Feeling Settled

There is so much beauty in the world if we take the time to notice.

Hello Friends:

How are you doing as we transition into a time change and the coming winter season? While transitions can be challenging for myself and my family, I love the opportunity nature gives us to stop, look and listen. For me, the cold dark days are a great time to turn inward. I enjoy the cozy season and the slower pace.

Over the years, I have written so many posts on habits and routines. If you are curious, click on the little search button (it looks like a tiny magnifying glass) and search up anything. The pandemic took my habits and routines and shook them up like a snow globe in the hands of a three year old child. Every time the "snow" began to settle, things were all shaken up again. Can you relate?

For the first time, in a long, long time, I am feeling a bit more settled. Ever the self improvement junkie, I am trying to figure out exactly what is contributing to my peace and productivity as of late. It's a huge thing that my kids are now back at school, instead of Zooming in random places throughout the house. Hello, uninterrupted time! However, there's more to it than the kids being back to school.

Getting to the heart of the matter, I pulled out my trusty habit tracker. At a glance I see that I have improved on my keystone habit, which is also the habit I struggle the most to keep. That is: getting to bed on time. It turns out, I was running myself ragged, burning the candle at both ends. Can you relate to this?

My kids are getting older and staying up later. While I want to make sure they get a good night's rest in order to perform their best, I was letting their evening habits impact my own. That is, until I was just so tired I couldn't do it anymore. So, recently, I started getting really strict with what time I get ready for bed. If getting ready for bed is delayed, the whole plan of getting to bed on time falls like house of cards. Once my bedtime routine is complete, I wish my family well and just go to bed, even if everyone else is up. This seems completely logical and still hard for me to do.

As a result of getting proper rest, I am a much more pleasant person to be with and getting more done in less time. Who would have known? I know this and in real life, knowing and doing are two separate things.

I am grateful for my habit tracker showing me the way and keeping me honest with myself. I would love to know: What's your keystone habit? What is the one habit that just makes everything else better?

All my best,

Carolyn