Ah, summer. The long, lazy days filled with…well, nothing. Or mostly nothing. For us this summer consisted of swimming, visiting family, making new friends, and lots and lots of Teen Beach 2. (Don’t even pretend like you don’t want to burst into song and break out into a well-choreographed dance number after watching that movie, okay?)
In short, it was perfect.
But that sort of freedom from routine and structure can’t last forever. When school started back for Joshua, it was time for me to get myself in line so I could keep up with everything I hadn’t had to manage while we spent our days doing anything or nothing.
Enter my school-year morning routine:
It’s a given that coffee is a must for me. Every day. It’s more than just the caffeine that jolts me awake. It’s a transition into the daily grind. (<—See what I did there?) School brought with it the new addition of spending time in my planner.
At least every other morning while I’m having my first cup of coffee, I open the calendar to the week’s activities to see what’s coming and tweak things as needed. Our bills, weekly menus, appointments, school activities, deadlines, blog post ideas, birthdays and anniversaries, all of it goes into the planner. (Check out this weekly/monthly planner to see the kind I love most.)
It’s only August but I have things written in there from now until the end of the school year. I’m chairing a PTA committee, serving as co-room parent for Joshua’s class, and the TV season is starting up soon. Life is definitely more hectic now than it was over the summer, you know?
I’m well-versed in social media and I love my iPhone like it’s a third arm, but when it comes to what’s on my docket for the day or week, I’m pretty old school. I need to write it down, erase, rewrite, and adjust. There’s something weirdly therapeutic about the scratching of a pencil across paper, the familiarity grounding me and helping me get the day started.
It’s calming, and for someone who battles anxiety, starting the day off not in a frenzy is a must.
That’s not to say there’s never any frenzy with this method. There is, after all, a 6 year old boy complaining that he doesn’t want to get dressed or brush his teeth and no-not-that-water-bottle and “can-I-please-have-Goldfish-for-second-breakfast?” and a 3 year old girl demanding snacks at 7:00 a.m. while dressing herself in a tutu and fairy wings, but my planner helps put things into perspective.
It says “here are the tasks to complete today” and checking them off brings with it a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in the midst of the chaos.
This is a sponsored post for the Wayfair Homemakers Back to You Campaign, but this is actually how I start my day. Planners rock!