habits i'm implementing to become my productive & efficient alter ego

we're aiming for hot, healthy, rested, and productive!

My mental hourglass of sand representing summer is quickly draining. I’m still enjoying the looseness, the slow mornings, and the lack of schedule, but I can feel the internal buzz pushing me back toward our usual routines. Instead of winging it and waiting until it’s go time for the homeschool year and more obligations, I decided to give myself a month to set the stage. From now until mid August, I’m intentionally shifting myself back into the organized, time conscious homeschool mom I need to be. This fall will be a big one for me with my oldest two doing a full load of school work, my 3.5 year old will doing some light lessons, and my two year old insists on being in on the action at all times. On top of the duty of educating my kids (casual,) I have some big goals for content creation, fitness, and overall thriving a lot more than I did last year. I’ve narrowed down my little re-entry plan into five habits that I’m actively working on implementing! I guess this is almost 30, right? Getting excited about discipline, sleep, and productivity? Here’s what I’m focusing on!

summer, i’m not over you yet, but i’m getting close

1. Reworking my laundry system. For the past couple of years, I do 1-2 loads of laundry a day, which I thought was really great. But whyyyyy was the laundry mountain never ending despite that effort? Why did it feel like I was constantly putting away clothes, yet no one had what they needed? Well, I was doing general children loads, bedding loads, towel loads, and general adult loads. That whole idea of mixed kid laundry was the precise issue. I don’t have space in my kids’ rooms for laundry baskets, so I was having them all put their laundry in two big baskets outside of the laundry room. What ended up happening was that a load would inevitably be full of one kid’s pajamas one day, no shirts for another kid, only half of a pajama set, etc. The sorting was also such a beast. Enter my new laundry sorter. It has four baskets, one for each of my gals. Now I can do a load for each of them. Turns out, I was severely underestimating their ability to put their clothes in their correct basket. I was able to do two girls loads in the evening and two the next morning. Everyone but my two year old puts their own clothes away and for the first time EVER (!!!) I had all of their clothes clean at once. We literally ran out of hangers and it felt like way less effort than my usual stupid system. I’ll be getting a second sorter for my own closet too, I love it. Freeing up both time in the day and brain space that I so badly need back.

2. Switching my workouts to the early morning. This has been my season to focus hard on exercise and I have LOVED it so incredibly much. When my youngest takes her midday nap, my older 3 watch a show or movie, and I use that window to do my workout, which is usually 30 minutes of lifting or pilates, then a 30-45 minute walk on my walking pad. It’s been a real treat to have that midday break to take time for myself and let off steam. However, my two year old is getting less consistent with her naps and I know I’ll need that midday break to reset the house after a morning of schooling, get content work done, or tie up loose ends from the school day. So I’m 3 weeks into switching my exercise to the 5 am hour! I definitely don’t have 100% energy for lifting early in the morning, but I’m hoping my body can adjust. My plan is to be exercising from 5:00-6:00 so I still have time to have coffee, clean myself up, and be ready when the girls wake up! Fitness has become so important to me and I don’t want to sacrifice it once we’re busier. I love working out at night too, but I have other evening obligations most days, so mornings it is! 80% of the time at least.

3. Knocking out 75% of my to do list in the morning. As a morning person, I know that my morning energy and motivation is dramatically higher than in the afternoon. Once we hit midday, I lose quite a bit of steam. My plan is to knock out as much as I possibly can before 10 am so the afternoon can just be for catch up and loose ends. I should probably start with keeping a to do list again… that should show you how loose my summer has been.

4. Using my Brick device consistently. You can read more on their site, but the Brick is a little device/ app combo that locks you out of specific apps and to regain access, you have to tap the physical device. It’s super effective and has been life changing for me! However, I’ve been wayyyyy less diligent about using it this month. I’m going to move my brick to a less convenient location and get back in my groove of bricking after my kids bedtime and for large chunks of the day. It really helps me to stay in motion, be focused, and use my designated screen time more efficiently. This device combined with my new ADHD meds is life changing for my ability to initiate and execute tasks.

5. Early bedtime. You probably saw it coming with that 5:00 wake up, right? We’ve been on our love island grind instead of reading, but once we’re done, I’ll get back into my habit of being tucked in with my kindle come nine pm. My average bedtime lately is 9:45-10:30, which isn’t bad at all and more than enough for me to feel rested, but I know my body needs more sleep in order for me to hit my health goals. If I could sleep from 9:45 or 10:00 to 5:00 daily, I’d be stoked.

Sounds like a solid plan, right? I sure hope so! If you’re in the same boat and are thinking ahead to the school year, i’m sending you hot, happy, productive, rested, efficient girl energy 😚