A Routine Post
I am a creature of habit. Anybody else?
Most of us are, for better or for worse. We fall into routines and stick to them without even thinking about it. And that can be good, for sure...unless the routines aren't healthy routines, of course.
The longer I teach, the more I see patterns with kids. You can see which kids have consistent bedtimes, which kids have a routine of doing their homework at a certain time, which kids have learned how to function around sports schedules and the hectic-ness of life. And you can tell which kids don't have those routines...and which kids desperately need those routines! I can't even begin to explain how important consistent bedtimes and waking times and meal times are for kids of all ages.
I am most certainly included in this. Perhaps more so than my students sometimes! I need routine, especially at certain points in the day, which is what the meat of this post is going to be.
Is this post going to be boring? Quite possibly. Is this post going to help you amp up your morning/evening routines? I mean, maybe... BUT if you read to the end of this post, there is something in it for you. Or at least for one of you.
Rise and Shine!
I am not a morning person. I mean, I kind of am, sometimes. When I'm on vacation, I'm a morning person. I want to get up and start doing all of the things. But I have a really hard time falling asleep {stay tuned for the second half of this post}, which often means I have a really hard time waking up in the morning. This morning routine is something I have been doing for a few years now, and it really helps me 1) get going without feeling like I'm going to fall asleep at the wheel and 2) feel productive even in the wee hours of the day.
Step #1: Wake up.
Obvious, I know. I have been using the Apple bedtime portion of the alarm clock, and I have to say, I'm enjoying the much calmer alarm tones. I have the bedtime alarm on, and I have one other alarm 15 minutes later. I'm almost always awake before the second alarm goes off, because....
Step #2: Have a task to do.
I don't like to watch television in the evenings. I always feel like there is surely something else I could/should be doing by the time I get home from work. Usually, I end up reading or writing, and if I am in the middle of a knitting project, I might turn on the TV. But what I started doing a while ago, to help me get all of my shows watched, is I immediately turn on my TV after waking up and start watching something on the DVR. This morning, it was episode 5 of Sanditon. Yesterday morning, it was last Friday's Hawaii 5-0. I don't know what tomorrow's is going to be yet. I'm still laying in bed, I'm still snuggly warm, but my mind is focusing because this is a new episode I've never seen before, so I have to pay attention. And at the same time, I always try to....
Step #3: Drink water.
I've been trying to drink more water. I don't know that it is going well throughout the day, but I keep water by my bed, and I try to drink at least half of the glass before I get out of bed in the morning. Hydration is important, people! Plus, the water helps me wake up, too. After the show is finished, I head to the kitchen to...
Step #4: Make coffee.
Crucial. Absolutely crucial. Now, while the coffee is brewing, I slip into the other room and...
Step #5: Do some yoga.
Not a lot. Not an intense work out. Usually, I do about 10 minutes by the living room clock. A few sun salutations, some half-pigeons on each side, and I've worked out the lovely kinks in my muscles from my so-so night of sleep. And by the time I'm done, so is the coffee.
The rest of the morning follows the same general wake-up activities most people do: wash face, get dressed, hair/makeup, breakfast, leave for work, etc. But by making that first hour and a half I'm awake the time when I actually do something, I have found that I'm much more ready for the day.
Goodnight and Sweet Dreams!
Which also makes me much more tired by the end of the day. Now, I'll be 100% totally honest. I'm terrible at going to bed. I think that because I have such a hard time falling asleep, there is a lot of anxiety associated with my bed. I never know when I lay down if I'm going to be awake for 20 minutes or 2 hours. I may be one of the most high maintenance sleepers on the planet. It isn't documented...but it might be now {and Dear Future Husband, I apologize in advance}. I have tried a few things to help me wind down in the evenings before I crawl under the covers, including but not limited to:
~reading {it's gotta be a really boring or really long book to wear me down...Happiness book study, for sure}
~drinking tea
~a little relaxation yoga
~writing down all of my thoughts so they stop spinning around in my head {there is a notebook beside my bed for this express purpose...and also for if I have a really interesting dream that could make a cool story}
~turning off harsh overhead lighting and using only lamps/Christmas lights after 8:00
~not looking at my phone after 8:00...or 8:30, at the very least
And my actual routine of getting into bed is ridiculously complicated. No steps can be skipped, though the order doesn't entirely matter. I don't know which of these things actually work for me. Maybe it's a combination of them all. Maybe it's just one thing. Doesn't matter. They all happen.
1. Chapstick
2. Hand lotion
3. Essential oils {lavender and peppermint, to be precise}
4. Heating pad
5. Socks
6. Blankets, but like, this gets really complicated. If I get too warm too quickly, it's all over. I've got to shiver for a while so I know that I'm really actually cold. To make this the most convenient, you've got to place the blankets alongside you in a kind of accordion-type fold so you can just fling them over you whenever you're ready for it. It's a whole thing.
7. Essential oil diffuser
8. Eye mask
9. Ambient noise. This could range from the Sleep Pillow app on my phone to an oscillating fan in the summer to the television {turned down really low to a program I've already seen 172 times so I don't become interested and want to stay awake to keep watching}.
I highly recommend my morning routine. I highly discourage my evening routine. It's a mess, and I know it. But you've got to do what you've got to do.
And now I've got to do what I sort of promised at the beginning! Are you ready, because it is time for the first ever Ramblings of a Thirty-Something giveaway!!!! If I could figure out the technology, I would make confetti appear whenever someone reads that. But I digress!
As a thank-you for putting up with my ramblings, I am going to randomly draw out one reader to win this fabulous prize....
Highlander Grogg is my favorite coffee {see the January list post for confirmation}. If you're really not a coffee person and you win, then I will give you something else...maybe some knitted coasters? Or socks? I'll have to figure that out. All you have to do is like this post on Facebook to be entered to win! And if you want to go above and beyond, you can say hi in the comments, or something else fun, like how we know each other, or where you and I should take a trip together, or how much you enjoy reading every mind-blowingly-amazing word that pours from my fingertips... Or how much you don't like reading my blog but that you really like coffee, so you thought you'd stick around.
Maybe not that last one, okay?
Thanks for reading!
Most of us are, for better or for worse. We fall into routines and stick to them without even thinking about it. And that can be good, for sure...unless the routines aren't healthy routines, of course.
The longer I teach, the more I see patterns with kids. You can see which kids have consistent bedtimes, which kids have a routine of doing their homework at a certain time, which kids have learned how to function around sports schedules and the hectic-ness of life. And you can tell which kids don't have those routines...and which kids desperately need those routines! I can't even begin to explain how important consistent bedtimes and waking times and meal times are for kids of all ages.
I am most certainly included in this. Perhaps more so than my students sometimes! I need routine, especially at certain points in the day, which is what the meat of this post is going to be.
Is this post going to be boring? Quite possibly. Is this post going to help you amp up your morning/evening routines? I mean, maybe... BUT if you read to the end of this post, there is something in it for you. Or at least for one of you.
Rise and Shine!
I am not a morning person. I mean, I kind of am, sometimes. When I'm on vacation, I'm a morning person. I want to get up and start doing all of the things. But I have a really hard time falling asleep {stay tuned for the second half of this post}, which often means I have a really hard time waking up in the morning. This morning routine is something I have been doing for a few years now, and it really helps me 1) get going without feeling like I'm going to fall asleep at the wheel and 2) feel productive even in the wee hours of the day.
Step #1: Wake up.
Obvious, I know. I have been using the Apple bedtime portion of the alarm clock, and I have to say, I'm enjoying the much calmer alarm tones. I have the bedtime alarm on, and I have one other alarm 15 minutes later. I'm almost always awake before the second alarm goes off, because....
Step #2: Have a task to do.
I don't like to watch television in the evenings. I always feel like there is surely something else I could/should be doing by the time I get home from work. Usually, I end up reading or writing, and if I am in the middle of a knitting project, I might turn on the TV. But what I started doing a while ago, to help me get all of my shows watched, is I immediately turn on my TV after waking up and start watching something on the DVR. This morning, it was episode 5 of Sanditon. Yesterday morning, it was last Friday's Hawaii 5-0. I don't know what tomorrow's is going to be yet. I'm still laying in bed, I'm still snuggly warm, but my mind is focusing because this is a new episode I've never seen before, so I have to pay attention. And at the same time, I always try to....
Step #3: Drink water.
I've been trying to drink more water. I don't know that it is going well throughout the day, but I keep water by my bed, and I try to drink at least half of the glass before I get out of bed in the morning. Hydration is important, people! Plus, the water helps me wake up, too. After the show is finished, I head to the kitchen to...
Step #4: Make coffee.
Crucial. Absolutely crucial. Now, while the coffee is brewing, I slip into the other room and...
Step #5: Do some yoga.
Not a lot. Not an intense work out. Usually, I do about 10 minutes by the living room clock. A few sun salutations, some half-pigeons on each side, and I've worked out the lovely kinks in my muscles from my so-so night of sleep. And by the time I'm done, so is the coffee.
The rest of the morning follows the same general wake-up activities most people do: wash face, get dressed, hair/makeup, breakfast, leave for work, etc. But by making that first hour and a half I'm awake the time when I actually do something, I have found that I'm much more ready for the day.
Goodnight and Sweet Dreams!
Which also makes me much more tired by the end of the day. Now, I'll be 100% totally honest. I'm terrible at going to bed. I think that because I have such a hard time falling asleep, there is a lot of anxiety associated with my bed. I never know when I lay down if I'm going to be awake for 20 minutes or 2 hours. I may be one of the most high maintenance sleepers on the planet. It isn't documented...but it might be now {and Dear Future Husband, I apologize in advance}. I have tried a few things to help me wind down in the evenings before I crawl under the covers, including but not limited to:
~reading {it's gotta be a really boring or really long book to wear me down...Happiness book study, for sure}
~drinking tea
~a little relaxation yoga
~writing down all of my thoughts so they stop spinning around in my head {there is a notebook beside my bed for this express purpose...and also for if I have a really interesting dream that could make a cool story}
~turning off harsh overhead lighting and using only lamps/Christmas lights after 8:00
~not looking at my phone after 8:00...or 8:30, at the very least
And my actual routine of getting into bed is ridiculously complicated. No steps can be skipped, though the order doesn't entirely matter. I don't know which of these things actually work for me. Maybe it's a combination of them all. Maybe it's just one thing. Doesn't matter. They all happen.
1. Chapstick
2. Hand lotion
3. Essential oils {lavender and peppermint, to be precise}
4. Heating pad
5. Socks
6. Blankets, but like, this gets really complicated. If I get too warm too quickly, it's all over. I've got to shiver for a while so I know that I'm really actually cold. To make this the most convenient, you've got to place the blankets alongside you in a kind of accordion-type fold so you can just fling them over you whenever you're ready for it. It's a whole thing.
7. Essential oil diffuser
8. Eye mask
9. Ambient noise. This could range from the Sleep Pillow app on my phone to an oscillating fan in the summer to the television {turned down really low to a program I've already seen 172 times so I don't become interested and want to stay awake to keep watching}.
I highly recommend my morning routine. I highly discourage my evening routine. It's a mess, and I know it. But you've got to do what you've got to do.
And now I've got to do what I sort of promised at the beginning! Are you ready, because it is time for the first ever Ramblings of a Thirty-Something giveaway!!!! If I could figure out the technology, I would make confetti appear whenever someone reads that. But I digress!
As a thank-you for putting up with my ramblings, I am going to randomly draw out one reader to win this fabulous prize....
 |
| No, Harry is not part of the prize. He just made for a cute model. |
Maybe not that last one, okay?
Thanks for reading!
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