Top Tips Tuesday - Rising Early/Making a New Habit

I'm linking up with The Joyful Keeper again (her posts are sooo inspiring) to bring you Top TipsTuesday!

First off I must admit this is something I am working on, Abigail (my youngest) did not sleep through the night for the entire first year of her life and me + no sleep = very very grumpy, miserable Mummy so most of last year I did not get up very early!

But she has started sleeping til 5 or 6am now and I am finding that if I bring her into bed, feed her and go back to sleep for a couple of hours I end up feeling really bad and getting a headache so by getting up I''m actually doing myself a favour!!

I also find that when I get up early I am more productive and I enjoy an hour or so to myself (well with baby lol) as no one else gets up much before 7am!

So how exactly do I manage it? The biggest thing I've found is GO TO BED AT NIGHT! Once the children are in bed if I get on the computer I can easily find the hours slipping away and before I know it the clock is striking midnight! So I have to be really disciplined - I do like to spend a little bit of time with my hubby (who is more of a night owl) but then by 11pm at the latest (I try to make it more like 10 - 10:30) I like to be in bed!

The other thing I've found, especially now that I'm pregnant is that I need to carve out a bit of time in the afternoon for a rest! I'm still working on training children to do do quiet time but I know I need some time to just sit on the sofa and relax after dinner.

Another important discovery I've made is LIMIT CAFFEINE - I find that if I don't drink any tea or coffee in the afternoon I actually have MORE energy at teatime and I go to sleep easier!

Apparantly it takes 21 days to form a new habit I read recently so don't give up! And remember there may be seasons in your life where early mornings are just not a realistic ambition so relax and adjust and be ready to form the new habit of rising early when it is possible!