The Incredible Benefits of an Early Start to the Day

Getting up early each morning and taking advantage of uninterrupted work time has had incredible advantages and awesome paybacks for me.

I say I have a Type A ADHD personality because I am very driven and result oriented but I also have a very short attention span. It's a rather interesting and frustrating combination of traits to work with.

Because of these personality traits I have broken my early morning routine into half hour increments. It looks something like this.

4AM - wake up, coffee, start my computer and pull up twitter, blogger, and google reader. Read a few pieces from google reader.

4:30AM - paperwork - I am a licensed childcare provider and the paperwork can quickly pile up. Thirty minutes of uninterrupted work each weekday keeps this pile at a minimum and lowers my stress level tremendously.

5AM - Shower and get ready for the day. I usually listen to National Public Radio while I am doing this. This helps me to stay current with news and other items of interest.

5:30AM - Study or read. Licensed childcare providers are required to have 8 hours a year of training. Most of this I can do online . I am also working towards a Child Development Associate certification. If I do not have any active classes this is my time to read.

6AM At 6:00 I begin setting up for the day. If there are craft items that need to set out I do it now, maybe mix up some homemade finger paint or playdough. I also start breakfast if there is any advance preperation that needs to be done - mixing biscuits, putting cinnamon rolls in the oven, etc. I often listen to NPR while I am working.

6:30AM This is laundry time. I take a load out of the dryer, switch laundry from washer to dryer and start a new load in the washer. Then I fold whatever clean, dry laundry needs to be folded from the day before. Then when my kids wake up they can put away their own laundry. Here again I usually listen to NPR.

7AM By 7:00 the younger kids are usually beginning to wake up, and other kids are arriving for the day. I am ready to start to the day and feel good about the day knowing that I have a good start to the day and many of the priority items are already taken care of.

Because I do overnight childcare there are nights when my sleep is very interrupted and I do not get as early a start as I would like. But having the general framework and following it as much as possible has had a very positive impact on my daily productivity and peace of mind.