Speaker 1: I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of
Speaker 1: country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
Speaker 1: We pay our respect to their elders past present, and
Speaker 1: extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Speaker 1: peoples today. Welcome to Stepping Up the podcast where we
Speaker 1: explore all things organization, mental health routines, personal development, motherhood
Speaker 1: and health. I'm your host, Steph Pace, and I'm the
Speaker 1: woman behind Just Another Mummy blog and also the founder
Speaker 1: of Steph Pace Planners. But I can assure you this
Speaker 1: is not just another podcast online. I'm known for my
Speaker 1: organization tips and tricks and the occasional banter, but it
Speaker 1: definitely wasn't always this way. I used to be a
Speaker 1: hot mess and occasionally still am. And I'm here as
Speaker 1: your honest and real friend each week to show you
Speaker 1: how I turn my life of chaos into clarity. Between
Speaker 1: the house, health, kids, work, and wanting to be the
Speaker 1: best version of yourself, it can be overwhelming, and I'm
Speaker 1: here to give you the tools and tips to stop
Speaker 1: you feeling like a slave to your daily time, asks,
Speaker 1: home life, and especially the expectations you have on yourself.
Speaker 1: Join me as I share my journey and insights into
Speaker 1: the art of balancing at all and speak to guests
Speaker 1: who can help us all live a better life. Whether
Speaker 1: you're looking to streamline your daily routines, fish your wellbeing,
Speaker 1: achieve your fitness goals, dive into personal development, or find
Speaker 1: inspiration to steff up into the best version of yourself,
Speaker 1: We've got you. So are you ready to step up
Speaker 1: your game? Let's go. Welcome back to another episode of
Speaker 1: Stepping Up. And today we're talking about one of the
Speaker 1: topics that literally, I would say eighty to ninety percent
Speaker 1: of humans find so interesting. We are very curious cats.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I said that. And one of
Speaker 1: the things that intrigues us the most is other people's
Speaker 1: morning routines. Now, I don't know what it is about
Speaker 1: a good am routine, but it really gets people talking.
Speaker 1: It is one of my most asked questions about my
Speaker 1: own routine. Besides my planning and like my weekly schedule
Speaker 1: and things like that is absolutely my morning routine. Now,
Speaker 1: I can't really answer why that is, but I do
Speaker 1: feel like because myself I've been through such a transformation
Speaker 1: within my own morning routine I used to wake up
Speaker 1: at eleven AM, guys. Honestly, I also had those wind
Speaker 1: down blinds on the windows when I was growing up,
Speaker 1: so I was like a little vampire in there. And
Speaker 1: it also works because you guys would know I fakedan
Speaker 1: like every week I faked in, But I'm naturally so
Speaker 1: pale that I pretty much throw off a blue color.
Speaker 1: And that was me in my little cave. I really
Speaker 1: was never a morning person until Honestly, I feel like
Speaker 1: I got pregnant with Harper, my first daughter, and the
Speaker 1: impact of having a solid AM routine is life changing.
Speaker 1: I've done an episode on my morning routine and why
Speaker 1: they're so important before, and I'll link it in the
Speaker 1: show notes, But this episode, I'm more so focusing on
Speaker 1: my AM non negotiables. Now, if you follow me on socials,
Speaker 1: you would have heard me talk about this a lot
Speaker 1: over the last god probably six years now. And while
Speaker 1: this is obviously a routine, this is really honing in
Speaker 1: on to stay on top of life, because we know
Speaker 1: the mornings can get off on a really bad foot.
Speaker 1: You can really get off on the wrong side of
Speaker 1: the bed with your kids screaming in your face. You
Speaker 1: haven't done lunches. We all know how that goes down.
Speaker 1: It's not a good time. I actually have an AMM
Speaker 1: PM non negotiables, which I talked about in a recent episode,
Speaker 1: which is the eight Hacks to keep a Tidy Home.
Speaker 1: I talk about this briefly because I really felt like
Speaker 1: each AM and PM non negotiables routine had to have
Speaker 1: its very own episode, So I will do my PM
Speaker 1: one in another episode as well. But why this is
Speaker 1: so important is because the things I do in my
Speaker 1: AM routine and my AM non negotiables ensures that future
Speaker 1: staff isn't going to have a problem, well less problems.
Speaker 1: It's going to ensure that the house stays semi tidy.
Speaker 1: It also ensures that I feel my best as a mum,
Speaker 1: as a human, as a wife. It's also one of
Speaker 1: the key systems that ensures that my days and weeks
Speaker 1: and months and everything runs smoothly, from family events to
Speaker 1: dude to cleaning, to my own mental health. Everything is
Speaker 1: in this AM non negotiables routine. Now, the reason I
Speaker 1: use the word non negotiables is because these are the
Speaker 1: things I have to do and I'm not all about
Speaker 1: being a hard ass on yourself. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: sit here and pretend that I haven't missed these before,
Speaker 1: because I absolutely have. But this is what we call
Speaker 1: it to really let our brain know that this is
Speaker 1: the shit you have to get done. Like when you
Speaker 1: think about it, you might have a task that you've
Speaker 1: been needing to do for ages, but as soon as
Speaker 1: you are given more of an ultimatum or a deadline,
Speaker 1: your motivation goes up and you can just get it done,
Speaker 1: whereas before it was like pulling teeth. Unfortunately, I am
Speaker 1: someone that thrives under pressure, which I guess is good
Speaker 1: in my job, but not good for my nervous system
Speaker 1: at all, and it's the same with this. So if
Speaker 1: I know, no, this is the shit you have to
Speaker 1: do to keep everything running smoothly, I will do it.
Speaker 1: But also I keep doing it because I've been using
Speaker 1: this am non negotiable system for such a long time
Speaker 1: now that yes, it changes and alters as our life progress.
Speaker 1: But the main reason I keep doing this and I'm
Speaker 1: so passionate about this is because I first hand instantly
Speaker 1: see the benefits and how much it impacts me in
Speaker 1: my life. It impacts my mental health, it impacts my
Speaker 1: physical health, it impacts my marriage, impacts my children, my family,
Speaker 1: the cleaning, the washing food, everything is kept in a
Speaker 1: decent system because of the am non negotiables. So I'm
Speaker 1: not only going to be talking about, you know, things
Speaker 1: like journaling, meditation, and that. I'm talking about the nitty
Speaker 1: gritty itinery of what I do in the morning. I
Speaker 1: also throw in some laundry hacks. We have come up
Speaker 1: with a whole new laundry routine over the last few
Speaker 1: months that has been working so well that I'm going
Speaker 1: to share with you. And if you also know a
Speaker 1: friend who maybe is struggling, maybe with motherhood or just
Speaker 1: with life in general, definitely send them this episode because
Speaker 1: this has completely changed my life. And more recently, as
Speaker 1: you guys know, it's been a bit of a crazy time.
Speaker 1: And I did. I have a couple of weeks where
Speaker 1: I didn't stick to this, and I noticed from day
Speaker 1: one the house was messier. I wasn't on top of
Speaker 1: what was going on my plan, I wasn't filed improperly,
Speaker 1: like my mindset was a lot more negative. I didn't
Speaker 1: feel inspired. I just didn't feel like myself, you know.
Speaker 1: And when you're doing these things, especially the three ms,
Speaker 1: which you will find out what it is. Soon you
Speaker 1: will realize why this is so important. Now, before I
Speaker 1: get into this itinery and my am non negotiables, I
Speaker 1: want to give you a bit of an analogy of
Speaker 1: why this is so important. Now. I want you to
Speaker 1: imagine that your day is like a car trip without
Speaker 1: a good morning routine. Slash these am non negotiables. This
Speaker 1: car ride pretty much looks like this. You don't have
Speaker 1: Google Maps, your car is a mess, you haven't prepped
Speaker 1: any food for the trip, you haven't packed your stuff,
Speaker 1: You've got no petrol left, you don't have any entertainment
Speaker 1: for the kids, and it's just a bit of a
Speaker 1: shit show. Now, this car ride isn't going to be
Speaker 1: too great. The kids are going to be having bloody
Speaker 1: hissy fits the whole way. It's going to be an
Speaker 1: absolute nightmare. You're going to be hungry, you're going to
Speaker 1: have to pull over for petrol. You don't know where
Speaker 1: you're going. And while all this chaos is happening, Yes,
Speaker 1: you will reach your destination, but A it's going to
Speaker 1: take a hell of a lot longer. B you're going
Speaker 1: to be extremely stressed out. See, you're going to have
Speaker 1: a shitty day, and D it's going to take much
Speaker 1: longer to actually get there. Now, when you have your
Speaker 1: am non negotiable set in stone and you're following them,
Speaker 1: your car ride's going to look more like this. Your
Speaker 1: car's clean, you've prepped your kids entertainment. You've got them
Speaker 1: coloring m books. You could probably have an iPad for them.
Speaker 1: You've got everything pre downloaded. You're all sorted for them.
Speaker 1: You've got their snacks and food. You've got your food
Speaker 1: and snacks prepped ready to go in your SPP launch bag.
Speaker 1: You've got the route that you need to take to
Speaker 1: get there the quickest, and you've got a full tanker petrol. Now,
Speaker 1: this car ride is much smoother, it's more enjoyable. You
Speaker 1: know exactly where you need to go. It's obviously quicker.
Speaker 1: Everyone's having a good time. The kids have got their
Speaker 1: toys and they're coloring in and their food in the back,
Speaker 1: and you're also prepared for any unexpected detours. Now this
Speaker 1: really sounds similar to life, doesn't it. If you're not
Speaker 1: repaired and you don't have everything ready, your day is
Speaker 1: just going to be harder. Now this translates to everyday
Speaker 1: life as your kids don't have their school lunches ready.
Speaker 1: If you haven't checked your calendar, you might miss important appointments,
Speaker 1: if you haven't tied it up the house, and that
Speaker 1: means you have to do it later, which means you're
Speaker 1: going to be going to bed later. Like, everything just
Speaker 1: kind of snowballs, and it all starts from the morning. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying if you have a bad morning, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a bad day. You guys all know I
Speaker 1: always share the quote, it's a bad morning, not a
Speaker 1: bad day. It's a bad day, not a bad week.
Speaker 1: It's a bad week, not a bad life, Like I
Speaker 1: always share that. But if you have this on your side,
Speaker 1: you'll honestly be unstoppable and your family and everyone is
Speaker 1: going to be so much happier. All right, enough of
Speaker 1: me talking. Let's get into my exact am non negotiables routine.
Speaker 1: First up, I'm gonna be starting with personal because this
Speaker 1: really does start from the moment that I wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning. Now, the first thing I do as
Speaker 1: soon as I wake up in the morning, I focus
Speaker 1: on me. For me to do this, I get up earlier.
Speaker 1: And I've got a episode on how to actually get
Speaker 1: up earlier without passing out My lunchtime. So if you
Speaker 1: want to learn how to get up earlier and why
Speaker 1: I do it also, I deep dive into that in
Speaker 1: that episode which on link in the show notes. And
Speaker 1: the days I don't get up earlier and have the
Speaker 1: time to do my three MS, which is my personal
Speaker 1: non negotiables, everything suffers, my mental health suffers, my day suffers,
Speaker 1: my work suffers, everything suffers me being a mum, all
Speaker 1: of it. Now, to do these three MS, you could
Speaker 1: even just have thirty minutes put aside in the morning
Speaker 1: before your kids get up. And again disclaimer, if your
Speaker 1: kids are really little, if they're not really sleeping through
Speaker 1: the night, if you just had a baby, give yourself
Speaker 1: a break. Okay, I'm not telling you to be getting
Speaker 1: up really early before your little ones sleep is the
Speaker 1: most important thing. But for me, I will honestly sometimes
Speaker 1: sacrifice a little bit of sleep to get this done
Speaker 1: because this is how much of a difference this makes
Speaker 1: in my life. Now, the first thing I like to
Speaker 1: do is meditate. I used to get up journal and
Speaker 1: then meditate, but I found as my days have being
Speaker 1: getting busier, your life changes and I find new little
Speaker 1: hacks and things I can do. So for me to
Speaker 1: meditate and actually do the thing. I stay in bed
Speaker 1: for this as soon as my alarm goes off, which
Speaker 1: is actually my sunrise clock. I don't sleep with my
Speaker 1: phone next to my bed because I have no self control,
Speaker 1: and I'll be on it till midnight. So that goes off,
Speaker 1: I go into my bathroom, wash my face with water,
Speaker 1: brush my teeth, and then I skull heaps water and
Speaker 1: get back into bed just because it's cozy, or I'll
Speaker 1: sit on the bed, and this is when I do
Speaker 1: my meditation. The reason I do this is because for me,
Speaker 1: when I'm the busiest, meditation is the first thing I drop,
Speaker 1: so I know to fool proof this for me, I
Speaker 1: need it to be the first thing I do. Meditation
Speaker 1: looks different for everybody, and there's no right or wrong
Speaker 1: way to do it. And yes, it's very normal to
Speaker 1: be thinking throughout. And I'm not going to do this
Speaker 1: whole episode on meditation, but just letting you know. I
Speaker 1: use an app Caught Insight Timer, and I love it
Speaker 1: because you can search for specific things. Maybe it's for anxiety.
Speaker 1: You can actually search for different times. So my minimum
Speaker 1: is usually five minutes and when if I can ten minutes,
Speaker 1: I'm really really happy, and I really like to do visualization.
Speaker 1: So for me, I like to visualize my day as
Speaker 1: if it's already happened. I do this once my file
Speaker 1: ten minute actual meditation. I'm listening to stops and I
Speaker 1: just do it on my own. And this is called
Speaker 1: mental rehearsal, which I have talked about before. But basically,
Speaker 1: your brain doesn't know the difference between if something is
Speaker 1: actually happening or if you're actually imagining it. So the
Speaker 1: benefit of this is if in the morning you're imagining
Speaker 1: your day and having a little mental rehearsal of how
Speaker 1: you want your day to go, you are more likely
Speaker 1: to make the decisions and react the way that you
Speaker 1: would like to for that day to go as smoothly
Speaker 1: as you just imagined it too, because your brain thinks
Speaker 1: it's already done the thing. So that's the first M.
Speaker 1: So that's meditation. Moving on to the second M and
Speaker 1: this is morning pages aka journaling. And you guys know
Speaker 1: how much I love journaling, how important it is. It
Speaker 1: is how we pull out the weeds in our brain
Speaker 1: that pops up throughout the day, which is you know, thoughts, emotions,
Speaker 1: situations that happened that we're trying to make sense of.
Speaker 1: It's things that this person said. And when you journal
Speaker 1: it out, you're clearing all the mental load in your
Speaker 1: brain so you can grow and move past certain situations
Speaker 1: or beliefs and just to unload. You know, life is
Speaker 1: so chaotic and busy, and you don't realize how much
Speaker 1: energy you take up by trying to remember things or
Speaker 1: trying to just you know, work things out in your mind.
Speaker 1: And journaling isn't just writing about your feelings. It's lists,
Speaker 1: it's brain dumps, it's letters you're never going to send.
Speaker 1: It's words you're never going to say, it's debriefing with yourself.
Speaker 1: It can be absolutely anything. And my exact journaling practice
Speaker 1: is I use my write it Out journal, which is
Speaker 1: the journal I created years ago that we've solved thousands
Speaker 1: of since, because it's the only journal that really preps
Speaker 1: your brain at the start to actually dive deep. Like
Speaker 1: I'm sure a few of you before have tried to journal,
Speaker 1: you feel like you're just not opening up enough. It's
Speaker 1: like you're having small talk with your journal, and you
Speaker 1: need to have like a D and M. Basically, the
Speaker 1: front part of my journal is like a self discovery
Speaker 1: section where I ask the journal asks questions that really
Speaker 1: gets your brain thinking, but it's priming it. So when
Speaker 1: you get to the daily entries where it's prompted journal questions,
Speaker 1: you're ready to go. Like you're not having any of
Speaker 1: that awkward small talk shit that you do in the
Speaker 1: elevator with strangers. You're having full on DNMS with your journal.
Speaker 1: So I always do my write it out journal first,
Speaker 1: and then if I need it, I use my normal
Speaker 1: SPP notebook, which I've covered in stickers the same kind
Speaker 1: of vibes that I cover my kindle in. I love it,
Speaker 1: and then I pop it into my planner. So that's
Speaker 1: my exact journaling routine. I really do love to also
Speaker 1: write about the day as if it's already happened. So
Speaker 1: again that's that mental rehearsal, but because I'm actually writing it,
Speaker 1: it's a lot stronger and I do feel like it
Speaker 1: does really work. Wonders Now. The third M is movement.
Speaker 1: And we all know how important it is to exercise,
Speaker 1: But for me, along with my medication and things like that,
Speaker 1: number one thing that helps me the most day to
Speaker 1: day that I actually really notice is exercise. And when
Speaker 1: I first start exercise over a decade ago. I did
Speaker 1: it because I wanted to look a certain way, and
Speaker 1: then I realized how much it really bloody helps me,
Speaker 1: and it makes me so much more patient with the
Speaker 1: kids and with Ryan and myself. It really does release
Speaker 1: all that built up energy and the anxious energy and
Speaker 1: even anger like we have to go through the day
Speaker 1: really pushing down our feelings, and especially when you're a parent,
Speaker 1: if our kids are acting in a certain way, we
Speaker 1: still need to be nurturing and try to keep our cool,
Speaker 1: and we push all that down and the best way
Speaker 1: to honestly get that out is through movement and journaling.
Speaker 1: The biggest thing with this, I don't want you guys
Speaker 1: to think I'm saying go out and go to the gym,
Speaker 1: or go do this, that and the other. Even if
Speaker 1: it is literally a walk, even if you chuck on
Speaker 1: a YouTube video and you're just stretching, it doesn't have
Speaker 1: to look the same for everyone. And even if you
Speaker 1: can do ten to fifteen minutes, that is perfect. Just
Speaker 1: get some sort of movement in. Ryan and I really
Speaker 1: want to focus for the rest of the year on
Speaker 1: our mobility. That was a goal for us at the
Speaker 1: start of the year, which we have not done fully
Speaker 1: outing us here we did not and do one mobility
Speaker 1: session together. So I'll keep you guys up data and
Speaker 1: you can keep us accountable. Okay, Now, before I move
Speaker 1: on to the second part of my am non negotiables,
Speaker 1: which is about the house time management and the family
Speaker 1: aspect for any of these three ms, which is meditation, morning,
Speaker 1: pages and movement. If you're really struggling to start a
Speaker 1: new habit, really think about habit stacking. So this basically
Speaker 1: means you're using a pre existing habit such as having
Speaker 1: your morning coffee or maybe making the kids breakfast or
Speaker 1: whatever it is. You're going to be stacking the new
Speaker 1: habit with that, which means you can do the habit
Speaker 1: while doing the pre existing habit. So for example, for me,
Speaker 1: I do tend to like to eat breakfast while I
Speaker 1: go through my planner, not that I ever would promote multitasking.
Speaker 1: This is probably the only time I actually will promote multitasking.
Speaker 1: But anyway, or you stack it on top or underneath.
Speaker 1: So for example, for me, now once I drop the
Speaker 1: kids off at school, I will go straight to the gym.
Speaker 1: That's like my little habit stacked to make sure I'm
Speaker 1: actually going and I started doing that because again I
Speaker 1: kind of fell out with the gym lately because I
Speaker 1: changed my morning routine because now in the mornings, instead
Speaker 1: of me going to the gym at five, I'm actually
Speaker 1: doing my deep work, which really helps me get that done.
Speaker 1: But now I'm going to the gym as often. Another
Speaker 1: example is if you work, to go for a walk
Speaker 1: at lunch, so maybe eat your lunch and then go
Speaker 1: for a walk. Or if you're like me, I do
Speaker 1: quite a lot of meetings, so I like to do
Speaker 1: a walk and do a meeting at the same time.
Speaker 1: On the phone, or you can listen to a podcast
Speaker 1: and clean. There's so many different things you can do
Speaker 1: at the moment. I actually I signed up to another course.
Speaker 1: Now it was not a handwriting course. It was actually
Speaker 1: a marketing course. So for me, now I like to
Speaker 1: fold the washing and I watch my course at the
Speaker 1: same time because that makes me feel good. Anyway, moving
Speaker 1: on to the house slash time management slash family component
Speaker 1: of the AM non negotiables routine. For this component, I
Speaker 1: do recommend you have an AM routine checklist. As you
Speaker 1: guys know, I brought out my cleaning schedule magnet, which
Speaker 1: you guys absolutely loved. You guys been asking you for
Speaker 1: it since god knows when for a long time, and
Speaker 1: it's been going crazy anyway, On there, I kind of
Speaker 1: read hash the online viral cleaning schedule. I had on
Speaker 1: there to have AM and PM. So this is where
Speaker 1: you're going to put your non negotiables for both morning
Speaker 1: and night. So something like that, like obviously you don't
Speaker 1: need to have the magnet, but have some sort of
Speaker 1: checklist somewhere so you have it visually in front of you.
Speaker 1: I do recommend having in the kitchen, and it also
Speaker 1: allows other people in the family to do it as well,
Speaker 1: because when things are actually on the fridge, I don't
Speaker 1: have to nag, which I love. Sometimes I do have
Speaker 1: to nag still, yes I do have to nag steel,
Speaker 1: but less so that's good. I can't guarantee you won't
Speaker 1: have to nag ever again, but it does help. Now.
Speaker 1: First thing I do, of course, this kind of ties
Speaker 1: back into me first waking up, But the first thing
Speaker 1: I do is make the bet. I used to not
Speaker 1: be a bed maker because I was brought up by
Speaker 1: people who didn't actually make the bed as well, except
Speaker 1: there and Nan used to always make the bet And
Speaker 1: this is so important, and I think people don't realize
Speaker 1: that there's actually been studies done on this, which yes,
Speaker 1: I do have the receipts. I definitely have the receipts.
Speaker 1: But it sets a positive tone for the day. Now,
Speaker 1: this works so well in the morning because when you
Speaker 1: first wake up, your brain is still in the alpha state,
Speaker 1: which means you can tap into your subconscious more. And no,
Speaker 1: I'm not talking woo woo like that's actually science. Science
Speaker 1: shows that it's easier to change beliefs and like the
Speaker 1: neural pathways in your brain when you are in these states. Now,
Speaker 1: this sets the groundwork for your brain because now you've
Speaker 1: already done one positive habit that's made you feel accomplished.
Speaker 1: This means throughout the day you're more likely to do
Speaker 1: tasks and habits that make you feel accomplished and make
Speaker 1: you feel good. Now, a study conducted by the National
Speaker 1: Sleep Foundation said individuals who make their bed every morning
Speaker 1: and nineteen percent more likely to get a good night's sleep. Now,
Speaker 1: when you think about it, it makes so much sense because
Speaker 1: I know, for me, if Ryan has made the bed
Speaker 1: the night before, you know the flat sheet like he
Speaker 1: doesn't tuck in the end. So when I get in,
Speaker 1: like it feels all wrinkly around my feet. I know
Speaker 1: it sounds so o seated, but it's true and it's
Speaker 1: not comfortable, and I physically have to get up and
Speaker 1: remake the bed so I can get back into bed
Speaker 1: that I'm going to mess up again. So it makes
Speaker 1: sense that if you actually make your bed, you are
Speaker 1: going to have a better night's sleep because you're getting
Speaker 1: into a freshly made bed. When you think about it,
Speaker 1: when you've been flogging yourself all day or that sounded weird,
Speaker 1: when you've been so busy all day, it's the best
Speaker 1: thing to come home to a bed that's made. And additionally,
Speaker 1: there was a survey done that found that seventy one
Speaker 1: percent of bed makers considered themselves happy, while sixty two
Speaker 1: percent of non bedmakers admit to being unhappy. Because this
Speaker 1: simple task contributes to a sense of accomplishment and you're
Speaker 1: more likely, you're literally more likely to do similar tasks
Speaker 1: that make you feel good for the rest of the day. Now,
Speaker 1: the next thing I do is I reset my bedside
Speaker 1: table again. This is so future Steff can come home
Speaker 1: at the end of the day and have everything that
Speaker 1: she needs to have a good night's sleep. So to
Speaker 1: give you a bit of insight to my bedside table.
Speaker 1: Another thing that I love to see on TikTok is
Speaker 1: people like cleaning their bedside tables. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's weird. In my bedside table is my journal, so
Speaker 1: I write it out journal. I've got my notebooks, I've
Speaker 1: got my pen. Another thing I love about having your
Speaker 1: notebook in your draw is for me, my best idea
Speaker 1: is come when I'm trying to sleep, or like two
Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning, and of course if I do
Speaker 1: not write it down, I will forget what it is.
Speaker 1: It could be a brand new product, it could be
Speaker 1: something for the kids, it could be anything. So you
Speaker 1: need to keep if you're like me, I don't keep
Speaker 1: my planner next to my bed. I keep it in
Speaker 1: my office upstairs. But write everything down this, have it there,
Speaker 1: have it ready to go. The other things I have.
Speaker 1: I have a sleep spray, I've got my water bottle.
Speaker 1: I've got my earplugs because Ryan snores sometimes, and I've
Speaker 1: got my eye mask. Now. Honestly, I sleep so much
Speaker 1: better when I wear an eye mask and ear plugs. Obviously,
Speaker 1: if it's just the normal ear plugs from the chemist,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't they use it if you have a baby,
Speaker 1: but you can hear things still, It's all good, but
Speaker 1: it is the best. Now moving on to the home
Speaker 1: and especially the kids and just keeping up with the
Speaker 1: general chaos of the house, what I do next is
Speaker 1: I focus on bedrooms and bathrooms. And now this is
Speaker 1: because everyone has just gotten ready for the day, so
Speaker 1: that means there's clothes out, there's pajamas on the floor.
Speaker 1: Possibly I've done my makeup or my hair, and I've
Speaker 1: used skin care and all that stuff. So I like
Speaker 1: to focus on the bedrooms and bathrooms before I go
Speaker 1: and do stuff in the kitchen. This for me has
Speaker 1: been a game changer, especially with the kids' bedroom. I
Speaker 1: of course ask the kids to clean up after themselves,
Speaker 1: but look, they're kids, They're not going to do it
Speaker 1: all the bloody times. So what I've started doing for
Speaker 1: them is instead of me doing one cleaning their bedroom
Speaker 1: at the end of the day when I'm also really
Speaker 1: tired and I've just done downstairs and everything, I will
Speaker 1: do their tidy up in the morning instead of at nighttime.
Speaker 1: Now with my kids, their wardrobe. They can't reach the
Speaker 1: top where they hang their clothes, so now they chuck
Speaker 1: a little pile on each side. So I will just
Speaker 1: pack it away for them. You know, they chuck their
Speaker 1: stuff and their drawers and that, but I'll actually pack
Speaker 1: it away for them, and I will spend less than
Speaker 1: five minutes doing a quick tidy in their room. You know,
Speaker 1: if the girls actually are good, they make their beds,
Speaker 1: they do that stuff. And also the fact that they
Speaker 1: see me doing it shows them that it is a
Speaker 1: good thing to do. Because we are a role model
Speaker 1: to our kids, good or bad. And so the moment
Speaker 1: I stop doing the kid's bedroom reset they're toys and
Speaker 1: clothes get out of control within two days and it
Speaker 1: only takes me a couple of minutes. I also open
Speaker 1: up the blinds. And one thing I do because my
Speaker 1: nan always did this for me growing up. She used
Speaker 1: to put little things on my teddy, like I had
Speaker 1: this teddy I slept with literally up until I was
Speaker 1: Oh god, I think I was twenty to be honest,
Speaker 1: Like Ryan, I got together at seventeen and he had
Speaker 1: to sleep in bed with the teddy and me. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know if that's weird, but it
Speaker 1: was just a comfort thing. Anyway. Nan would put like
Speaker 1: my clothes on it, and she'd put little tiara and
Speaker 1: stuff on the teddy every single day. And now I
Speaker 1: do that for the kids. So the teddy that they
Speaker 1: both sleep with, I will dress it up or I'll
Speaker 1: grab like a toy and make it look like it's
Speaker 1: been playing with the toy. And they just love coming
Speaker 1: home to that. And I always just really strive to
Speaker 1: be even coughter of the woman that my Nan was.
Speaker 1: As you guys know that she's like a mother to me,
Speaker 1: Like literally took me to school every day. She raised me,
Speaker 1: and that left such a big impact on me, and
Speaker 1: I want to do that for my kids as well.
Speaker 1: So I also hop into the bathrooms and just give
Speaker 1: that a quick tidy up after everyone getting ready, making
Speaker 1: sure all like the toothbrushes, put away hair brushes, all
Speaker 1: that shit. And now we move on to the kitchen.
Speaker 1: Now I go downstairs to the kitchen, which is you know,
Speaker 1: the heart of the home, but it's also a bloody
Speaker 1: hard spot to keep tidy because it's such a high
Speaker 1: traffic area. The first thing I do is check our
Speaker 1: family command center. Now our Family Command Center is my
Speaker 1: planner magnets, and that consists of the family magnet. It
Speaker 1: consists of all the kids have chorl charts as well,
Speaker 1: which they are actually really good at doing every single day.
Speaker 1: They love it. It also consists of like the weekly plan,
Speaker 1: the monthly plan. Now it's also got the cleaning schedule
Speaker 1: and our meal planner. So what I do is when
Speaker 1: I look at it, I see what the kids have
Speaker 1: on at school that day, so it will say like
Speaker 1: library or whatever. I'm making sure they're taking what they need.
Speaker 1: Harbor is pretty good though. And I also check the
Speaker 1: meal planner, and I check the calendar because if Ryan has,
Speaker 1: you know, things to do with the house or any
Speaker 1: appointments and things like that, that means I have to
Speaker 1: tee up with him to make sure and confirm who's
Speaker 1: getting the kids. So it's the first thing I do.
Speaker 1: And the reason I check the meal planner, which I'll
Speaker 1: go into an a minute, is if we have a
Speaker 1: slow cooker dinner planned or anything that is something I
Speaker 1: can chuck in the thermo, I'll just make sure that
Speaker 1: I've already prepped everything on the weekend, which is like
Speaker 1: pre chopping veggies and the meat and things like that.
Speaker 1: If you haven't checked my blog, I've got the most
Speaker 1: amazing pulled pork and roast slam slow cooker recipes. Honestly,
Speaker 1: they're the best. You got to give it a go.
Speaker 1: I'll give you, guys the links. I feel like this
Speaker 1: bloody episode has a million links in the show notes anyway,
Speaker 1: so I'll chuck that on. And now, once I've done this,
Speaker 1: I unload and reload the dishwasher from all the plates
Speaker 1: everyone used for breakfast. So this is the reason why
Speaker 1: I do this in this structure, because by the time
Speaker 1: I get to it, the movements of the people living
Speaker 1: in the house have passed where it needs to be,
Speaker 1: so there's no point me, for example, cleaning the bathrooms
Speaker 1: when the kids are still going to go in there
Speaker 1: and brush their teeth later and splash their bloody toothpaste
Speaker 1: all over the mirror, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: with this, of course Ryan does help with this. You know,
Speaker 1: if he's off earlier doing the house or whatever, he
Speaker 1: one hundred percent ships in because it's all in the
Speaker 1: cleaning schedule, Magnet, it's all up there. Now. This is
Speaker 1: where I tackle the laundry. So usually the night before
Speaker 1: if we have a load to do that day, we
Speaker 1: will do a delayed start timer. Most washing machines have
Speaker 1: it now, but basically what it is is you pop
Speaker 1: in your load of washing and then you can delay
Speaker 1: it starting for how many hours you want. So I'll
Speaker 1: delay start it for usually nine hours, so when I
Speaker 1: wake up and get to it now, this means I
Speaker 1: usually pop it in the dryer, or Ryan's already done
Speaker 1: that before he left and I can just like fold
Speaker 1: it or it's ready to go, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So we aren't a family that does a load of
Speaker 1: washing a day. I don't know if that's weird or not.
Speaker 1: And I used to do it, but I found like
Speaker 1: I would rather do larger loads of washing. I can't
Speaker 1: believe I'm talking about this on a bloody podcast, but anyway,
Speaker 1: So now our routine for laundries is on Mondays, I
Speaker 1: do my washing and Ryan's washing together because, to be honest,
Speaker 1: his work clothes on that bad anyway, and if they
Speaker 1: are ill wash, he's separate. And if I have any
Speaker 1: like delicates, like my beautiful pajamas that I bought weeks
Speaker 1: ago that I live in, I will wash them separately anyway.
Speaker 1: Now Wednesdays, I'll do sheets and towels, and they're usually
Speaker 1: the ones I've stripped from the bed from the weekend.
Speaker 1: But I just like to wash them on a Wednesday
Speaker 1: because I can have a break in between. And then
Speaker 1: Fridays I'll do the kids washing, so that means the
Speaker 1: uniforms they wore for the whole week, everything like that
Speaker 1: is clean and ready to go for the Monday. Now,
Speaker 1: for me, this works so well, and I find like
Speaker 1: the family of our size, it works. Now I'm not
Speaker 1: saying this is going to work for your family, especially
Speaker 1: if you've got a million children. And obviously now we've
Speaker 1: got the amazing laundry room that we built and it's beautiful,
Speaker 1: but this is just what works for us. Now, just
Speaker 1: to do a quick recap before I touch on the
Speaker 1: very last step, I've done my personal non negotiables, which
Speaker 1: is the three ams, which is movement, morning, pages, and meditation,
Speaker 1: not in that order, and then I tackle the bedrooms
Speaker 1: and bathrooms after everyone has finished getting ready for the day,
Speaker 1: and then I move onto the kitchen duties, which also
Speaker 1: includes the family command center and any slow cooking dinners
Speaker 1: to throw on, and of course in there is also
Speaker 1: my plan at check, which is essential, and I do
Speaker 1: my plan to check while I'm eating breakfast because it's
Speaker 1: just the best habit stack ever and I don't know,
Speaker 1: it really works for me. And then summing it up
Speaker 1: with the laundry routine, which is on Mondays is you know,
Speaker 1: the parents close, Wednesdays is sheets and towers, and Fridays
Speaker 1: is the kid's clothes. One thing I do like to do.
Speaker 1: I don't have this as a non negotiable, but I
Speaker 1: do try to do it every day is just doing
Speaker 1: a quick tidy of the high traffic areas, so things
Speaker 1: like the living room and the hallway, if there's any
Speaker 1: shoes that's been left out, if the kids have like
Speaker 1: thrown any shoes out while they're trying to get school ones,
Speaker 1: that type of thing. I know this sounds like a lot,
Speaker 1: but I promise you once you've started doing this routine,
Speaker 1: just like my cleaning schedule, once you're doing it daily,
Speaker 1: it gets quicker and quicker. And that's a because you're
Speaker 1: keeping on top of the like the clutter and the mess,
Speaker 1: and B you've done it like you know it so well.
Speaker 1: It's just like a well oiled machine. So it's just
Speaker 1: going to make your life so much easier because you
Speaker 1: are covering all the bases. You're covering the cleaning, you're
Speaker 1: covering your mental health, you're covering your physical health, You're
Speaker 1: covering the family and the family to do dinner, your laundry.
Speaker 1: Like it's covering everything in such a short time frame.
Speaker 1: So see how you go. Please do send us a
Speaker 1: message on stepping up and tell me what am non
Speaker 1: negotiables routine you've created for you and your family or
Speaker 1: just yourself. If you don't have a family, of God,
Speaker 1: that's not a terrible. Of course you have a family.
Speaker 1: If you don't have like children, I'm trying to say, sorry,
Speaker 1: brutal stuff. If you don't have family, And yeah, I
Speaker 1: would love to know what that looks like because I
Speaker 1: can definitely share them in our Facebook community. If you
Speaker 1: guys don't know, we have a Facebook community and it
Speaker 1: is amazing. We have over twenty thousand people in there
Speaker 1: and that is a great place for you guys to
Speaker 1: actually talk about things we talk about on the podcast.
Speaker 1: If you guys have questions from the podcast, throw them
Speaker 1: in there and I'll make sure I jump on a
Speaker 1: couple times a week. And yes, so there you have it.
Speaker 1: There is my very in depth itinery of my am
Speaker 1: non negotiables routine that's going to bloody change your life. Now.
Speaker 1: Remember not one size fits all and it's the same
Speaker 1: with this, so see what works for you and change
Speaker 1: it as you go along. I've changed mine so many
Speaker 1: times because you're going to find that no matter what
Speaker 1: season you're going through, and if you know changes in
Speaker 1: your life, you do need to reflect that in this routine. Anyways, Guys,
Speaker 1: I love you and I will talk to you on Monday. Bye.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for tuning in today's episode
Speaker 1: of Stepping Up. I don't want this to be just
Speaker 1: another podcast that you listen to you get inspiration and
Speaker 1: then you don't take action. If there's been something in
Speaker 1: this episode that will help you step up into the
Speaker 1: best version of yourself, open up your trusted planner and
Speaker 1: make a plan. And if you've loved listening to today's episode,
Speaker 1: take a screenshot and show me where you've been listening from.
Speaker 1: I love seeing it. Make sure you tag us at
Speaker 1: Stepping Up and steph Pace underscore on Instagram so we
Speaker 1: can see it. And make sure you subscribe because you
Speaker 1: won't want to miss what's Coming up next week