5 Vital Things to Include in your Morning Routine as a Stay at Home Mom

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Morning Routines for Moms

Do you ever feel like you keep doing the same thing everyday trying to get things accomplished but nothing feels like it gets done?

Or, you have this huge to do list and can’t seem to cross anything off of it?

It may be because you don’t take action in the morning to have a productive day!

I have given the morning hours a lot of thought, especially since I no longer work a 3pm to midnight shift at a call center and can actually have a ‘normal’ morning now! I have come up with so many morning habits I would love to have; workout, shower and oil pull, write for an hour, and many more things that I simply can’t fit into the morning hours before my girls wake up. It can be hard to get any time to yourself as a stay at home mom; so these early morning hours are precious!

I was actually planning to write about morning habits a couple months ago. But, time went by, and I guess you could say I was avoiding it. I wanted to have some of the morning habits set in stone before talking about them. But, that didn’t happen. In the meantime, though, I have realized a few things about mornings and what needs to be done to feel productive all day long!

For the past couple months, I’ll admit it; I’ve been a little lazy and have not been doing what I have wanted to be doing; all for fear that I won’t get anything done.

I’ve been on autopilot; getting up, grabbing a cup of coffee and my computer to write or go through emails and trying to be productive. But, I haven’t really been as productive as I could have been.

Plus, for the past couple weeks I haven’t even been able to get up before my girls. My youngest thinks the time I try to wake up in the morning is her time to nurse. And, it tends to take me awhile to get her to stop and still be sound asleep, ha, if she even goes back to sleep! So, I know how hard it can be to even get 5 minutes in the morning to yourself. IT’S HARD!!

You need that little bit of time in the morning for yourself, though. Especially, if you’re a stay at home mom.

Not to say working moms don’t need 5 minutes to themselves, but us stay at home moms don’t even get time to ourselves in the car on the way to work. It’s nonstop all day long, as soon as the kids wake up. A quiet time or nap time isn’t even guaranteed everyday. And, when we’re physically home with them all day long, the house becomes a mess. It’s like they think it’s their job to make it look like a tornado went right through our homes!!

Guess what else, there’s only a small chance that they will pick up after themselves! (So, more work for us….)

Who ever said being a stay at home parent was easy, must never have been one. At least, not one to a toddler, or more than one kid!

But, let’s get to what you actually came here to read about; the 5 actions you need to do in the morning to have the Best Day Ever!!

Be The First One Up…if you can!!

I cannot tell you how important it is to be up before your children! This is the only real free time you get. This is when you can get all of those little things done that feel impossible to do when your kids are up. Like shower, write, or make a small plan for the day.

Organize your time in the early morning so you can be more productive through out the day! If you miss this opportunity, all is not lost; but, you may feel a little more overwhelmed than usual.

And, I know it can be hard sometimes to be the first one up, or even to get out of bed without little ones getting up, too. But, it’s a life changer!! I know this because lately my girls have been waking up when I do and I feel completely disorganized and like I can’t get anything done during the day because I didn’t even have the 5 minutes to plan out my day..

I haven’t had that peaceful time in the morning for probably a week or so, and I can feel it wearing at me!

Plan Your Day

I know, if you have read anything about being more productive or conquering your day; you have probably heard that you have to plan. Like they say “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” According to goodreads.com Benjamin Franklin said that. And, it’s a great saying. If you don’t prepare for the day, and you don’t plan; then, how can you know if you got everything done that needed to be done. You’ll simply fail at getting things done that need, or should, be done!

I don’t know about you, but I need some structure in my day; actually, I need quite a bit of structure. When I worked outside of the home; I had enough structure to get stuff done when I was home. I knew I had a limited amount of time, and if I didn’t schedule out tasks, then they simply would not get done.

But, now that I’m a stay at home mom, I feel like I don’t get as much done during the day. (Even though I probably get more done now; I just try to fit more into my day. But, having less structure makes it feel like I can’t get as much done. The stress of not being able to fit all necessities into my schedule doesn’t apply now.)

Simply having a routine for the day, or at least a to do list, or a plan, will help you be and feel more productive through out the day.

Having a schedule won’t only benefit you, it’ll benefit your kids, too. Read more about that here!

Exercise

Exercise is important for so many different reasons. Getting some in during the morning hours, preferably before anyone else is awake, is even better!

Exercise helps get our metabolism going, it wakes our body up (without coffee), and it makes us feel good! Whether it’s a morning jog outside, right as the sun is coming up, going to the gym, or a workout video (or even youtube video) in the privacy of your own home; any exercise in the morning is better than none!

If you don’t make time in the morning for this, it’s still alright to exercise later in the day; you may just see more of a benefit from doing it in the morning hours.

Although, I can’t say I always get a chance to work out in the mornings! Some days my girls and I will put on a blogilates video after my younger daughters nap time and work out together. (They think it’s just so much fun!!)

Drink Some Water

If you can’t get up before everyone else, or plan, or exercise, or anything else in the morning; the one thing you can do is drink water. Your body just went 6-8 hours without water. The best thing for it to have is fresh water.

If you’re stuck in the routine of having coffee first thing when you wake up; try switching your habitual morning drink to water. It may be hard at first, but you’ll feel so much better when you make the switch. Drinking water also helps wake up your metabolism. Plus, it’s so simple to do and doesn’t interfere with other morning routines you may have. I usually just fill my water bottle up at night, squeeze some fresh lemon juice into it and keep it in the fridge overnight so I can have some cold lemon water when I wake up. It’s so refreshing!

Eat Something Healthy

Besides drinking water in the morning, eating a healthy breakfast is probably the next best thing for your body. Just like a car needs the right kind of fuel to run properly, so does your body. And, I don’t mean just grab what ever is the easiest thing you can eat, like breakfast cereal. I mean, actually make yourself a healthy breakfast that will sustain you throughout the morning!

Or, if you don’t have time to make something healthy in the morning, prepare your breakfast ahead of time. If you like pancakes or waffles but you don’t like cooking in the morning; cook a whole bunch of them one day and then freeze them til you want them. Heating them up in the toaster will keep them from becoming soggy. Or, make over- night oats. Whatever you choose, just make sure it’s healthy and has some vitamins and minerals in it.

A Better Day

If you can do these 5 things, before your kids get up, in the peace and quiet of the morning, then it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll have a better and more productive day. A day that doesn’t feel like it’s gone to waste!

But, all is not lost if you can’t get up before you kids, either. There are still actions you can take in the morning to have a great day, even if you awake to chaos (or a child who peed their bed). Just remember to take things one day at a time and do the best you can. Start in the morning, eat well, exercise, and plan your day the best you can! Know what you need to do and get it done! Even if you try and fail, it’s better than not trying to have a good day at all!!

Morning Routines for Moms

Leave a comment if you have any other suggestions for a better day.

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Morning Routines for Moms
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