Sharing What I Constantly Ask Others to Share

I've asked a lot of guests on the Get Organized HQ Podcast to open up and share an honest look at their daily routine, so it seemed only fair that I share my answers to the same questions I ask our guests. In today's episode I'm giving you a breakdown of what it's like to be Tasha for a day, along with some tips of what's working in my routines right now. But don't worry! I also open up and share some of the current fails because, let's face it, we ALL have fails! Listen in!

Episode Links

Click here for full episode transcript. 

In this episode, Tasha shares her own daily routine, some of what she’s good at, some of what she’s not so good at, and a little quirk in her personality that makes it a game of roulette of how her house will look if you were to show up on any random day.

BEING A MORNING PERSON

By nature, Tasha is a morning person. That doesn’t mean she rolls out bed singing like a Disney princess. It does take a few minutes to wake up, but she can be up and working on the computer in about five minutes if necessary.

This began during college when she preferred to go to bed at 10:00 pm and wake up at 6:00 am to study instead of staying up late. She’s never been one who could sleep in.

SETTING THE ALARM

Although the alarm is set for 5:00 am, Tasha admits to hitting the snooze button several times. She and her husband prefer to set the alarm earlier than what is needed to give themselves some flexibility in the mornings.

For example, if they are out later than normal the night before, there is some room to hit the snooze a few times and get some extra sleep without running late. This has allowed for nice, calm mornings.

TURNNG ON LIGHTS

Tasha has set her Alexa device to gradually turn on her bedroom lamps on weekday mornings. Before she did this she found that when she hit the snooze button, and the room was dark, she would fall back into a deep sleep. Having the lights come on has really helped with waking up.

She also has a lamp set up to come on in the living room so that she is not walking out into pitch blackness.

COFFEE FIRST

Coffee is first, always. They have an espresso machine that they have finally gotten comfortable with, though Tasha makes hers as an Americano, which is a double shot of espresso, and always with creamer.

PRAYER & BIBLE READING

Next, Tasha does her prayer and Bible reading. What has helped her become consistent is having a plan of what she was going to do and when she was going to do it.

Early morning works great for her because it is the most uninterrupted time of the day. No phone calls or meetings happen at 5:15 in the morning!

TIP FOR CONSISTENCY

Setting her goals very low has helped Tasha with consistency. Her goal for Bible reading is to read one chapter and her goal for her prayer journal is to write one page. If she goes over that, it’s fine, but the bar is set at something she can consistently attain.

She isn’t perfect. She’s recently gotten a new puppy that has changed up the routines because she is up and at em every morning and very hyper. But coming back to the routine and doing it first thing in the morning has been most helpful.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

What follows the Bible reading and prayer time varies depending on the season of life Tasha is in. As the coordinator of the Get Organized HQ Virtual Summit, there is definitely a season when Tasha is extra busy.

During the months of October through December there are a few things that can be done for the next year’s event, but that is usually a slower time. It’s during this season that she may do a bit of cleaning after prayer and Bible time.

During the busier seasons, she may have as many as five or six meetings back to back and she squeezing in time to stand up and stretch when she can.

She has learned that she thrives the busier she is. She actually does better. Her house is cleaner, meal prep goes better, and overall she’s more on top of things when things get hectic. It’s when she’s not so busy when things seem to slip.

MAKING LISTS

One thing Tasha has found that helps in both busy seasons and especially in the not busy seasons is to have a list of what she wants to accomplish.

During the busy times, it’s helpful to break down her tasks into a timeline format so that she doesn’t feel like everything has to be accomplished at once. Knowing everything has been scheduled lets her focus on what needs to be done today and not worry about something that she doesn’t have to do until a later time.

NEXT ACTIONS

She refers to a concept by April Perry from Learn, Do, Become called next actions. Breaking down a task into all of the next actions that need to be taken has been very helpful in not getting overwhelmed.

For example, creating the page to watch sessions for Get Organized HQ Virtual requires many actions. It needs to be designed. This involves getting the links to the speaker’s social media, adding those links to the page, choosing a color for the page, choosing a font, and checking the links. So breaking these down really helps Tasha know what to do next.

DAYS WITH LESS STRUCTURE

Lists are also very helpful when you’re in a season with less structure in your days and you don’t have much you need to accomplish. A list will give you purpose and a goal for yourself.

Tasha has found that if her work day is not super busy she can fall into a rut. She gets easily distracted and doesn’t make much progress. That’s where having a list can help. If she feels like she’s floundering, the list will get her back on track.

GOING ON RUNS

Tasha enjoys going for runs in the middle of the day. Lately there have been more walks with the dogs since getting the new puppy, but the goal is for the puppy to become her running buddy. So, hopefully running will become more frequent. The break from the computer to get out and get some movement has been a huge game changer.

LUNCH TIME

Tasha’s husband works very close to home and so he comes home for lunch every day which Tasha enjoys.

A random fact about Tasha’s and her husband’s personalities- they are kind of flip flopped on how their work environments should be.

Tasha is much more social and an extrovert. She needs to be around other people, yet she is the one that works from home. Her husband is an introvert and would probably rather work from home by himself. Yet, he is the one that goes to an office with other people every day.

DINNER TIME

Tasha shares that they are often teased for how early they eat dinner. Her husband gets off work at 4:30 and has a commute home of only a few minutes, so they eat dinner at 4:45.

Tasha grew up eating dinner whenever her dad got home from work, usually around 5:15, which can still be considered early, but that was just what they did.

It only made sense to do the same with her husband instead of having an awkward amount of time to just randomly wait to eat.

AFTER DINNER WALKS

After dinner, they take the dogs out for a walk, more consistently in the summer months. It’s a little less often in the winter when the sun goes down so early. It’s harder to walk them in the dark.

BED TIME

The routine varies after dinner. Sometimes they do things with friends. Sometimes they stay home and hang out together and go to bed early.

In the winter, when it’s dark earlier, it’s common for them to go to bed before 9:00. In the summer, it’s more common that bedtime will be 10:00-10:30.

WHAT TASHA IS GOOD AT

Tasha feels that keeping the house tidy and functioning is a strength she has. She has learned that it has really made her feel less stressed to have a tidy home.

She feels that prioritizing the peace that comes from that is what has helped her learn to be good at it. She knows she will feel better and more easily be able to cook dinner. She also feels mental clarity to sit down and work when her house is tidy.

USING POCKETS OF TIME

Another thing that has been helpful is learning to use those pockets of time of 15-20 minutes really well. Sometimes we feel that that isn’t enough time to do something like clean up the dishes after dinner before we have to head out.

Tasha has started using that time and learned that you can finish the dishes in 15 minutes and then she doesn’t have to worry about them the next morning. So, recognizing and using those pockets of time has been game changing in keeping the house tidy.

DAILY MOVEMENT

She also feels she is good at getting in daily movement and having dogs helps. As mentioned earlier, she also loves running. She has been on and off again with it, but for the last several years, she’s been consistent at coming back to it.

PROJECTS

Tasha is a project based person. If it is a project that has a start and a stop, such as cleaning out the fridge or the pantry, or cleaning the bathroom, this is where she thrives.

STRUGGLES

But, what she struggles with are things such as habits that are daily repeated tasks such as taking vitamins. Her preference would be to spend three hours on a project than doing something for 10 minutes a day for a week.

MEAL PREPPING

Meal prepping is another area where Tasha feels she struggles a bit. She isn’t bad at cooking. She’s a decent cook that is picky and wants her food to be good and that is where she thinks the problem lies.

Making sure the food is good is a bit time consuming and there isn’t always the time available to do all the prep work needed to make the meal really good.

LAUNDRY

Tasha also admits to being mediocre at keeping up with laundry. It’s mostly because it is a task that you have to keep coming back to to complete it. She does well getting the laundry started. It’s getting it all the way through the process to the end where she struggles.

PERSONALITY QUIRK

Tasha is very much an all or nothing person. She will do something all the way or not at all. And that can apply to her housekeeping. She’s gotten better at being consistent with keeping it clean, but if she doesn’t think she can’t finish the project, she doesn’t see the point in starting it.

TOP RECOMMENDATIONS

Tasha has a few things that she recommends. First is to make a list. If you are feeling overwhelmed about what to do with your time, whether you have too much to do or not enough, make a list.

Her second recommendation is to get daily movement. Any sort of exercise that you enjoy. It’s a huge mood booster.

LESS STRESS & MORE PEACE

The thing that Tasha feels has been giving her more peace lately is her robot vacuum. She’s debated getting one for some time, but finally bought one at Costco. It isn’t a fancy model, but it’s been great for what she’s needed and she is really enjoying the peace it is giving her right now.