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Why You Want to Get Up Before Your Kids (and how to do it!)

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Are you wondering why you want to get up before your kids? There are some pretty awesome benefits that you may not have thought of, I mean, did you ever think of getting up before your kids to be beneficial to your waistline? Have I intrigued you? Then keep reading because I’ve got eight reasons that you want to be getting up before your kids.

I have discovered eight reasons why getting up before my kids is such a huge benefit. I’ve also discovered eight things that make it getting up earlier easier, too! I will share them both with you!

wake up

(this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you)

First of all, let me tell you a little about me. I’m a mom to 8 kids, I run a business inside my home, and I also homeschool my kids. I tell you this to say I understand what it means to be crazy busy, exhausted, and tempted to stay in bed.

But, I can say that the time and effort you put forth in reading and applying these tips here will be totally worth it. They don’t take much, but the 15 or so minutes you might lose on sleep will be SO worth it.

It’s all about really taking charge of your own life, because after all, you’re the only one who can. I’ve created a free 21 day email challenge to help with all kinds of things that will help you really make a difference in your life below. You should join in. Just click below to sign up. Then keep reading.

new-year-challenge

1. Over the years, I have discovered that having some “me time” in the morning is so beneficial

This is time that I have no one else to focus on, and since I am busy caring for a bustling household of seven, soon to be eight children, this me time is so needed. This time is essential for me to fill my tank so that I can pour into others all day long.

2. The first several minutes of my day set my mood

If I control the first several minutes of my day, my day runs so much more smoothly. This even becomes a bigger deal because as a mom to little, and not so little people, my mood sets the mood of the entire household. If I am in a bad mood, my kids can sense that, and everyone seems to adopt my same bad mood. How good can any day be when everyone is in a bad mood?

3. When I am up before my kids, I can focus my day

Focusing my day before it has the opportunity to pull me in a thousand different directions is so important. This means I am reviewing my to-do list, maybe even revisiting some of my goals, and making a mental checklist of the things that other people need me to do that day, too. I can focus my day on what is important and be ready for what life has in store for me that day.

4. When I have the time to ease into my day, I am more likely to have a well managed day and therefore be more efficient

I find that when I am not focused, I chase after little things here and there because I am not sure of what I should be doing. If I don’t have a well thought-out plan, not that everything will always go according to that plan, but if my day is not planned well from the beginning I end up chasing squirrels all day and wind up getting next to nothing done.

5. When I am up first, I have no distractions

Having no distractions is key to helping my mind focus. I can get more done because I am devoted only to what I am doing, and I can therefore accomplish more than if I were having to tackle my morning tasks in the midst of family life. When much of my day is spent in the “controlled chaos” that a busy family life creates, starting off with no distractions is incredibly valuable.

6. Going along with no distractions is being able to have quiet

I love quiet for recharging and focus, but your mind may like to recharge and focus with some music or listening to something inspirational. If this is you, I live with three people who need music to focus and fuel them so I totally get that. But, when you are up before your kids the kinds of noise you experience are those of your choosing. If quiet isn’t your thing, you can enjoy the ability to listen to exactly what you want!

7. Yes, getting up before your kids is better for your waistline

Why? Because you can decide what you want to eat without the rush of having to grab something quick or only have enough time to eat the leftovers from your kids’ plates. Or if you are like me, if I am not up early to make a healthy choice for breakfast, I tend to skip breakfast. Then, I am so famished by noon that I am grabbing whatever I can get my hands on, which usually isn’t something healthy! Having the time to choose a healthy breakfast that I actually want to eat is a huge benefit of getting up before my kids.

8. No rush = no stress

There is nothing worse that being rushed, is there? Whether rushing through your morning, rushing to get out the door for an appointment, or having to rush on the roads because you are running late, rushing around means stress in my world. Eliminating having to rush around in the morning because I got up later than I should have makes for a stressful morning – and often for a stressful day!

So, these are some great reasons to get up before your kids…but how do you do it? I’ve can help with that, too. Try these things…

1. Get enough rest in the first place

If you are not getting the amount of sleep that your body requires, asking it to rise early probably won’t work out so well. Getting a reasonable amount of sleep is setting you up for a much easier time when it comes to getting up in the morning. Read these tips for getting a good night’s rest.

2. Get an alarm clock or similar method that actually works for you

If you have some sort of method that is not actually waking you up, then you certainly need something different. We had to try several different alarm clocks for my husband, who is NOT a morning person, until discovering this alarm clock. It is AMAZING!!!

Sonic Alert SBB500ss Sonic Bomb Loud Dual Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker

3. Position that alarm clock appropriately

So maybe your alarm clock is waking you up, but you are managing to hit snooze too many times or even shutting it off, causing you to oversleep. If this is the case, I would recommend moving that alarm clock across the room! Be honest with yourself, are you enabling yourself to stay in bed too long because your alarm is right next to your bed?

4. Decide on two incentives

Give yourself two rewards for getting out of bed at the “right time.” For me this is reading a chapter in a book and a morning cup of coffee. These are great incentives for me. If I do choose to not get up when I should, I DO NOT allow myself to have either of these two things. More times than not, these incentives alone make it worth it to me to get up on time.

5. Prepare those incentives the night before

Who wants to have to search around for their well earned reward? Not me. I make sure that my coffee pot has water and that my book is sitting right on the coffee table. I take the time to set these things up at night so that I can get right to my reward in the morning.

6. Prepare your environment the night before

For me this means a hallway, steps, and living room that is free of clutter. If I am tripping over toys or clothing to get to the couch to enjoy my book and cup of coffee, I am generally not a happy camper. Making the time to prepare my environment the night before means that I am actually excited to greet my clean house in the morning. If my kids were the one to get up first, my house would certainly not be clean anymore.

7. Get up 15 minutes early

I know you’ve heard this from me before, but getting up 15 minutes earlier serves as a great incentive for getting out of bed early. I know that those extra 15 minutes will be put to good use when something unexpected creeps into my day that would otherwise have set me behind.

8. When your alarm goes off, get out of bed

Get out of bed right away. Don’t lay there and think about how tired you are or about how much you don’t want to get out of bed. In fact, don’t even think about getting up, just do it before you somehow give yourself permission to stay there. Get out of bed, no turning back!

Getting up before your kids is so essential to having a great day, and it doesn’t have to be an impossible task either. Give these things some thought, and then put a plan into motion with some of these tips tomorrow!

Looking to really take this concept to heart?

Nothing has helped me to streamline my mornings more than the Make Over Your Mornings course from Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom.

Completing this course allowed me to take ownership of my mornings and really be intentional in how I chose to spend my mornings, which set me up for a much more successful day.

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10 Comments

  1. How do you manage to get enough sleep when you are getting up numerous times at night with a baby? It is really difficult getting up early when I have been up every 2 hours throughout the night.

    1. That is a great question, and it is one that I have had to deal with 8 times over when I’ve had babies, like I do now. In those seasons, I have only gotten up 20 minutes before them at best, but it was still a life saver for me! Any time, even 10 minutes would be worth it just to take that deep breath before all the demands start coming! I find no matter how much time it is, I have to have a few minutes to do that!

    2. That’s a tough one, and I’ve been there too. I have 7 kids, and the youngest still nurses at least once a night. When I was getting up multiple times to nurse, I didn’t have the same expectation of myself when it came to getting up early. Even still, as Jennifer says, even getting up 20 minutes before my kids to get dressed, wash my face, etc… made me feel on top of the day instead of it attacking me. The quiet was more important to my wellbeing than that little bit of sleep.

      Also. NAPS!! Even if you have only littles who can’t help babysit, put them in front of a good DVD for 30 minutes and sleep with the baby. I still nap for 20 minutes a day because I get up at 4:30 every morning. I can even nap in the same room while the littles are watching a DVD. You get good at falling asleep quickly when you take short naps. 😉

  2. Thanks for the tips. I have so much trouble getting up earlier in the morning but am going to try out these tips tomorrrow.?

  3. Hey thanks for these tips i am so stressed these days with finishing all the work still not getting enough time for myself, thanks i will try implementing these maybe then i feel relaxed!!!

    Handling a blog, job and kids is getting too tough on me!!!

  4. I LOVED this post! I know getting up before my kids is a better way to start my day, but it’s sooo hard when you’re up all night with babies like someone mentioned above!

    Also, do your kids get up at a predictable time? My kid’s wake-up times can vary by as much as an hour, so it’s hard to decide what time to set my alarm for in order to get the most sleep I can and still get up a few minutes before them.

    1. This is a GREAT question! It doesn’t really matter what time my kids wake up, they aren’t allowed to get up until a specified time. If they break that rule, they have to go to bed early that night. This is my affiliate link for the clock my kids have that tells them when they can get up – it is a HUGE lifesaver!!! Here is the clock: https://amzn.to/2rNqkBh

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