New Habits

There is alot of talk about it taking 30 days to change a habit, or something about yourself. This is not good news. There's so much about myself I want to change, it'll take 10 lifetimes for me to achieve perfection, or at least a state that I'm happy with myself.

But every achievement starts with one small step, right? Flylady says to start with babysteps. You can do anything for 15 minutes a day. I've been babystepping for a month now- literally. I stopped taking the LIRR, and walk 30 minutes a day to and from the bus stop. My calves don't hurt anymore, and I actually look forward to that alone time twice a day. So. What can I focus on now for 30 days? What's the next challenge for myself?

I started going through my day to see where I can improve, and the very first thing I do in the morning jumped out at me. DON'T HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON! I can go some days smacking that button 8 or 9 times before I drag myself from the bed. And I end up feeling worse that day, run down, crabby (I know, how can you tell)? So my next 30 day challenge is going to be to set a morning routine.

Right now, my routine is to get out of bed at 6:00 am, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water and plop on the couch, after moving Spencer out of the way, and turn on the tube. If there's something on that interests me, I'll more often than not watch until 6:30 or 7:00, causing me to have to take the late train in. Then I'll take a shower, get dressed, put my stuff together and get to public transportation. What a waste! If I get up when the alarm goes off at 5:00 am, I have an hour to do something productive. Here's my plan:

Morning Routine

1. Wake at 5:00 am

2. Drink water.

3. 15 minutes of exercise.

4. Water plants or weed garden. This is to get me out of the house for a little while. 15 minutes, while it's still nice out. This task will change in the winter.

5. Prepare dinner for that night.

6. Prepare lunch for that day. Once Zombiegirl starts school, I'll include her lunch in this.

7. Set 3 Most Important Things (MITs) for the day.

8. Eat breakfast. Brew and have cup of coffee. I can do this while setting the MITs, or read the paper.

9. Shower.

10. Get dressed.

11. Out of the house by 7:00 am or earlier.

The MITs that I set for the day need to include one item towards one of my goals. But that's a whole 'nother post. The other MITs can be wither work-related, if I'm on a deadline, or life-related. The goals of each day is to finish my morning routine, and finish all 3 of the MITs.

Think I can do this? It's not too far out of reach. I just need to get my bootie in gear, and stop being lazy.

I'll keep ya posted.