Why Schedules Saved My Sanity
Back in the day... and when I say 'back in the day', I mean about 4 years ago... I lived freely without a schedule.
I thought having a scheduled life was NOT fun. I thought it was only for people who worked full time or had 7 kids to manage THEIR schedules. I did NOT think it was for me, stay-at-home/work-at-home/housewife/mom-to-only-two. I'm not really sure what changed my mentality, I think it might have been a gradual shift... it started with me noticing that my house hadn't been cleaned in almost two weeks, sheets hadn't been changed and I wasn't sure how long it had been since I changed the cat's litter (yes, we had a cat then...). I made a decision that I would start a cleaning schedule. I made it super simple:
I was running like a well oiled machine. I was getting messages from other coaches other moms, asking how I keep it all together, how I seemed so organized. Want to know my secret?
Force it until you live it naturally.
Yep. FORCE yourself onto a schedule... and before you know it, you are living it every day, every week, month after month. My husband and I used to get into fights because I was SUPER forgetful. Like, I forgot appointments, I forgot important dates... and like I said, I would go way too long without a clean house. All of that went away when I started sticking to a schedule. This goes for most anything in your life. If you really want a new healthy lifestyle, you need to force it until it becomes part of you, part of who you are. I even go as far as getting up at 5:30 AM to start my day. No, I don't work outside the home and no, no one else in my house has to get up that early... but I do it because it is part of my schedule now. I work FROM home, and I treat my weekdays as my work days. Getting up that early allows me to accomplish some of the things on my to-do list RIGHT AWAY so they are done. And there are no excuses.
So, all of that being said. I am off my schedule. I might as well say that I am off my rocker. Because, me being off my schedule is literally making me crazy. With the kids being home all summer, I let my schedule slack alittle LOT. I stopped getting up early. I stopped taking that time to work on my business, my blogs, my personal development, my time with God. I find that sometimes it is almost dinner and I haven't worked out yet. I feel scatter brained if I don't write things down. What am I to do? School is almost back in session, so I feel hope is around the corner. And not just for the sanity of the kids being out of the house... please don't get me wrong, I truly LOVE my kids being home with me, it is one of the BEST things in my life... being able to be a stay-at-home-mom...
But, come on. All you moms and dads out there know... school is coming... I can almost smell the glue now! And it's glorious!! I get my schedule back. My kids get some time on their own. My little one gets to go to REAL school (eek!! I cry every time I say that. I mean, HOW is it possible that he is going to ALL DAY kindergarten already!?)
Schedule started back for me this week. I started setting my alarm again, not as early as it will be in a few weeks, but early enough - 6:30 am. I got back on my cleaning schedule. And you know what? I feel my sanity coming back. I feel like I am not losing grip anymore.
Ok. This is getting lengthy, so I will stop here. But my advice to you... anyone out there that struggles with schedule or feeling like you need structure more than your child needs structure - MAKE IT HAPPEN. FORCE IT. Once you get into a routine, it will feel AMAZING!
My Tips for Making and Staying on a Schedule:
Good luck, let me know how it goes for you by commenting below. And if you want more detail, email me at fitmomjoslin@gmail.com. I am happy to help in any way possible!
~Joslin
I thought having a scheduled life was NOT fun. I thought it was only for people who worked full time or had 7 kids to manage THEIR schedules. I did NOT think it was for me, stay-at-home/work-at-home/housewife/mom-to-only-two. I'm not really sure what changed my mentality, I think it might have been a gradual shift... it started with me noticing that my house hadn't been cleaned in almost two weeks, sheets hadn't been changed and I wasn't sure how long it had been since I changed the cat's litter (yes, we had a cat then...). I made a decision that I would start a cleaning schedule. I made it super simple:
Monday: Clean the house from top to bottom - there is something nice about starting the week with a fresh clean house!!
Tuesday: Change all the sheets (and shave legs for SURE, ladies... you know what I mean... fresh sheet night + smooth legs = HEAVEN!)
Wednesday: Cat litter. But then the cat went and Wednesday became porch/pool cleaning day
Thursday: Laundry day... uggggghhhhhhhhhh Anyone else hate laundry? Yes? No? Just me??That is basically as far as I got with that. Then I loved that so much, I started adding in scheduled grocery shopping day, and meal prep day, and then the boys got into sports and THAT went on the schedule, date night got put on the calendar and the next thing I knew, my household was running so smoothly that my best friend recognized my need for a real, honest-to-goodness planner. I received my first Erin Condren planner for my birthday that year and wow.... I felt SUPER organized!
I was running like a well oiled machine. I was getting messages from other coaches other moms, asking how I keep it all together, how I seemed so organized. Want to know my secret?
Force it until you live it naturally.
Yep. FORCE yourself onto a schedule... and before you know it, you are living it every day, every week, month after month. My husband and I used to get into fights because I was SUPER forgetful. Like, I forgot appointments, I forgot important dates... and like I said, I would go way too long without a clean house. All of that went away when I started sticking to a schedule. This goes for most anything in your life. If you really want a new healthy lifestyle, you need to force it until it becomes part of you, part of who you are. I even go as far as getting up at 5:30 AM to start my day. No, I don't work outside the home and no, no one else in my house has to get up that early... but I do it because it is part of my schedule now. I work FROM home, and I treat my weekdays as my work days. Getting up that early allows me to accomplish some of the things on my to-do list RIGHT AWAY so they are done. And there are no excuses.
So, all of that being said. I am off my schedule. I might as well say that I am off my rocker. Because, me being off my schedule is literally making me crazy. With the kids being home all summer, I let my schedule slack a
But, come on. All you moms and dads out there know... school is coming... I can almost smell the glue now! And it's glorious!! I get my schedule back. My kids get some time on their own. My little one gets to go to REAL school (eek!! I cry every time I say that. I mean, HOW is it possible that he is going to ALL DAY kindergarten already!?)
Schedule started back for me this week. I started setting my alarm again, not as early as it will be in a few weeks, but early enough - 6:30 am. I got back on my cleaning schedule. And you know what? I feel my sanity coming back. I feel like I am not losing grip anymore.
Ok. This is getting lengthy, so I will stop here. But my advice to you... anyone out there that struggles with schedule or feeling like you need structure more than your child needs structure - MAKE IT HAPPEN. FORCE IT. Once you get into a routine, it will feel AMAZING!
My Tips for Making and Staying on a Schedule:
Good luck, let me know how it goes for you by commenting below. And if you want more detail, email me at fitmomjoslin@gmail.com. I am happy to help in any way possible!
~Joslin
The shaved legs and fresh sheets point made me laugh, but it’s too true! Honestly, I find that living my day to day life on a schedule gives me a lot more pride and satisfaction from what I’m doing instead of scrambling to keep things straight in my head and do them whenever I can.
ReplyDeleteLucy Andrews @ Safeclean Westminster
Lucy, right? I was just thinking last night that I forgot to shave my legs and I had switched my sheets out! Ahhhh! Scrambling is the worst, I got off my schedule over the holidays and I feel like it has taken me almost this long to get it back :( I love that you said that it "gives you pride" that is the perfect word to describe it! Have a great day :)
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