Hello Mornings!

I spotted the HelloMornings Challenge on my bloggy buddy Jane's Facebook page last week {Jane authors two great blogs, Girl Meets Paper and the Unofficial Homeschooler.} I was instantly intrigued by the idea of maximizing my mornings and wanted to know more.

I followed the link and started digging around a site called Inspired to Action which is written by a woman named Kat (she's also a contributor over at Simple Mom) and is full of tips and tools for inspired moms.

The HelloMornings Challenge is a tri-annual on-line event designed to help women all over the world develop the life giving morning habit of waking up early to spend time with God, intentionally plan their days, and exercise regularly.

You know me: I love a good challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed the other challenges I've participated in recently, including our workout challenge (Week 75 and going strong!), 31 Days to Clean, and 40 bags in 40 days.

I realize this isn't for everyone (i.e. feel free to play your I-still-have-a-baby free pass), but for me I'm in a good spot to give this a go. I have been getting good, consistent sleep for more than two years now.

(Note: While we have no claims to early potty training fame, we did have three babies who slept through the night at 2-3 months old and then took regular 3 hours naps until school age. Sometimes I like to remind myself of those champion sleep habits when they're driving my crazy in other areas.)

I find myself more productive early in the day, and I've had some success in the past year or so getting up early to swim or run once or twice a week. When we were working through 31 Days to Clean last spring, I was committed to early rising for that month or so in order to work through the daily devotion before the day really started. Sometimes I get up early to get a jump on my work-from-home to-do's as well. 

However, I am looking for something a little more sustainable this time around. I would like to make this an honest to goodness habit, especially since life only seems to be getting crazier as the kids grow with school schedules, homework, extracurricular activities, and less and less of a reliable nap time.

When I wait and let the kids wake me up, I'm usually up around 7:15am (don't hate us...hubby and the big kids don't need to leave the house until 8:45am so there's no reason for us to be up especially early). 

For the challenge, I'm going to shoot for 5:45/6:00am. I'm not sure exactly what this newly created time slot will look like for me - I'll work through that this week before we get started, but I'm guessing it will be a combination of quiet time (I'm determined to finish reading through the Bible ASAP) and planning out my day, and then sometimes it will involve exercise and sometimes it will mean getting a jump on my work for the day.

I think the key to success here, as with most things, is to have someone (or a group of someones) keeping you accountable. Theresa is climbing on board the early rising wagon with me, and we'll see if we can entice anyone else to join us as well. 

The challenge is actually centered around checking in with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email to make sure you're all up and at 'em. Genius. 

[For the other two sessions throughout the year, they will set you up with an on-line community, but for the summer session, it's up to you to find your own peeps.]

If you're still reading this post, I'm guessing something is resonating with you. If you'd like to register for HelloMornings, you can click on the button below. The challenge is completely free, and they provide you with some great resources including a free e-book, devotional {Love Like Him}, prayer calendar, simple exercise tips, and printable planning sheets.

The next session starts this Monday, May 14, so there's no time to drag your feet. Now's the time to browse the resources, gather some early bird wannabes, sign-up on-line, and get your early morning plan in place. 

Oh, and don't forget to set your alarm.