Dress, Coffee!

Day 13 Project

1. Did you determine your bedtime and 5 Evening Must-Do’s? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did on them last night.

2. Did you determine what time you’re going to commit to waking up every morning for the next three weeks? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did this morning!

3. Did you get in some exercise yesterday and eat a nutritious breakfast? If not, make a commitment today to a specific way you’re going to incorporate exercise and a nutritious breakfast into your day.

4. Did you create a morning plan of action? If so, tell us how it went this morning! If you haven’t created one yet, go ahead and create one and tell us about it in the comments.

5. Examine the changes you’ve made over the last two weeks and determine if they are working well for your family. If not, what things can you change to make them more workable for your own unique situation and current needs?

We’ve talked about the importance of having a plan for the day, exercising, eating something nutritious, and getting dressed. Now it’s time to put all of those things together and make our morning plan of action.

How to Make a Morning Plan of Action

1) Make a List of Things You’d Like to Get Done During the First Two Hours of the Morning

If you’re anything like me, you’ll come up with a bunch of ideas of things you’d love to do each morning. You’re just brainstorming right now, so your list can be as long as you’d like. In fact, I’d recommend that you take a half a day to mull over what you want to put on your list and to keep adding things as they come to mind.

2) Look at Your List and Pare It Down to the Top 8-10 Things You’d Really, Really Like to Do

Once you have a nice long list made, sit down and really evaluate the items on there in light of what is going to make the biggest difference in your day and what are the most important things you need or want to accomplish each morning. You can organize the list in order of priority if that helps you to categorize things more clearly.

3) Pare Your Top 10 List Down to the 3-5 Most Important Things You Must Do Each Morning

After you’ve cut your list down to the top 8-10 things you really hope to do each morning, cull it down even farther to the 3-5 most important things. {If you couldn’t come up with a long list, well, you’re going to make it a lot easier on yourself! And I wish I could be more like you and not have such high hopes and unrealistic ambitions! :)}

Since we’ve already been working on implementing some things like getting dressed, it’s probably not going to be as hard to figure out your list and what works for you. See? You already have a head start on this!

4) Write These 3-5 Things Down and Put Them in a Conspicuous Location

Write your list of 3-5 Morning Must-Do’s down (or make a fancy document on the computer if you’re all tech-y like that!) and then put this list in a very conspicuous location. You could even put it multiple locations — on your refrigerator, in your laundry room, on your bathroom mirror.

Do whatever it takes to be constantly reminded each morning to stay on task. It takes awhile for something to become a habit, so the more reminders, the better!

5) Make a Commitment to Follow Them in the Same Order Each Morning for Three Weeks

Commit to following through with your Morning Must-Do’s every single morning for the next three weeks. You might not always hit them all each morning and, unless you live in a cave and don’t have any electronics nor interact with other human beings, I’m positive you’re going to have some interruptions. Don’t let these things throw you off track. Do the best you can do, stick with it, and keep plodding along.

At the end of three weeks, stop and re-evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Tweak your list or your morning plan, if need be (maybe wait to have your coffee until your morning list is done?!), and then keep the Morning Must-Do’s practice up.

If you currently don’t have a good routine going for your mornings, I can almost guarantee that you’re going to see some significant positive changes as a result of working on developing this habit!

My Day 10 Project Update

Bedtime: I made it to bed by 9:30 last night — managed to hit my bedtime again — yay!

My Top 5 Evening Must Do’s: Done!

Wake Up Time: 5:30 a.m.

Showered & Dressed by 9 a.m.: YES!!

Day 11 Project

1. Did you determine your bedtime and 5 Evening Must-Do’s? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did on them last night.

2. Did you determine what time you’re going to commit to waking up every morning for the next three weeks? If so, leave a comment telling us how you did this morning!

3. Did you get in some exercise yesterday and eat a nutritious breakfast? If not, make a commitment today to a specific way you’re going to incorporate exercise and a nutritious breakfast into your day.

4. Follow the steps outlined above to create your morning plan of action (if you don’t already have a good morning routine in place). Leave a comment telling us the 3-5 Morning Must-Do’s you came up with (or tell us about the wonderful morning routine you already have going). I’ll share mine tomorrow!