Episode 58

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Published on:

7th Aug 2024

58 | Creating a Weekly Routine That Works for You This Fall

School starts next week, which means it is time for me to create a new weekly routine. In this episode I share 9 steps for creating a weekly routine that works for you this fall.

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Transcript
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I've coached nearly 100 women about their screen time,

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and here's what I've learned.

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Women actually don't care about their

screen time, they care about those things

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that are impacted by their screen time.

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Their ability to be patient with their

kids, the growth of their business,

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having time to pursue their creative

dreams, their relationship with their

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husband, the inner peace that they feel,

their confidence in themselves, their

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Connection with God, their friendships

not missing out on their kids' childhoods.

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I'm Alex and I'm here to

help you find inner peace.

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Enjoy true fulfillment

and be fully present.

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Welcome to the Mindful with Media Podcast.

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I can hardly believe school

starts next week for where I live.

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My son is three and a half and he's

going to be starting preschool.

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He doesn't start till

after labor day, but.

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I can just feel fall, like starting

in the air, even though it feels

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like summer went so quickly.

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And I'm going to miss a

lot of things about summer.

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But.

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One thing I do love about the

changing seasons is I love

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setting up my new schedule.

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And especially because this summer.

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I think I've shared this.

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In recent episodes, but

I've really just put.

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How scare tasks on the back burner.

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And it's been very intentional

so that we can spend more time.

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Playing outside.

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But because of that, I'm ready to

have my systems again with laundry

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and cleaning and, and all the things.

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And so I'm going to do a.

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Two parts.

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So this week, the episode

will be all about.

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Some steps to help you create

your ideal fall schedule.

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For your home life.

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So just, like taking care of yourself,

spending time with your kids, taking

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care of your house, spending time

with your husband, things like

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that, just like your normal life.

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And the next week I will.

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Give you a framework for

planning your ideal workweek.

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So like when you're going to work.

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What you're going to do

during your work times.

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So we'll, we'll talk a little bit

about that today, but we will.

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Kind of get more into the nitty-gritty of

how you're going to spend your work time.

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Next week.

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So.

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This is where sometimes I wish

that I had a YouTube channel

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because I could show you.

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What I'm doing, but.

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A few weeks ago, I interviewed.

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Krista And she creates

custom bullet journals.

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And so I, when I worked with

her to make my bullet journal.

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She helped me put a section

in about my ideal week.

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So the first thing that I do.

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Is.

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Brain dump all the ways that

I want to spend my time.

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, and just like things

that are important to me.

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So.

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I will say that this time around,

it's been a lot easier to set up

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my, my schedule because I've already

figured out a lot of things, but

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the very first time I did this,

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I really wrote down everything like.

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I like spending time with friends.

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I like spending time outside.

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I want to run.

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I like spending time with my kids If

something came to mind, I would just brain

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dump it of like, this is important to me.

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So, because I've already done this, I

already have something set in place.

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So , I know that I like to block

out my mornings from like nine.

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To noon typically for.

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Playing with my kids.

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Going on adventures.

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That's my like focus and

play with my kids time.

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And so I intentionally don't

plan anything during that time.

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So that's something that I already

figured out in a previous season,

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and I'm just keeping it that way.

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But.

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Kind of back to my method for

how I plan my ideal schedule.

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I just.

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Bring up all the tasks that I have

been doing or all the tasks that

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I want to be doing or those things

that are important to me, like.

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Planning meals, making dinner.

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Cleaning the kitchen, cleaning

the bathrooms, changing sheets.

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Making my bed.

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I don't know.

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I just like, you can go as specific

or unspecific as you want, but I feel

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like for me, again, especially the

first time around, it was helpful to

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be pretty specific to just get it all

out there on like all the things that

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are important to me and all of the

ways that I like to spend my time.

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So for this upcoming fall season, I'll

share the things that I brain dumped

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that I'm just trying to figure out..

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When I do what.

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Is prayer, journaling

and connecting with God.

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Per journaling, this, something

that Missy, all red has been

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talking a lot about lately and it's

actually been really helpful for me.

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I've been working with her in.

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It just helped me to connect

with God in that way.

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Um, running and

exercising, moving my body.

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Working.

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On mindful with media.

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Laundry.

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The kids clothes.

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Colored clothes, whites,

sheets, and towels.

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And then when to fold them,

Cleaning the kitchen dishes,

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counters, sweeping and mopping.

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Cleaning the bathrooms are

upstairs bathroom and downstairs

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bathroom changing bedsheets.

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Meal planning.

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Grocery shopping.

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And if I'm going to do.

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Full on grocery shopping in this store or.

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Doing a grocery order.

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And if I'm going to do pick up

or delivery, just kind of trying

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to figure those things out.

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And then Yaffa, hiking and adventures.

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And then I just kind of like brain

dumped some questions that I'm.

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I'm kind of trying to figure it out.

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So like, Do I want to work on housework

after the kids go to bed because , they'll

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be going to bed earlier in the fall.

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Or do I want to keep

my evenings open again?

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Do I want to.

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Choose a day to skip naps

for adventures in the past.

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Usually every Friday.

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I'll let my kids just do car naps.

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And so then that gives us some freedom.

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So we don't have to stay

within 15 minutes of our house.

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We can go explore new places

and, um, Trying to decide if I

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want to designate that again.

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Do I want to choose a day for my

three-year-old to help with housework.

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If I do that, do I want him

to skip quiet time again?

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That's something that I've

done in the past as I let him.

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Let's get quiet time once a week.

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But then I often end up feeling

like exhausted at the end of

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that day because he doesn't get

a break and I don't get a break.

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Anyway.

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So some things that I'm just kind of

trying to figure out for myself this fall.

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So first step.

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Brain dump.

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Second step is to make note

of those things that repeat.

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So if I know that every week

I'm going to be needing to.

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Order groceries.

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Then that's something that I'd

like to put my schedule that I

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do at the same time every week.

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Or if I know that.

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Every week, I.

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I'm cleaning the bathroom.

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Then I'd like to do that at the same

time every week, or if every day I want

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to prayer journal and connect with God.

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Ideally, I'd like to do that

at the same time every day.

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And like, of course, like.

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Different things will change

day to day or week to week.

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But this is just like my

general go-to schedule.

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I'll call it like this.

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Isn't my.

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I have to live by this schedule or.

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I'm not functioning.

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It's just, it just gives me a guideline

of how I want to spend my time.

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And it helps me to prioritize those

things that matter to me most.

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But can.

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Get slipped away and not happen

if it's not in my schedule.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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The third step is to.

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No, which of the tasks are

best done without kids.

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So I like to look through my brain

dump and say like, I really prefer.

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Working without my kids.

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I know some people can figure out ways

to work while their kids are awake.

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That has just not worked for me.

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So I either want to work while I have a

babysitter here, or I want to work while

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they're doing nap time and quiet time.

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, running as another thing.

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I have attempted having my

son ride his bike while I run.

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It's not my favorite.

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Again, some people figure out ways

to do it either at a park or at

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the gym or something like that.

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But for me, running is important

enough for me that it's something that.

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Aye.

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Aye.

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Strongly prefer doing

alone without my kids.

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Those that will look different

for you, which tasks are

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our best without your kids.

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And then also, I like to note which tasks.

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Can be done with my kids or I

don't mind having my kids there.

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Again, this will look different for

different people in different seasons,

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depending if maybe you have a.

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A baby who gets into all the

laundry or something like that.

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That can be a lot harder

to do with kids awake.

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But right now, my kids are in a stage

where they like to help with housework.

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And generally speaking, it's.

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It's not too disruptive and it's helpful.

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And I like them having that experience.

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So, yeah, just go through

each of the tasks.

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Are there certain ones that are a

high priority to do without kids.

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Are there certain ones

that are high priority to.

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Two.

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I don't want to say, like,

not waste your precious time

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when you don't have your kids.

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You know, that, that time for me is pretty

rare when I don't have my kids with me.

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And so.

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I'm pretty intentional

about how I use that time.

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Again, like prayer journaling,

connecting with God.

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Some people like to do that with kids.

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Some people like to do that without kids.

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Aye.

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Prefer it without kids, I'm playing

with the idea of doing it when my

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kids around, but we will, we'll see

what I, what, what ends up working?

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So after you.

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Made no of those things then.

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I like to note.

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Which tasks.

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Take up the most energy.

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And notice when I have the most energy.

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So I'm the kind of person who.

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Seriously, after about 8:00 PM, like.

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My brain just stops working.

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And it's especially hard for me

to do anything that takes a lot

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of physical effort and especially

anything that takes a lot of.

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Mental effort.

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And also my.

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Husband.

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I've mentioned this before.

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He's been having seizures.

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And so just with all of

his health stuff going on.

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He's not really available to help

with the kids in the evenings.

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And so.

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Evenings is a really hard time

for me to get things done.

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Right now.

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And, and also like with my

husband, He goes to bed and

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wants the rest in the evening.

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And so.

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If I.

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Want to do coaching

calls or record things.

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There's things like that.

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It's, it's not ideal

in the evening anymore.

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So just, this is just kind of like, yeah.

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Making note of things like that.

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You know, I could run in the afternoons

or I could run in the evenings for me,

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it works best if I run in the morning.

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So I love when I'm just

making those things.

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It's not like you're for sure

going to make this all happen, but

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I just like to make little notes

of like, when would be ideal.

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So like, Work stuff is not

ideal to do in the evening.

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Cause it takes a lot of brain power.

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But I could fold laundry

and listen to a podcast.

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That's just like a chatty podcast.

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That's a good evening activity for me.

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So just, just making no, and, and

a lot of this is like You're just

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figuring out, like, I like to

make my ideal schedule and then.

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I realized like, oh my gosh, every

night when I had planned to do.

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Whatever, maybe yeah.

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Fold laundry.

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I realize I'm so tired.

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I actually just need to go to bed.

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K.

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I need to look back at my schedule

and find a different time because

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that's not working for me.

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And just being really open to that idea.

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So like another example of

this point about noticing

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when you have the most energy.

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Or when you have the least amount

of energy or things like that.

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I know most people do there.

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Meal prep and cooking.

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At like four or 5:00 PM.

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When their kids are exhausted

and they're exhausted.

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And so that might not be the best time

to do a meal prep, especially now that

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it's fall, you could plan to do more

Crock-Pot meals and things like that.

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And you could throw it in, in the morning

and just put that in your schedule, put

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that in your calendar, or maybe that's

just once a week that you do that.

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So just, just making note of.

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Yeah.

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I deal times to do things.

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When you have energy, what types

of tasks take, what kind of energy?

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And another thing about.

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This like noting which

tasks will take more energy.

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I know that.

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My kids.

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Are typically.

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I don't know if they're more

harder or I'm harder or whatever,

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but afternoons tend to be.

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A more challenging time of day.

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So that's when I like to have

a babysitter come and then it

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changes things up for my kids.

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They get to play with someone new

and play with new toys and then.

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That's when I do I work and it

also works out well because most

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of our friends like to get together

in the mornings before nap time.

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Anyways.

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And so it just works out with the

schedule too, but just, you know,

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making note of things like that.

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Okay.

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Number six in planning, your

ideal fall schedule is two.

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Schedule in the easy things.

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So this is when we're actually

going to get to scheduling before

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we were just brain dumping.

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All of our notes and thoughts on things.

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And now we're actually gonna

look at your, your schedule.

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I like to have a weekly layout.

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Monday through Sunday.

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And I had to have it timed from 6:00 AM

to 9:00 PM because that's typically when

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I treat my day as starting and ending.

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And then I'll just, yeah.

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Plug in things that I already

know are set in place.

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So my son is going to have

preschool, Tuesdays and

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Thursdays from 1230 to two 30.

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, we found somebody who's

going to babysit our kids.

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Tuesdays through Fridays for

an hour in the morning.

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So that I can run and work

out and do my exercise then.

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So plug that in.

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I have mom club every Monday.

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I'll plug that in.

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So I just like to like plug in things

that I didn't know, or like nap time.

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Plugged with nap times.

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Plugin.

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When the babysitter's going

to come so I can work.

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So plugging all the things that

are already set in set in stone.

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And then after you've done that,

then you can go to step number seven.

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And this is where you start plugging in.

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Those those tasks that don't

really have a schedule to them.

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So if that's.

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Laundry or.

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Connecting with God or.

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Grocery shopping.

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Then you can start

plugging those things in.

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So if I know towards usually by

Friday, I'm pretty exhausted.

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I don't like to have any.

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Housework to do on Fridays.

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I don't like to do any laundry, any

cleaning, any, anything extra on Friday.

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So that's something that

I'm aware of in my schedule.

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So I'm going to try to figure out,

okay, what could I realistically do on.

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The earlier days of actually

getting things done.

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So then after you've plugged things,

things in, and you, you have, uh, a

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system set up and you've kind of played

with things to see what fits best, where.

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I mentioned this earlier, but

I think it's so important that.

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This isn't like the end all be all.

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This is.

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Try this, see if it works.

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And I always say like, if you're.

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Schedule and system isn't working.

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Then you're not the problem.

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It's the system.

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Is that the problem?

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It's, it's nothing wrong with you.

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We just need to tweak the system

to make it work better for you.

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And then the last thing that I'll

say as you're planning your schedule.

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Is.

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Make sure to plan.

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Extra time and space for things.

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I think it's easy to look at your

calendar and be like, oh, I have.

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Like, like maximize all of your time.

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I think it's really important to.

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Leave.

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Open space and more time

than you think to do things.

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Well, once you don't feel so burnt out

and over-scheduled, but also things

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come up that you don't plan for.

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And then you still have room to do those

things that are priorities for you.

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And that really matter for you

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So just as an example of this.

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I don't have vacuuming

in my ideal schedule.

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I know that sometimes it

will happen because my kids

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are obsessed with vacuuming.

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And so.

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On the times when I planned to do.

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Laundry and mopping.

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And laundry and.

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Cleaning the bathrooms.

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We may vacuum here and there, but

I'm not, I'm, I'm leaving space

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in my schedule because I know

that will be exhausting for me.

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And it's not realistic for me

to expect myself to do all the

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laundry and vacuum and mop and do

the bathrooms and all the things.

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And so I'm just.

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Embracing the fact that vacuuming

is not a priority in this season.

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And you could do the same with, with

other things that might be on your list.

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Really genuinely ask yourself, is this

a priority for me to happen every week?

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If it's not a priority every week,

is it a priority every month?

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You can make note of that.

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Okay.

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I want to do this on the first

Saturday of every month, or maybe

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just look at your next month.

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Realistic too.

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Go through my kids' clothes or.

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Yeah, clean the baseboards,

things like that, that.

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May or may not be.

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A realistic for you too.

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Plan into your weekly schedule.

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If you're really honest with yourself.

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K.

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So just as a recap for.

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How I like to plan my ideal fall schedule.

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One brain dump all of the things.

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That I have been doing or want

to be doing with my time and

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things that are important to me.

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Number two, make note of those things that

repeat whether they're weekly or daily.

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Number three.

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Note, which tasks are best.

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If my kids are not around.

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Number four note, which tasks are

best if my kids are around or I don't

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mind if my kids are around for them.

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Number five.

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Note which tasks take the most.

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Energy.

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And also when I have the most energy

and when my kids have the most energy.

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Number six schedule things that.

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Are already set in place

on your weekly layout.

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Number seven.

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Plug your tasks into your schedule

and play around with different

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things done at different times.

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Number eight.

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Be willing to adjust and accept that

this is just a kind of a rough draft

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of what you wanted to schedule to look

like and be willing to adjust things.

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Because if the system's not

working, it's not your fault.

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It's the system.

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And then.

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Number nine?

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Make sure to plan extra time and

extra space in your calendar.

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So that you make sure to really have

time for those things that matter to you

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and expect things to not go perfectly.

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Aye.

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And weirdly nerdy about these things and.

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I always love listening to podcasts

about other people's schedules and

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how they use their time and how

they organize and things like that.

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But honestly, this is something

that I've thought about sharing

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in the past, but I kind of thought

it might be boring for people.

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So.

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Genuinely, I would love to hear

thoughts if this is something that's

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interesting to you and you like.

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Hearing about the stuff.

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Please, please, please send me a

DM and just say, Hey, I liked that.

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I liked hearing about your ideal schedule.

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And that will help me know.

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If this, this kind of stuff is resonating,

or if this is kind of boring also,

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please, please message me seriously and

be like, oh, that wasn't my favorite.

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:

It's kind of boring to me.

430

:

I would love to hear that too.

431

:

. And just a reminder.

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:

The serenity is launching on August 20th.

433

:

It's 2 83 a month and you get

a one-on-one call with me.

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You get a monthly workshop and you get a

private training, and this is all designed

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:

to help you make a thousand dollars a

month consistently in your business.

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So if that's something that interests you.

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:

That opens August 20th, there

will only be 10 spots available.

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About the Podcast

Mindful with Media
This is the podcast for entrepreneurial moms who want to grow a meaningful, profitable business without sacrificing their other priorities (like spending time with their kids or getting enough sleep).

Host Alex Falesā€”business coach, mindset mentor, and momā€”shares honest conversations, simple strategies, and powerful mindset shifts to help you and make money doing work you love and grow as a person while you're at it.

Expect solo episodes, authentic chats, and real-life stories that help you blend business strategy with personal growth, so you can build a business that supports your life (not the other way around).

Because you donā€™t need more hustle.
You need clarity, confidence, and the courage to do business your way.