My view at 4am….
I’m trying something new, starting my morning at an hour that most folks I speak with find extreme. I’m getting up at 4am each day, except Sunday (my earliest work day), when I am sticking with my old alarm clock time of 6am.
Why am I doing this? Let me describe how my day was going before this change:
I’d get up about 6am, scramble to get morning chores done and also hopefully find time to exercise and take a bath or shower, then pack lunches and get the kids up and make sure they get breakfast and do their morning chores.
I’d then juggle work, homeschooling, and domestic life all day, get to the “end” of the day about 9pm and then set myself up in the spare bedroom or on the sofa to keep working on my computer until I just passed out … often about midnight.
I was only getting about 6 hours of sleep, always felt like I was scrambling, and was not going to bed at the same time as my husband.
It’s not good for me, not good for my marriage, and yet, what can I do? Let’s set aside a few things that I considered and rejected as action steps:
- Do Less. Sure, that’s an obvious answer, but over the many years of my adult life I have not found myself ever truly able to reduce my work-load.
- Be more efficient. Could I just get it done more efficiently so I can sleep more? Honestly, I don’t think I can squeeze any more out of that lemon ….
- Get more help. Yes, that would be lovely, and …. again after years of adult life I can see that this isn’t my skill set or situation.
So here’s an idea:
You are in charge of your own life.
I love that saying. But the trick is, while I’m in charge of my routines and the way I live my life, I am not in control of other people, all the circumstances that surround us (money, weather, etc), or even my own nature and abilities.
So I’m controlling what I can. I’m getting up early, getting the same amount of sleep as before, but rather than scrambling to get the work done last thing in the day I’m trying to get it done first thing. I’m aiming for calmer and more connected evenings spent with my kids and husband, and a disciplined bedtime that I can count on.
It’s been about two weeks. The adjustment period was rough! But as I lean into this new schedule, I can already see benefits and I think this will good.
Updates to come!
My Purple House 