Redeem the Day!

Over the last few months I have been trying to reconfigure my mornings to allow me to be more productive. In the past I have found myself going to work later and working later so by the time I get home it is late and I have so much to do so I go to bed late. This is a viceous cycle because they are all intertwined if you are late on one step most of the others will fall into place. My goal right now is to work 10 to 6-630 most days, I know this is strange for you non-academics but this works for me. Our schedule is pretty flexible most of the time and I hate traffic so this works out really well. The problem that I was having is that I felt as if I had to head out the door as soon as I was ready and I just never had a chance to do things. As I was talking to my mom about this we both realized that if we got out of bed and did what we needed to do while we were at the house before work then I wouldn't have to do it after work when I was tired.

Now I have a little bit more flexibility and if I have chores around the house I take the 5-10 minutes that it takes for them to get done and do them before I leave for work. I also have time to walk the dog and really enjoy our mornings together. Sometimes I try to do too much and it makes me late for work but I am trying to make sure that I am making the most of the time that I do have, even if it is only ten minutes.

Yesterday, I got up early and got so many things finished before I headed out the door to work. I accomplished:

What a mess

All clean and ready for the day ahead

-Cleaning the kitchen
-1 mile walk with Lily
-I had a quiet time
-Made my lunch
-worked a few minutes on this post (didn't finish until today)

I know that doesn't seem like a whole lot but to come home to a clean kitchen and have already spent time with the Lord I just feel better about my day. This doesn't happen everyday sometimes I take a few extra minutes to send emails or check some of the blogs that I read. It is just nice to feel like I have already accomplished something when I leave for the office. In many ways this gives me a better attitude about the day and I know that I have at least finished some of what my goals were for the day.

How do you spend your mornings? Do you just get up and go to work or do you spend some time getting things done around the house? Some days I will admit it takes all of my concentration to get out the door and nothing extra gets done but when I have a few minutes it is nice to get stuff finished.