How I Structure A Typical DAY IN MY LIFE!
Plus, book club meets THIS THURSDAY!
How I Structure A Typical DAY IN MY LIFE!
Happy Tuesday, my lovely friends! How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun for Halloween? I heard some of your plans during our Zoom “girl chat” this past week, but if you couldn’t make it, leave what you did in the comments below. Jacob and I don’t really celebrate Halloween, but we like to get in the spooky spirit, so we watched fun Halloween-themed YouTube videos as well as passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. We had the busiest weekend socializing with our family and friends (what a blessing!), but we were so happy to have some quality time together, just the two of us.
Today, I wanted to share how I structure a typical day in my life. Now that I’m getting back into a routine, I’m realizing how important routine really is to your success! If you want to get things done, if you want to use your time wisely and feel like you crossed things off your to-do list, having some loose structure is really important. Because of the Jewish holidays last month, we went without a routine for quite a while, so now it feels great to be back on track. For me, there’s something so calming about knowing what the day will look like before it starts. So that’s where we’ll begin!
I come up with my to-do list the night before. Each night before I go to sleep, I sit down with my two notebooks (one is a calendar, and one is a blank notebook). First, in my blank notebook, I write down everything I want to get done. Some of those tasks are things that have been on my to-do list for a long time, such as making our yearly photo album. This is something I want to get done, but it isn’t pressing, so it stays on my to-do list as a reminder. Other tasks are my weekly to-dos, such as cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and exercising every day. Lastly, I keep a list of my must-get-dones. That includes writing my weekly article, recording and editing videos, and sending out my newsletters over the course of the week. Next, I organize my list by prioritization. What has to be done tomorrow? What would be great if it happened tomorrow, but if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world? And what’s going to live on my list for a while without getting done? Once that’s organized, I put the revised list in my calendar and give myself a reasonable amount of tasks to complete the following day.
I wake up with my son and start my day off right. Bright and early, I’m up with Mr. Baby! Sometimes it’s 6:30, sometimes it’s 7:15 but we are up and at ‘em and ready to start the day! Mr. Baby is the best to wake up to because he’s always so happy to see me. I change his diaper, get him dressed and put him down to play while I drink a cup of water before making myself a cup of decaf coffee and doing a yoga video. I’ve recently convinced my mother to join me every morning for a 25-minute walk around the neighborhood, so the two of us set out with Mr. Baby in his stroller and get some fresh air and good conversation to start the day. Just these two things - yoga and a morning walk - have totally changed my day and made me feel so happy when I wake up in the morning. I highly recommend finding something to do first thing that makes you look forward to waking up each day!
Put Mr. Baby down for a nap, and get myself ready for the day. By the time we are back from our walk, it’s time for Mr. Baby to go to sleep, so we do his naptime routine and put him in his crib. Then it’s my time to get ready for the day! I make myself breakfast - usually a bagel and three eggs over easy - and do my makeup. Then I sit down with my to-do list and reevaluate. Was I right about what I can and should get done today? That’s when I break the to-do list into a schedule. I might have time to get some work done before Mr. Baby wakes up, but it’s always a little bit of a gamble!
Do some work/take care of the house/run errands. The rest of the day is variable based on what I have to get done. I usually do a mixture of computer work, housework, and running errands to return things or pick up groceries. Because this part of the day is less structured, I find that I do struggle with time management! Funny, isn’t it? I have more time to get things done, but because I don’t always have it perfectly organized, I feel as though I have less time. To improve this, I’ve been working on creating more structure during this big block of time during the middle of the day.
Start working on dinner. I usually start prepping dinner at around 5:00 PM. I might make something like noodles and meat sauce, or I’ll make a cream of asparagus soup. Sometimes I’ll make both! Otherwise, we will eat leftovers from Sabbath or other meals we’ve made during the week. Lately, I’ve been making my son’s purees at home and I know that’s a small thing, but I’m very proud of myself for it. And he’s been loving the combinations I’ve been making for him!
Feed Mr. Baby/give him a bath/get him ready for bed. Once dinner is on its way, it’s time to start Mr. Baby’s bedtime routine. We have a pretty structured bedtime routine for Mr. Baby, and it takes about an hour. It starts off with dinner for him, followed by a much-needed bath (he’s usually covered in food). Then we dry him off, slather him in lotion, get him dressed for bed, brush his teeth (!!!), read him a book, and nurse to sleep. It’s a lovely ritual and we really enjoy it as a family.
Spend some quality time with Jacob. After Mr. Baby is down for the night, it’s time for Jacob and me to spend some time together. We value this time very highly, and we both look forward to it all day. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we play a game, and sometimes we just talk. But it’s always lovely to know our baby is sleeping peacefully in the other room while we get to enjoy one another’s company.
Go to bed! And then it’s bedtime! Which means it’s time for me to get out my notebooks and start the routine all over again.
I love how my days have been looking lately. Being in Florida in our new home with my amazing baby and my amazing husband has been such a gamechanger. I love me a good routine! What does your routine look like? I’d love to know - share yours in the comments!
Book Club Is THIS THURSDAY at 8:30 PM EST!
This Thursday night (11/3) at 8:30 PM EST we will be be meeting for our book club! This has been such a fun read and I look forward to discussing it with you all!
Join Me At The CCW Florida Women's Summit!
I an so excited to share that I am speaking at the Clare Booth Luce Center For Conservative Women's Florida Women's Summit in Orlando! The event is November 4th-6th, and I hope to see you there. Click here to find out more!
ANNOUNCING: This Month's A.V. Club Selection(s)
This month, we will be watching two different versions of Little Women to compare and contrast them - the 1933 version and the 1994 version. I thought these would be perfect for the fall season! If you’d like to watch it with your friends, have them join the fun by becoming premium subscribers.
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I'm a wife, mama, opera singer, entrepreneur, YouTuber, and your guide to becoming the classic woman you've always wanted to be! Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to see how! And together, let's be classic.
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Yes, I love how you make the important things automatic in your day. <3 Would love to do more of the same. When I babysit, I want realize how helpful routines are.
This is amazing! I've been trying to get into a good routine but I find mornings are really tough because my fiancé doesn't always go to work at the same time in the morning (sometimes he might leave the house at 5am, sometimes not until 9 or 10am, and sometimes he has an entire day where he can do all of his work without leaving the house!). Because of this I find it can be really difficult to set myself up a regular routine because we value the time we have together so highly so when he's home I tend to "skip" parts of my routine so that I can spend more time with him.
I love that you start every day with yoga and a walk! Have you been doing that for a long time? Did you find it difficult to get into the habit of always doing it and not backing out on colder or rainy days? I find I always want to skip the exercise and read when it's cold or rainy so I have to really push myself to make it happen on those days!