What are you doing, Napoleon: My Daily Schedule

How do you do it all?

Over the last few months I’ve had questions about what my day looks like. While I was speaking at the Foundation Conference in Arizona, I had questions about how I fit into my day all of the things that I talk about.

Here’s my morning schedule until Grace gets home from school. I’ll share part 2 of my day later this week! 🙂

Typical Day for me:

5:15 am-Wake up Emmett so he can get ready for school and early morning seminary (a religion course for the teens in our church)

5:45 am-DEAR time with Emmett**

6:00 am-Wake Grace to shower/write Emmett’s lunch note**/Emmett eats breakfast

6:10 am-See Emmett off to early morning seminary and school/Hugs**/Wake Emma to shower

6:20 am-Wake Miriam to shower/write lunch notes for each of the girls**

6:40 am-DEAR time with the girls**

7:00 am-Breakfast with the girls (on the deck if it’s not too cold)**

7:20 am-Take Grace to school/Hugs**/Miriam and Emma have free time if it’s not a Summit day)

8:00 am-Girls get ready to leave for school/Hugs**

8:10 am-Take girls to school

8:30 am-Exercise

9:15 am-Personal DEAR time

9:45 am-Shower

10:15 am-Begin work (turn off all social media, etc with Anti-Social)*

2:15 pm–Watch for Grace at the door with Cocoa

2:20 pm-Grace gets home from school/hug her and chat/snack

2:45 pm-We work together side by side, me on my computer and her on her homework, at my desk, until the rest of the kids need to be picked up from school

3:50 pm-Pick the kids up from school/hugs/snack and chat

NOTE: A few months ago I traveled to England to photograph A Day in the Life of this irresistible little family. The series here is their sweet little morning routine that happens everyday. (Are you interested in your own Day in the Life session? You can contact me here.)

(scroll down past the photographs for more details about how to have your own meaningful mornings)

What if I get distracted during the work day?

*I have found that when I turn off all of my access to social media (you can also use Rescue Time which lets you know how much time you are spending on anything you do on your computer) and put my iPad and iPhone upstairs where I don’t have access to it; I get an enormous amount of work done.

How to be happy at the end of a work day

I also start my day off with my biggest project that I’ll be in a bad mood at everyone for not completing if it’s not done at the end of the day. That way, my day feels immediately successful. Doing this takes planning. You don’t want to turn everything off if you’re going to need to post to your blog or upload photos for a client. I use my project days to get the actual writing or editing done and then a media day (possibly the following day) to check in with email, Facebook, etc.

How to be with each person you love everyday

It can be difficult to make time for each person you love everyday. I have a feeling you already do this, however, becoming aware that these moments are part of your day will help you to become more purposeful about the time you spend with your kids and spouse.

**It’s very important to me to build these connecting points into my day. I’m very purposeful about them and remind myself that these are my moments in the day to let each of my children know that I love them, to give them affection, tell them why I love them, and to have conversations.

Even though writing lunch notes happens in the morning, they are a connecting point with each of them during the day at school. If they are having a difficult day, I want to remind them that no matter what happens at school there is someone who thinks they are amazing and will be here for them when they get home. On a day when things are going awesome, lunch notes are a reminder that I can’t wait to hear about their good news.

For me, it’s important to have a number of connecting points built in to my day. That way, if I miss one, I know that I have at least 4 more opportunities to connect with my kids and husband today.

What is DEAR time?

DEAR time, also known as Drop Everything And Read, (I’m giving you the abbreviated version here, I’ll be blogging in detail about it soon) is a time for each of the kids to connect with Heavenly Father. I recommend a time like this for everyone, no matter what your beliefs.

DEAR time is a centering time to hear your own voice in the midst of so many that are telling us what to do, think, see, be. We sing a song, pray together, and then, whoever wants to, shares something from their reading and writing the day before. Everyone then finds a quiet place to do their own reading and writing for 20 minutes or so.

What about when I have a crazy week?

During times when I have deadlines I’m up against or we have a crazy week this routine doesn’t happen quite this way. On weeks when I have a deadline I’ll work after the kids go to bed. If Mike is home from work, I’ll stay at my computer until dinner time. This is not the norm, though. When I keep to this type of schedule I’m a lot better at being intentional and present with my work and my family. It helps me to worry and fret less about being a good mom and I get more done.

I love knowing I’ve got lots of chances to connect through out the day. I never go a full day, without connecting with each of my kids, because I’ve created so many opportunities to really see them.

How to create your own meaningful morning:

1. Look at your morning and decide what makes it stressful and crazy. Try to eliminate or prevent those moments. If making lunches just adds to everyone’s stress, make them the afternoon before (That’s one thing we do…I’ll tell you more about that soon, too!)

2. Identify when you have connecting points already built into your morning. Maybe you always wake up your children in the morning. This could be a connecting point for you that you aren’t taking full advantage of (or it could be a source of stress in your morning).

3. Decide on some ways to re-work your schedule to create a less stressful and more connected morning. Possibly, instead of having waking your children be a stressful moment in the morning, it could be an opportunity for you to climb into bed with them, snuggle, and tell them a silly joke to wake them up. The first thing they see is your happy, laughing face that’s glad to see them.

4. Remember that the purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship. It’s easy to get caught up in finishing a task, being in a hurry to check things off a list, demand obedience when you’re already late for something, and feel stressed when things aren’t going smoothly. This whole family thing is about your relationship with these people that matter most to you. Each task can be a chance to make those bonds happier and stronger.

What do you do in your day to make sure you get the work done you want to get done and, at the same time, also connect with the people you love?

Davina Fear is a Familyness Adventurer. She believes it adds magic to dinner time to drink chilled water (from the tap) out of a vintage lemonade bottle she and Mike received during their adventure in England. (from this cute little family)