Today I am going to talk about my experience with days 1-4 of the Make Over Your Morning course by Crystal Paine. If you need to catch up, read this post about why I decided to complete this course and blog about it here.
If you would like to complete the course with me sign up here!
General Thoughts
- I really like the way the course is laid out. It’s very bite sized so I can watch the video, read the short chapter and then complete the mini project all in under 15 minutes. This is perfect for someone who already has a busy schedule with a family and a job outside the home.
- At the end of each chapter Crystal links to some additional resources if you have extra time in your day. These are links to blog posts, books on the topic or videos to help really drive home a point. I am enjoying going through some of this extra material, especially reading What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.
- The first four days were pretty straight forward and easy to complete, once I put in the time.
I am eager to continue to go through the course and see what other tips Crystal has for setting up my mornings for success. Below are my key takeaways and favorite quotes from the course so far.
Key Takeaways from Days 1-4
Commitment is key. Simply signing up for a course is not enough to make a change in your life. It’s crucial to make the commitment and hold yourself accountable. If nobody knows we are doing something it’s so easy to just quit and keep doing the same thing day in and day out. By writing about my experience with the course on this blog I am holding myself accountable.
A successful morning starts the night before.
“In many cases, hectic and disorganized mornings are a direct result of what is not happening the night before. So revamping the night before is the necessary first step to revamping our mornings.”
The three areas that cause the biggest stress for me in the mornings are having bags/bottles ready for school, eating a healthy breakfast, and getting my kiddos dressed and out the door. By actually writing those stressors out I am able to think through what I can prep the night before to help ensure a smooth morning.
Crystal has a whole course on making over your evenings, which I hope to complete someday, but for now this is what a typical evening looks like around our home:
– Clean up the kitchen
– Make bottles for daycare
– Pack bags for the next day
– Kiddo bed time routines: bath, teeth, story time
– Read or watch a tv show with my spouse
– Get ready for bed!
Focus on priorities and non-negotiables. Crystal talks about the story of the Big Rocks, which you can read here if you are not familiar. Essentially the story says that we need to put our Big Rocks in the bucket first to ensure the sand and water do not take up the space first.
My big rocks at this point are exercise, reading and spending quality time with my kiddos and spouse each day.
“In her book “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast”, Laura Vanderkam explains that highly productive people focus on the “important but not urgent” things early in their mornings.”
In other words, don’t get up early just to do the dishes and take out the trash. While these are tasks that need to get done, they are not tasks that fill us up personally.
You might need an incentive. Like I said before, I am not a morning person. I like how Crystal talks about having an incentive to wake up in the morning. My incentive is my me-time to read and drink my coffee before my kiddos wake up.
“Building in a reward mechanism is an easy yet powerful step toward establishing — and sustaining — a disciplined approach to your morning.”
How did you do on the first four days?
You can still sign up here to join me! I’d love to hear how your mornings are going in the comments below!
“The course is not about getting up early. It’s about using your mornings well.”
Read the Other Posts in the Series
Introduction
Days 1-4
Days 5-8
Days 9-11
Days 12-14
*some of the links in this post are affiliate links.