Waking Up 30 Min Earlier

One of the goals I’ve been working on consistently in March is waking up at least 30 minutes earlier than I need to wake up. Before I set this goal, I would sleep in until 7am and on some rare mornings when my kids slept in, I’d also sleep in until 7:30.

This week, I’ve been waking up at 6:30 am. In the few days of March before daylight savings went into effect, I was waking up at 5:30 am. That was really nice! I might eventually get back to that, but it would require me going to bed earlier.

When I woke up yesterday morning at 6:30am I needed a little more encouragement and to revisit my “why”. I really didn’t want to wake up quite yet. The night before, my husband and I had stayed up too late watching The Little House on the Prairie, which is not something I ever thought I’d say. We’ve never watched that show before, and we didn’t think we’d be interested in it, but it has been captivating in its own way. It definitely makes you appreciate how little we have to work for our basic needs being met, today.

The reason I started working on waking up earlier is partially because I realized that as easy as it was to sleep in, it was hard waking up just to jump straight into getting things done. 

When I’d wake up later in the morning, I would need to immediately start packing school lunch, make a warm breakfast for the girls, and help make sure book bags are packed for school. It was a full on rush, and the rushing made me dread waking up.

Now that I wake up earlier, I have the luxury of taking it easy. I also get more connection with my kids in the mornings since I don’t have to rush. If they want a snuggle on the couch, I have time for it and I can relish in it because I woke up early enough!

It’s taken some time to rewire my brain to believe that waking up is worth it, but it has proved to be true. Some mornings I just wake up early and stay in bed. On those mornings I will journal while appreciating the comfort of just being in bed and not having anything that needs done quite yet. Sometimes I will use that time to read scripture. Occasionally I’ll watch a motivating YouTube video. 

It’s been so nice waking up to some “me time”. It really helps to fill my bucket first thing, so I have more to pour out for my loved ones throughout the day.