So, I've been slacking in the Get Up Early department over the last 5-6 weeks. We've been traveling and sick and, in all honesty, after a l-o-n-g year, I was tired. Because of the traveling and sickness, we were off our usual routine, so getting up later worked out.
But now it's 2016, we're back home from all of our traveling, and it's time to get back on a great routine. Since I've cleared a lot of the excess from my schedule this year, I'm especially excited to get back on a routine - because the routine is so much simpler and doable this year!
Jesse and I went out on a breakfast date on New Year's Day and we went over his goals for this coming year. One thing we both realized quickly, was that one thing that would make a significant difference for our family and for his goals for 2016 would be for us to make a very consistent morning routine a priority.
I've had a good morning routine for quite some time, but we haven't had a consistent morning routine for our whole family. So that's one of our big focuses for 2016.
And one of the big things we're going to attempt to make a habit is both Jesse and me getting up at 5 a.m. every week day morning.
But Isn't This Your Year of Rest??
It might seem counter intuitive for me to be jumpstarting my Year of Rest with a commitment to get up at 5 a.m. every weekday morning. However, in order to get up early every day, we're also making a commitment to go to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. every single night.
I've found that I feel so much more rested when I go to bed early. And it's very easy for me to get up early when I've gotten at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. So while at face value it might seem like this is challenge flies in the face of my Year of Rest, it's actually helping to encourage and facilitate my Year of Rest.
Why 5 AM?
We chose 5 a.m. because we looked at what we wanted to accomplish in the mornings before our kids get up and after our kids get up and felt like it was the perfect time to give us enough time and margin to get done what we need to accomplish.
We have both gotten up at 5 AM consistently in the past, so we know this is a time that we can stick with - especially if we're both committed to it! 
How Will It Work?
I'm going to be blogging between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. CT with a little update on what time I got up and how the Get Up Early Challenge is going. You all are going to serve as my accountability partners in this.
I'll also be scoping about The 5AM Miracle book on Periscope every day between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. CT. (I read this book yesterday and found so many helpful insights in it!)
If you'd like to tune in, you can download the Periscope app and then follow me (I'm @MoneySavingMom on Periscope).
Would You Like to Join Me?
If you'd like to join me, here's what I'd love for you to do:
- Choose what time is realistic for to get up each morning. Please be sure you're getting enough sleep and it's a time that works for your unique needs and family situation.
- Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you're in and what time you've chosen.
- Check in on my daily morning post and/or my daily scope and leave a comment to let me know how you are doing with getting up early. I'm excited to all be encouraging each other in this endeavor!
P.S. Yes, I'm doing the 500 Things Decluttering Challenge and the Get Up Early Challenge starting on Monday. My Decluttering posts will go up around 2 p.m. CT. each week day. You can participate in one or both challenges - or just skip both altogether. It's totally your choice!
No, I do not like cold. No, I am not athletic or coordinated.
(And I did have some runs that were better than this, but this was a great representation of what much of my time on the bunny slopes today looked like. So instead of sharing the highlight reel, I thought I'd share this awful video… Cuz I'm all about keeping it real!) #sarcasm #Keystone #Colorado #TheYearofRest
