The Daily Routine

A good routine is the lynchpin of a well planned day. If you are balancing multiple responsibilities at once, raising kids and often swimming against the current, a good tried and true routine is one of the most valuable things you can have. 

I have a routine that works for me. I have sat down and tweaked this routine many times over the years. 2021’s routine will be the culmination of years of practice, failures and maybe a few successes. In another post I will share how I even plan a basic menu for the entire year. 

I tried to screen shot my planner page, but the image quality is a little low in this format, so forgive me!

I mark my wake up time as “Wake up early” because I am terrible at getting up early. One of my goals from a previous post is to get up earlier every day and I will admit it's hit and miss. My alarm goes of at 5:00, I try to get up between 5:00 and 6:00.

You will notice that the time slots are pretty generic. For me, time is just the skeleton of my routine. I know this seems silly to explain, but, I am terrible at time! I make time the bones of my routine to hold up what I need to get done, mark the general flow of the day, and I am not ultra strict about getting things done exactly on time. 

The key is, start super simple, and build from there. You already know what time breakfast is, you already know what time you eat lunch and dinner. Start there! 

One little trick I have talked about a million times over the years is setting alarms on my phone. I started setting alarms on my phone when we had lots of foster kiddos coming and going. When they came to us it was like someone shook their whole world, they often struggled to understand the general flow of a day including breakfast, lunch and dinner. It sounds crazy, but for each event in the kids day, I set an alarm in my phone. The alarm is always a fun song or sound labeled with the item on my routine or time of day. The kiddos would hear Elsa and go crazy because that sound means snack time! (This really works, trust me!)

I still use the alarms because it keeps me accountable to my day. These alarms repeat weekly/daily to keep up with our changing lives and they remind me to get on track. It has been the saving grace of my motherhood, no joke. 

When I dont feel like hearing the alarms, or I am on a trip, camping or moms weekend, I simply switch them off. It is that simple. I love simple. 

This other low quality screen shot is how I accommodate sports/dance class or other weekly events that throw the routine out of whack. If the new routine lasts more than a few weeks, I make whole new time line for that day. I will even adjust my alarms to help keep me on track. 

I use my iPad to plan almost every aspect of my life now. I use the GoodNotes app as my planner, note taking and everything app. I have always loved paper planners. I still really love paper but, I had to change the way I plan because I have too many irons in the fire and I couldn't keep up anymore. I also might have obsessed and purchased way too many planner things to clutter up my space, but that will be a whole different post for a whole different day. 

If you are looking for a paper planner, I will link a couple below that I love. (These are affiliate links, if you purchase from these links, I get a reward! But no pressure...) 

Minimalist Planner This planner is amazing. It is simple, it has monthly and weekly pages. Weekly pages include an hour by hour section that you can use to perfect your daily routine. Perfect for a beginner!

Happy Planner I dont know what to say about the Happy Planner except that it is where my true love for planners and washi tape began! There are a million different styles, page lay outs and colors out there. I have always loved the simple lay outs that allow for more customization. 

I use my alarms and routine every single day except Sunday. Sunday I still try to wake up early, but I don’t fill my day with alarms and routines. I go to church, sometimes have a church meeting, but mostly, I rest and reset. 

This post turned out a little longer than I had planned, but if I am being honest, I really love my routine and I could keep going. It helps me to keep it together, stay on track and it feels really good to reassess when I loose my way or toss it out the window and have a movie marathon with my kiddos. 

I hope there was a little something here that helped inspire you. 

Tammy 

Here is the post about my 15 Minute list.