5 Things Making Your Routines Harder (and what to do instead) | Single Mom Morning & Evening Routine

I feel like I need to say good morning to start this video. Welcome back to my channel. Every year I get so many requests for an updated morning and evening routine, which honestly might sound a little weird. Like, why do we care about each other's routines? But I think it's because we're all just trying to find what works. So, this year, I wanted to make this video a little different. Instead of just showing you my typical routine as a single mom of four, I also want to share the things that have helped me avoid burnout and overwhelm. [music] I feel like I'm in the thick of parenting right now. I've got kids from preschool all the way to junior high, plus just keeping up on the house. It's a lot. And if I don't protect my energy, it all catches [music] up fast. So, my first tip is I create mental boundaries. I don't check my phone or emails first thing in the morning. The second I do that, my brain flips on and suddenly I'm reacting to everyone else instead of setting the tone for my day. I've learned that I have to start my morning with input. [music] So things that will be pouring into me. So I always start my day with what I call my Jesus time. And this is where I will read out of my Jesus calling book. I will read some scripture and I also start my journal. And what I like to do with my morning journal entry is I focus on an intention for the day. And this will also come into play for my evening. I have a 30-minute window between my twins going to school before I have to wake up my next child for school. So, I have found that this little window of time is perfect for that. >> I remember you. >> The Grinch calendar, >> is that cool [music] to trade for rested eyes? And you [music] look beautiful [singing] in the morning light. Yeah. >> I don't know how you feel [music] the air in your lungs. You could talk your way [music] around the big old sun. >> You're in the vlog. >> What does she know? >> Oh my gosh. Wait, wait, wait. >> When Bobby has her yoga classes, she's she does them right here by my house. I will watch the pup. M and then you get to play with Ruby Shu and Elliot and we have so much fun. So, we're going to go home and get more of our chores done. [music] Well, your mind wanders and your thoughts run wild, [music] but I will walk beside you every [singing and music] mile. It ain't easy, but it's all worthwhile. I do [music] it time again to see you [singing] smile. >> I thought we'd sit and chat for a minute while I'm folding laundry. The [music] next tip, tip number two when it comes to avoiding burnout or or just overwhelm with your morning and your evening routine would be to stay up on your tasks. For example, laundry. So, I just do a load every single day. I know not everybody needs to do that much laundry. I do have a family. Well, I have a lot of boys and just me, but I still find myself needing to wash something every day. So, I have just noticed as long as I am keeping up on the things that I need to keep up on, then it never gets too overwhelming to where I'm like, I am like 10 loads behind on laundry. Now, of course, things happen and sometimes that does happen. Sometimes I'm like, I don't know if I've even done laundry once this week, but I'm just saying how I avoid burnout is by just doing the daily tasks, staying up on those things. This is a phrase that I've always lived by and it actually bugs me. It bugs me, but I say it to myself all the time. There's there's two actually that I'll share. Those pants don't look very I toss those. These are Elliot's favorite pants, but you can tell he slides all over on his knees on them. These are the two things that I repeat to myself often when I don't want to do something and I make myself do it. The first one is if it takes less than a minute to do, do it without delay. So, how often do we walk past like a pile of things, maybe on the stairs or in the living room, and we just keep walking past it and then the pile just grows and grows and grows? Because if there's already a pile of stuff, it's way easier to add to it. you'll just find your kids adding to it and you're even adding to it to avoid piles from forming. Just keep up on it. And if it takes less than a minute to do, just handle it. Just get it done. The next time you walk past that thing, take it. Take it with you to wherever it needs to go. Find its place. And then the other phrase I repeat to myself a lot is nothing to it but to do it. For example, today I got overwhelmingly tired a couple minutes ago and I sat down on my bed and I like rested my head and I I fell asleep. I fell asleep a minute ago. I woke up like, "Oh my gosh, but I I wanted to just keep sleeping." But I'm like, "I have so much I need to do today. Like, the last thing I need right now is a nap." I stood up and I repeated that to myself. And that's what I mean by it annoys me because it actually works. It actually gets me up and moving. And it's just this like pestering thought, but you know, I was like, "Nothing to it but to do it. It's just going to be there. I have to get it done at some point." So, I can either keep putting it off or I can get up and I can do it right now. If you're dealing with being unmotivated with the tasks you have to do, maybe those two phrases will help you. I'm going to keep folding laundry and get this put away. The the next thing is I make sure that once I'm done doing this, if there's anything I need to iron, I will get that handled and I will put it away right now because if I don't, it'll sit on my bed forever. I actually like to do my laundry on my bed specifically because [music] I know it won't just sit here because at some point I need to get back into my bed. And so if I'm folding laundry on a couch, it's way less likely that I will put it away. So doing it on my bed forces me to just get it taken care of. So maybe that'll be another helpful tip. But once I'm done in here, I'm going to go make breakfast. I like to eat a little bit later. I'm usually not like starving first thing in the morning, so I am not sure what I'm going to have, but I'll bring you along with me. [music] >> [music] >> It was in the air before a word spoken. [music] When the time stood still and I felt the weight of the [music] moment, then I knew I knew [music] I could tell you fell into. Oh my darling, smitten at [music] the side of you. I'm falling. Every little thing you do, I will fall in forever. [music] Yours is this true. Oh, we feel it all [music and singing] at once. Suddenly, it just adds up. Everything [music] alive. >> Burnout usually creeps in during the rush between rolls when we're flipping from mom mode to work mode to evening mode without ever taking a breath. So, my third tip is to slow your transitions. Give your brain a moment to shift [music] gears. For me, I always start my evening routine with first taking my dog on a walk. My kids know when I get back from my walk, our evening routine starts. It's kind of my little reset button. Right when I get home, if there are any bright lights on, I turn all of those off cuz what are we doing with the daylights in the night time? I can't I can't deal. I will usually start dinner at this point. And you all know that I love to jam out to music during my dinner prep. Then it's homework, baths, and we always wrap it up with a movie together. We don't always watch a full movie. Sometimes it's just 30 minutes. But while it's the Christmas season, we've been binging our favorite Christmas movies. [music] >> Oh, we feel it [singing] all at once. Suddenly [music] it just adds [singing] up. Everything [music] alive when we turn it to us. Oh. [music] Oh. Oh. Hello. [music] You are more than I [music and singing] could ever dream. My fourth tip is to prepare as much as you can the night before. It makes your mornings run so much smoother. So, I lay out everything from socks, shoes, backpacks, [music] clothes, coats, all of it. And my older two know they have to round up their outfits before we can even start our movie. Just last night, my son took 30 minutes to find his [music] coat. And this is exactly why I do this. I mean, how often are we running out the door in the morning and we can't find something? I've just learned the hard way. I've done it too many times where I'm really stressed out in the morning. So to avoid that, just prepare the night before. Since it's December, we are also reading one chapter a night from Luke. There are 24 chapters in Luke, so we will finish on Christmas [music] Eve. And I just love this tradition. Elizabeth is barren. Elizabeth, >> who does Elizabeth give birth to? >> Baptist. >> John the Baptist. There you go. John the Baptist. >> Listen what's about to happen. Listen what's about to happen. I'd take the long way home if [music] it meant I'd go [singing] walking by your door. >> I just finished the movie with the kids and this is my favorite part of the night. So, back when I was married, I always looked forward to my evening routine because me and my ex always watched a show together and that was just something in the day that I always looked forward to. So, when we split and all of a sudden, you know, I don't have that part of my routine anymore, this is when I took some time to think about what I would like to do or what I would look forward to doing every single night when it was just me. Um, and for me, it's anything relaxing. So once I'm done with the kids and I, you know, they're all asleep, this is when I have some time for just myself. And I personally love to take baths. It's like my favorite thing in the whole entire world. Especially right now, it's so cold outside. This is usually when I'll have a bath. And I have my closet light on right now. I hate the bright lights in here when I'm trying to relax. It's just like I can't relax when the lights are bright. So I will usually light a couple candles. I'll soak in the tub, listen to some music. I just went and got myself a fresca cuz I love me a fresca. After this, I will wash off my makeup and then I will do my last thing of the night, which is my journal entry. So, my recommendation as tip number five, if you're not already doing something for yourself, find something that you love or you look forward to doing at the end of every night because it does give me something throughout the whole evening routine to look forward to because I save this for the very last. So, I know once I get dinner and all of the things done and handled, then it's just [music] me time and it's the relaxing part of the day. And so, that's why I kind of save it for last. >> Can't get enough. [music] You are my sun. And then to end the night, it's back to my [music] journal. I close out with two thoughts. I will write down if I follow through with my intentions for the day and if I wasn't able to. I write out the problems [music] that prevented me from accomplishing that and how I can avoid that in the future. I also write down what I learned that day and knowing that I need to write that down at night keeps me in that growth mindset. So, I really encourage you to adopt this practice. If you do nothing else, keep a daily journal for your intentions and watch how much growth you experience in 30 days. Well, that's everything I have for this video. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you have not yet subscribed, make sure you do that. And I will see you guys in the next video. >> [music]