Tag: control journal

Baby Step #7: Before Bed Routine

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The last couple of weeks have been wonkier than usual. Normally, I would let the wonkiness of life get me off track. This time around, the wonkier it gets the more I strive for routine.

If you’ve read last week’s post, Baby Step#5, you read about life in my home state of California lately. Crazy. So I haven’t been going through the baby steps as quickly as I planned.

Today I took my dad to the hospital for his hernia surgery. Because of Covid, I couldn’t go in with him. While I’m waiting to get him and my in-laws have my kiddos, I’m taking a few minutes to write about the next baby step: Evening Routines or Before Bed Routines.

My point is, life is full of disruptions; but if I stick to these routines, I really think it will make my life more peaceful and less stressful. So I keep plugging ahead.

I think that I will actually have two night-time routines. The Evening Routine (and the one I’m talking about today) would be what I would do after dinner time and before the kids go to bed. My Before Bed Routine would be just that, before bed. I’m not there yet, though. That might sound too complicated for some. I’ll just call it my Evening Routine for this post.

Why am I starting with my Evening Routine and not the Morning Routine? First, this is how the Fly Lady does it!! Second, I think a good evening routine will set me up for a successful morning.

Here’s my Evening Routine so far. I put it in my control journal. I just wrote it out simply on a piece of binder paper. Nothing fancy here!

EVENING ROUTINE:

  • Shine Sink
  • Sweep
  • Living Room Pick Up
  • Fold and Deliver Laundry
  • 2 Minute Hot Spot
  • Check Tomorrow’s Calendar

*I’m usually folding laundry at night. So what I’ve been doing is putting any laundry that I fold of the kids into a basket and leave it by their door. Then they put away their own laundry in the morning. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks and it’s been working really well. Yay!

** Today I got dressed down to the actual shoes since I was taking my dad to the hospital. Everyday, I’ve been getting dressed before I start my day. It has made a positive difference.

Baby Step #4: Sticky Notes

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TWO WORDS: STICKY NOTES

This is the beginning of the Control Journal. I think that’s kind of a funny name. Do you? You could call it whatever you want. There are many versions of the Control Journal out there. Just look on You Tube. Search Fly Lady Control Journal. Don’t do it right now, though. You’ll get side-tracked.

I did a little You Tube browsing this morning while my daughter watered our neighbor’s plants and I kept her company. I gave myself a time limit so I wouldn’t get lost down the dark hole of the internet.

Just hop on the Fly Lady’s website and check out hers. Or, you can use hers and tweak it to fit your style. That’s what I plan on doing.

Today, I’m making two sticky notes: One labeled Morning Routine and one labeled Night Routine. This is what I have so far on each; but these may not be the final routines. I’ll work on them this week.

Eventually this will go in some kind of binder; but for now I’m just using sticky notes.

Today’s Recap:

  • I emptied the dishwasher and there were a few dishes in the sink from the night before so I made sure to load the dishwasher and my sink was shiny.
  • I got dressed down to the flip flops. It’s 107 here today and so I did not wear shoes the rest of the day because I have no AC. I would die if I wore shoes. I’ve already explained that I hate having hot feet.
  • I began brainstorming my morning and evening routines:

MORNING ROUTINE:

  • Some Quiet Time/Morning Reading/Devotion w/Coffee
  • 1 minute Yoga
  • Get Ready
  • Start Laundry

EVENING ROUTINE: (After Dinner)

  • Shine Sink
  • Sweep
  • Living room pickup
  • Fold and put laundry away
  • Check tomorrow’s calendar