Journal of a Busy Mom

living one day at a time

21 Days of Discipline Wrap up

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I finally finished the 21 Days of Discipline that i mentioned in this post. Obviously from the discrepancy in dates, it took me more than 21 days!

I really enjoyed the following things:

Working on a Mega Project (which I didn’t finish)-I really liked having ONE big project that I am working on. It helped me to focus my attention on one thing. Each day I worked on that one project. Unfortunately, my project didn’t get finished, but I am very pleased with how much did get done. I probably need two good solid days of working on it and I will be done.

Getting things done now-the last day she had us write 10 things that take 2 minutes to do. And then she said “go do it”. It was hard to come up with my 10 things but I did and what a relief to get those done and out of the way. I plan to continue to do that. Maybe not daily but maybe once a week. I wrote it on an index card that i can carry around as I complete things and then toss it away (or save it to use the other side).

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I am happy that I completed it. I didn’t do it perfectly, but I took away two gems.

My next project will be 10 Day Unstuffed Challenge by Ruth Soukup. She is a blogger at www.livingwellspendingless.com based on her book Unstuffed.

And while I am at it, I will probably be doing Crystals next series called Makeover Your Evenings.

Winning the Discipline Battle

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I started reading a book this past week, it’s actually one I’ve started before. It’s a really good book but I usually didn’t  have to time to read so it got shelved. But not anymore! I am finally making time for reading with my new Morning Routine. I am reading Who You Are When No One’s Looking by Bill Hybels. The second chapter deals with discipline. Hybel explains discipline in three very short, but very true statements:

Discipline is really delayed gratification

Discipline requires advanced planning

Discipline includes accountability.

I know I lack discipline in many areas of my life. Just to name a few: food, exercise, house cleaning, need I go on?

Right now, the only thing I feel I am “winning” at with discipline is with my Morning Routine. Believe it or not, I am on week 12 of waking up at 5:15 AM. I have also managed to continue to work through my Morning Routine in such a way that I have finished books, worked through a Finance Renovation Course, and more all before 7:15 AM!

What really helped me with my mornings, was doing Make Over Your Mornings with Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine. I loved her online course so much. See my post on My Routine Here. Recently, I found an ebook on my computer called 21 Days of Discipline that I bought a while ago as part of a “bundle”. Well, I had not realized it, but it was written by Crystal! So I am going to embark on this 21 Days of Discipline starting 14th of March. I have several things going on now that I don’t think I can do it justice. So, even though I am pumped to start now, I think I will wait.

So discipline. Its tough, but I am hoping to get some discipline on a few things in my life that need to be reined in.

Ligia

P.S. I just found out Crystal is up to it again! She has created on online course on Making Over Your Year, similar to the Makeover Your Morning course I took. Here is my post on that. I do plan on doing this course as soon as it becomes available March 18th.

Making Over my Morning & Evening

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Earlier this month, I completed the Makeover Your Mornings by Money Saving Mom.

In this 14 day course, she walks you through how to make your morning work for you. I really enjoyed the short videos and lessons that followed. Here are some things that I got out of this course.

In order to make my mornings work for me I needed to wake up before my kids. I chose to wake up at 5:15 because realistically I need 2 hours to myself before my kids wake up. When I tell people I wake up that early and they know I don’t work, they look at me like I’m crazy. I enjoy the time to myself.  Previous to this course, I already got up early, but this course helped me to prioritize the things I do.

Here is my routine:

1) Get my self dressed to shoes like Flylady taught me.

2) I bring down my laundry

3) Drink hot water lemon water (here is an article with 12 benefits)

4) Make coffee and empty dishwasher while that brews.

5) Go through my to dos, calendar, and tickler file.

6) Off to do my Bible study and prayer time.

7) Reading-sometimes I forget, but most times I spend 10 minutes on a book. Usually a character building type book. I read Quick to Listen Slow to Speak. Now I am reading Who You Are When No One’s Looking.
8) I get about 45 minutes to blog, work on finances, or do a course (like the Makeover your morning)

9) Walk the dogs.

I told my friend that I feed myself spiritually, mentally and physically everyday by 7:15. It truly does help to do this every morning.

Right after that, I started a Go to Bed Early Challenge! Money Saving Mom does address the importance of a great bedtime routine, but this challenge is specifically to get in bed at a certain time. So my bedtime is 9:45pm. I need at least 8 hours of sleep but realistically I can’t go to bed at 9:15. This seems to be enough. So my bed time routine is:

  1. I drink tea with my daughter at 9pm.
  2. I allow myself 20 minutes on the computer to do emails/facebook. I am questioning this though because I can get carried away.
  3. I go up to the spare room and read for 20 minutes.
  4. Go to my bedroom and get ready for bed.

Most nights my head is hitting the pillow by 9:50 so I think its close enough.

Both these routines have helped me to feel more productive. The hardest to keep is the bedtime routine. I’m setting alarms on my phone to remind me to do it. AND I am seriously considering not including screen time so I don’t get sidetracked especially on Facebook or Pinterest.

I am excited that Crystal has come up with a new online course, which I plan to take. It will be available soon. Here is the affiliate link: