1. Q: How many years young are you and what is your living situation?
1. 30. I live with my husband and our two kids (ages 3 and 1).
2. Q: What's the biggest challenge you faced in changing your morning routine? How have you dealt with it/got over it/are still dealing with it?
2. Biggest challenge is having small children! You kind of address it in the forward/intro of the book, but waking up early when you may have woken up a few times with them during the night is much harder than if you don't have kids, and when you wake up early you run the risk of also waking them up! But, being a working mom of two small kids means I have zero other alone/me time - which has made waking up and having a great morning routine SO much more important. Before, I felt so rushed and frazzled in the morning, now I feel MUCH more in control of my day and my life. Plus, I feel like the time I do get with my babies in the morning is more meaningful. If I am already dressed and ready and feeling like an adult instead of a zombie when they wake up, i am a much better version of myself for them. The way I have tried to "get over" the kid hurdle - white noise machiens in their rooms so I don't wake them up, and trying even harder to get to bed earlier so that if I am interrupted multiple times in the night, I at least got to bed early.
3. Q: What time did you wake up and go to sleep before you started using the Morning Sidekick Journal, and what time do you wake up and sleep now?
3. Before = 11-12 and 7-7:30, After = 10-11, 6
4. Q: What did your mornings look like before you started using the Morning Sidekick Journal? What do your mornings look like now?
4. Before: sleeping until the last possible minute and being woken up by two toddlers and basically letting them run the 20-45 minutes of rushing around the house until we got out the door, usually without breakfast (they are fed at day care.) Now: I get up around 6 and hopefully I'm the first up. I brush my teeth, meditate, then do 5-10 min of morning yoga. Start the coffee and breakfast and go upstairs and start getting dressed. BY that time, the kids are usually stirring. Get them dressed, bring them down for breakfast, talk, play, read a book with them then out the door. SO much betterBefore: sleeping until the last possible minute and being woken up by two toddlers and basically letting them run the 20-45 minutes of rushing around the house until we got out the door, usually without breakfast (they are fed at day care.) Now: I get up around 6 and hopefully I'm the first up. I brush my teeth, meditate, then do 5-10 min of morning yoga. Start the coffee and breakfast and go upstairs and start getting dressed. BY that time, the kids are usually stirring. Get them dressed, bring them down for breakfast, talk, play, read a book with them then out the door. SO much better!
5. Q: In one sentence, what's your favorite thing about the Morning Sidekick Journal?
5. Its an external reward for getting up early!
6. Q: How long have you been using the Morning Sidekick Journal?
6. 3 weeks!
7. Q: How has using the Morning Sidekick Journal and doing your morning routine impacted your life overall?
7. I feel like a better wife, mother and business woman. I keep getting more ideas and more inspired to do more and more with my morning routine. Our house is calmer and my husband and I are both happier. It really feels like the secret to having it all! Filling out the journal is a big accountability measure and motivator for me. Its like a promise to myself that I ge ta little hit of reward for filling out every day!