My Favorite Time of Day

Rise-y shine-y it’s 5:30am. Insanely early for some and about right for others. For me it’s perfect. My husband, Gwynn, has been my biggest inspiration for becoming an early riser. He’s always been an early bird, but really started making it a consistent habit about a year ago. I, on the other hand, was never an early bird but I took the plunge about 8 months ago with Gwynn’s encouragement. Am I ever glad I did! I wouldn’t dream of going back to my old sleepy ways.

I used to love sleeping in. On weekends while in University it wouldn’t be uncommon to still find me sleeping at 11am. Crazy, I know! After University I thought I was waking early when I would roll out of bed around 8 or 9am. Now that we have 2 very young children I couldn’t imagine sleeping in past 5:30am. Waking early won’t work for everyone but I urge you to give it a try if you can. Hear me out!

Take a look at what a typical morning looks like for me:

5:30am – Wakes to a fresh cup of hot coffee (Gwynn is up at 5:15am)

5:30-5:55am – Drink coffee and catch up

5:55-6:00am – Make bed and tidy bedroom

6:00-6:15am – Shower, get dressed, makeup and hair

6:15-6:30am – Make and eat breakfast, make Gwynn’s lunch and see him out the door

6:30-7:00am – Check email and read blog feeds

7:00-8:00am – Write blog article

8:00-8:30am – Organize my day

8:30am – Wake the kids and get going

So why is this my favorite time of day?

Because it’s MINE. Running after a toddler and tending to a 3 month old takes free personal time completely out of the equation on a typical day. Not that I don’t love spending every moment with them, because I do! It’s just nice to carve out a bit of time for myself.

In the summer we take it outside and sit on the deck to have our coffee while we chat. We watch the sky change colors as the sun comes up long before there are sounds of neighbors heading off to work or cutting their grass.

I purposely spend little time on things that don’t really matter so I can have as much time to myself as possible. It is not a typo that it takes me 15 minutes to shower, dress, and do my hair and makeup. I do that all fairly quickly so I can do other things that I enjoy.

Organizing my day is a big one for me. I love predictability and knowing what I’m going to do next. I take a bit of time before the kids are up to think about what we’re going to do during the day. This includes chores, activities with the kids, visits with family and friends, and meals. Of course there is some breathing room as nothing ever goes as planned when you have children .

So why first thing in the morning and not after the kids go to bed?

Well I find that I am freshest, my mind is the clearest and I just feel my best early in the morning. After the kids go to bed I’m exhausted! Exhausted whether I’ve slept in or not. I also use this time to reset the house. That is, I clean up and put away the kids toys, tidy the kitchen and dining room, tidy the living room and get some things ready for the next day. It’s a simple thing but I really enjoy waking up to a clean, fresh and tidy home.

Are you going to give it a shot? If so, don’t make it a drastic change do it in baby steps. Try waking 15 or 30 minutes earlier than normal and keep with that for a week and then try a bit earlier and so on. It’s really not easy at first but after you’ve done it for a few weeks it really is second nature and you’ll actually look forward to this time. If you’re staying at home to raise children give it a try. It really gets me in the right head space to deal with the challenges of every day.

Photo courtesy of: notsogoodphotography

See also:

10 Tips For A Successful Meditation

Grab the Reigns and Enjoy Your Life