HEALTHY LIFESTYLE ยท AUGUST 2018
QUIET TIME What fills your soul and makes you feel like you can handle the day ahead and live it well ? Is it reading Scripture ? Sitting still while you listen to music ? Taking in a good book ? Meditation ? Find a way to have some guided peaceful time in your morning . For me , I read my Bible as well as a short devotional ( Streams in the Desert is my all-time favorite ).
POSITIVITY It ' s really important to give yourself a strong , positive start to the day because it ' s so easy for things to take a negative turn . When we put ourselves in the right mindset , before the day even gets going , we up our odds of success and take control of where our minds will go as the day ' s events unfold .
I like to take a walk ( my husband is at home in case our kids were to need anything ) and read my morning affirmations out loud . These affirmations have a powerful effect on me and get my mind right every time , no matter what ' s going on . I also give my day to the Lord in prayer on my morning walk .
A GUIDE TO YOUR BEST MORNINGS
A
few years ago , I was a night owl who stayed up well past midnight most nights . I woke up to my kids asking for breakfast every morning at whatever time they opened their eyes and decided my day would start .
I believed that being a night owl was in my DNA - just the way that I was - and had no idea that this was actually a very limiting belief that was keeping me from being a better wife and mom . Over time I got tired of feeling busy but not productive and decided that something had to change , so I started waking up early .
Hear me , mama . If you want to change your entire life with one simple change , start waking up early .
Waking up early has been the single most transforming thing I have ever done in my life , right next to ditching my clutter .
I believe that in order to be productive and fulfilled in whatever your role is , you need to wake up early . I think there are seasons of life where it just isn ' t gonna happen ( a baby who isn ' t sleeping well yet , pregnancy ) but for most people in most seasons , I think becoming an early riser is the key to successfully rocking life .
I ' ve heard people say they are actually more productive late at night when everyone ' s in bed , and that may be true , but I found that there was a chance my nighttime productivity session wouldn ' t come - life happens , the day can make you tired , things come up .
You might not get the chance for some quiet , focused time in your Bible at 2 PM or 10 PM , but you will at 5 AM . I reached a point in my life where I was not living on purpose , and I was struggling . I needed to take my days my the horns and pursue discipline , and that meant waking up early .
I love what Laura Vanderkam says in her eBook What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast , " Seizing your mornings is the equivalent of that sound financial advice to pay yourself before you pay your bills . If you wait until the end of the month to save what you have left , there will be nothing left over .
Likewise , if you wait until the end of the day to do meaningful but not urgent things like exercise , pray , read , ponder how to advance your career or truly give your family your best , it probably won ' t happen . If it has to happen , it has to happen first ."
It is so much easier to become distracted in the middle or at the end of the day , especially when you ' re a busy mama . Having kids means stuff comes up on a daily hourly basis . You cannot count on later for doing things that matter .
There is so much on our to-do lists as moms that it can be stressful trying to decide how to spend our early morning time . It ' s easy to give in to the pull to catch up on a looming task like laundry , but really , the mornings need to be for the things you can ' t do well with kids awake and life happening .
In the early morning hours , it feels like life is paused . It ' s quieter , solitude is so much easier to find , and you can think clearly ( post-coffee , of course ). Think about what you can do in these early hours that is really hard to get done during the rush of the day - quiet time , prayer , reading , exercise , stretching , breathing - do those things .
20 HEALTHY MAGAZINE
MOVEMENT If exercise isn ' t a part of your week , it should be . Countless studies show what an incredible , positive effect movement has on your body and your mind . You can ' t take care of yourself without some kind of exercise .
Take a walk , follow along with a yoga YouTuber , train for a 5k , get a kickboxing DVD - whatever floats your boat . Along with my morning walk ( which is super mellow and not really intended to be exercise ), I have a gym membership which I use a few times a week . I ' m also a fan of yoga and am currently on track to become a licensed instructor because I love it so much . Find what moves you , inside and out , and make it a part of your morning rhythm .
WORK What practical things really need to get done ? What are your most pressing tasks for the day ahead ? Get them done before breakfast .
For me , as a writer with four small kids at home all day with me , it is incredibly difficult for me to create a quiet space for writing . I am constantly interrupted , frustrated , and trying to write in the middle of the day is pretty much pointless , even with Brian home to help me . I need to get my most pressing writing done early in the morning . I write about 1,000-2,000 words in the morning a few days a week . This keeps me on top of my task list with running the blog and doesn ' t take me too long .
If you don ' t run a blog or business , your work could be a load of laundry or meal planning . Whatever makes you feel pressured when you think about not getting it done during the day , do it early in the morning . Get it out of the way so that if life happens and things come up , it ' s okay because your highest priority tasks are taken care of . You ' ll be a much happier , calmer mom - trust me !
You can choose two or three or all of these types of things to add to your early morning rhythm . What you ' ll be able to do depends on how early you wake up and what your circumstances are . The key is to be flexible and disciplined at the same time and prioritize your morning time . It matters .
By Allie Casazza