Living Better in 2011: Having a Routine

{image by kylesteed}

Having a schedule, knowing basically how the day is going to go, has really made a difference in the way I feel.

It may seem kind of rigid, but I thrive on knowing exactly what is going on, and what is going to happen next.

I like order.

I like rules.

I love routine.

I get kind of grumpy if I get out of my routine (working on my attitude in this!).

Here is a peek into the daily routine I have had for the last two months:

6:00 am – Hubby gets me up (he’s better than an alarm clock!)

6:12 – By this time I am dressed and ready for coffee and Bible study. Shane and I are reading the Bible in One Year.

6:45-ish – Eat some breakfast, check my email, start a load of laundry (I’ve been behind this last week), Skype, start a loaf of bread, work on supper (if it is a crockpot meal), and/or write a bit.

7:00-8:00 – Girls get up, eat breakfast, spend time with Daddy before work or play; I work until about 8:30.

8:30-9:00 – Girls brush their teeth, get dressed, and we start school.

11:00-11:30 – School is usually finished by now. It generally takes about 2 hours to do school. Sometimes Abby will do additional reading in the afternoon. But both big girls are very cooperative and it doesn’t take much time to work on PreK/K/1st Grade stuff.

11:30-ish-12:15-ish – Girls play and I do a bit of work, housework, cooking, or cleaning.

12:15-12:30 Daddy is home for lunch.

1:30/2:00 – Rock little Meleah for her afternoon nap. Girls play together.

2:00-2:30 – Girls’ quiet time (This has been lax the last week or so.); I catch up on laundry, cooking, picking up, or writing, etc.

2:30-3:00 – Snack.

3:00-4:30 – Play time, begin supper preparations, clean up living room, fold laundry, etc.

4:30-5:30 – Supper and cleanup.

5:30-6:00 – Play time with Daddy, Abby reads her lesson to her Daddy.

6:00-7:00 – Bath (Daddy gives this, but I sometimes help Abby with her shower), I work or finish up housework, read stories, bedtime snack.

7:00-7:30 – Family Bible study (on Mondays), prayers, and settle down for the night.

7:30-8:00 – Girls are getting into bed and one of us rocks Meleah. Abby and Reese share Abby’s double bed, and they are usually asleep by 8:30.

8:00-9:00 – Finish cleaning up kitchen/living room, wrap up computer work for the night, I take a shower, get things ready for the next morning.

9:00 – I am in bed. Yes, you read that right. I read for about 30 minutes and/or chat with Shane.

9:30 – Lights out. I am about to fall over with exhaustion by 9:30, so I go to sleep.

This is not what every. single. day. looks like. On Wednesdays, for example, Shane works later and we are hustling to get the girls dropped off so he can be back at church at 5:30. Also, I work as an assistant, and Wednesdays and Fridays are my two “busy days,” for them. So, while the time-line is similar, I am working on the computer more on both of those days.

On Saturdays and Sundays, we do not have school and I do not do computer work (for the most part). Other than that (and the addition of Sunday am and pm church), our that’s how those days roll, as well.

Soccer is beginning for Abby Grace, so that will change what some of our evenings look like for the next few months.

And, every day is not perfect. Those times up there are just generalities. Sometimes things run a bit ahead of “schedule,” or a bit behind. I’m a stickler, but not a stick-in-the-mud, so to speak.

Why do I have such a rigid (and early!) routine? Well, I spent about 8+ months not sleeping well and generally feeling like crap. It finally occurred to me that it might be my sleeping/eating/working habits that needed some tweaking (plus, I stopped taking some medicine, and that really helped!).

So I tweaked.

I started getting up earlier, having my quiet time with God and just quiet time in general, and having my day started – all before the girls hop out of bed.

And I feel better now than I have in a long time.

As always, this is what our family is doing to live better. This is what works for our family. I realize this isn’t for everyone, and I am simply sharing what we are up to in our Journey to Living Better.

Do you have a routine? Has it made your life easier?