No one needs bookends until the day you want to stand books up vertically on an open flat surface. Then, everyone needs bookends. Bookends are not just for our shelves, though, they are also for our lives and can help us give structure to our routines.
I've been playing with bookending my day for almost 6 months and I’ve noticed several positive changes, including regular showering! Don't pretend that you remember to shower ALL the time. Even when your child was a newborn? Or, when you binge watched Downton Abbey or Scandal?!
Creating my bookends (morning and evening rituals) began simply. I wanted to wake up before my children and have alone time with my husband. In my house, for this impossible dream to become a reality, it means waking up by 5:30am. Starting my day at 5:30am ensures that I’m awake enough to have a conversation with my husband and beat the kiddos’ 6:20am alarm.
Not being a natural early riser, I reverse engineered my mornings by going to bed earlier at night. I said "No" to binge watching my tablet in bed and "Yes" to going to sleep. Quite a few iterations of the "Early to Bed / Early to Rise" game have resulted in bookends for my day.
Rituals that work, for now.
My before-7-am mornings include:
Exercise
Hydration
Meditation
Conversation (with my guy)
After 9pm evenings are for:
Cleansing
Reading
Meditation (after I watch one last episode of Scandal).
What are your bookends?
How do you begin and end your day?
Share. Comment. Chat with me. I’d love to know what rituals prop up your days.