Back to the Basics

I have been in a time of transition – Going from a full time stay at home mom to a part time working mom.  This transition has taken more of a hold on me then I ever thought it would. 

So this weekend I went back to the basics.  I went back to my original plans of meal planning, cleaning charts, and prepping plans for the week.  Today I finally feel put together.  By skipping these little but strongly important details I have felt behind and lost, every single day for the past few weeks.  As busy as I have been, I have felt unaccomplished and unproductive. 

It is these basics that keep me on track – and by choosing to say that I am too busy for these basics, I had a couple of weeks that lacked any productivity.  My days were no longer filled with purpose but instead were simply about getting through each day as quickly as possible. My morning alarms were no longer ‘beautiful’.  (See this post.) 

This is why you have not heard from me – How can I write a blog post in my blog called A Beautiful Alarm if my own personal life is no longer close to that example?

Learning to give myself grace these past few weeks has been a lesson I have had to learn again and again.  However, more than this I needed to learn the lesson to go back to the basics.  Back to that which allow everything else to fall into place. 

Everyone’s basics are different, but everyone has them.  They are the things that allow your days to take focus and direction.  These are my basics:

 1. Start my days with God.  Of utmost importance this one stands first.  I MUST wake up to start my days with the focus and direction of God’s plan for my life.  It is really not about my plans at all – but about HIS.

     2. Plan each day out with to do lists and schedules.  Yes I talk about this a lot.  However, while not doing this for a couple weeks I realized how much more importance this holds.  My days lost focus, I wasted much more time, and didn’t complete a number of tasks I wished I had.  While I AM busy, I allowed myself to think I am TOO busy to make a plan – this is backwards!  My busyness ended up overwhelming me even more BECAUSE I had no plan.

     3.  Plan my meals in a way that makes sense (see Making a Meal Plan Work).  Today was one of my busiest days – I worked a full day and got home to take care of my baby until bedtime.  Had I chosen not to make a meal plan this past weekend, I would have ordered take out.  Working a full day and taking care of a baby sucks all of the energy out of me that I can muster right now.  Since I planned my week, I knew that I would feel this way today – so I planned a simple dinner that would take me 15 minutes or less to prepare.  Hubby and I ate healthy, I felt accomplished for cooking a dinner even after a busy day, and we saved money (bonus!)

     4.    Pick something each day to fill me.  It is so important to fill yourself up every day – these past few weeks I have chosen to ignore this need.  Because it IS a need.  Instead of taking the time to fill myself up, I chose to watch more TV, endlessly search the internet, or work myself harder.  These things do not fill me – they only drained me more.  Some things that fill me are writing, crafting, reading, and good conversations with friends.  Think about what brings you happiness, gives you a sense of personal meaning, and relaxes you.   

This week is my busiest week yet.  However, I am already starting it off on a better foot than I have for the past couple of weeks.  By choosing to take time for these basics I am choosing to add more purpose, focus, and productivity to my days.  And now I am also back to writing!