Rhythms for Success
Your days feel chaotic because they're missing the two crucial elements that create calm and control. This post reveals the simple bookend strategy that transforms scattered, reactive days into intentional, flowing rhythms for you and your whole family.
Your days feel chaotic because they're missing the structure that holds everything together. No purposeful beginning. No intentional end. Just the constant motion of waking up reactively, scrambling through the day, collapsing into bed wondering where the time went, already dreading tomorrow.
Without intentional bookends for your day, everything in between just bleeds together into one long, exhausting blur. You need the structure of two key routines for your day: a morning rhythm that sets your tone and an evening rhythm that brings you peace.
The way we start and end our day is crucial because it sets the tone for everything in between.
The goal here is to be proactive and growing in your life and motherhood, and that starts with how we steward our time each day.
Start with the End: Your Power Down Hour
Most people think about building better mornings first, but I'm going to flip that on you. We're starting with your evenings instead. Because the success of the following day begins the night before.
When you wind down intentionally—decluttering your mind, preparing your home, and reflecting on what matters—you're actually setting yourself up to win tomorrow before it even starts.
Creating an intentional bedtime rhythm at the end of the day also gives you closure. It means creating a space to reflect, reset, and prepare for the next day. It's going to provide you some structure, helping you feel more in control, less reactive, and more aligned with your priorities.
My goal through this is to bring peace to your evening. This is done with a Power Down Hour.
Before You Create Your Power Down Hour
Answer these four questions:
- What tone do I want to end my day with?
- How can I best get set for the next day?
- What spaces are high traffic areas that tend to get cluttered?
- Am I expressing gratitude for a day well done?
As you work through these questions, we can form your best bedtime routine to work for you and your goals of how you want your home and life to flow. All of it is about the creation of what works best for you. I'm going to be giving you the framework today, but you're building it based on your life and your circumstances and how you function and flow the best.
Your Power Down Hour Framework
I want you to block out the hour before bed for the following tasks:
- Tidy your spaces
- Bedtime routines
- Prep for the next day
- Reflection and review
1. Tidy Your Spaces
Tidying your spaces before bed helps create a calm and controlled environment and closes out your home for the evening. We do this together as a family in order to have accountability for everyone in the home. This is not something I want you to do after your kids go to bed. I want them to be involved in the process no matter how young they are.
2. Bedtime Routines
I want to challenge you here to make this fun. Brushing teeth and getting all the kids into bed is commonly a chaotic time for everyone. But how can you change that?
Can you listen to a song while everyone brushes their teeth—even mom? Can we say our final good nights after a discussion about everyone's day? Things like this help create a fun, energetic and engaged bedtime routine and this helps everyone process their day for a peaceful night's rest. We love doing family read aloud time to connect and wind down together before bedtime.
There is so much connection and bonding that can occur around bedtime with fun discussions, learning together, and just asking valuable questions of one another versus always rushing.
My fun challenge for you this week: Pick something that adds fun to your family. Whether you're listening to a song, dancing before bed, brushing your teeth together, having a good night discussion, or doing read aloud time, pick something that would work for you and your family and start instilling it this week.
When you're looking at your evening, how can you change the tone and how can you make it a little bit more fun?
3. Prep for the Next Day
Once everyone is in bed, it's time to claim a few minutes for yourself to prep for the next day and close out our night on a personal note. If you co-sleep with your children, carve out at least 30 minutes for a personal closeout—whether that means setting them up with a quiet activity or adjusting your routine in whatever way works for your family. This small window for yourself makes a big impact.
Use this time to mentally and physically prepare for tomorrow. Set out your clothes, gather what you need for the day ahead, and make your list of objectives for the following day.
A quick tip for when it comes to setting your objectives: I've developed a time management method called the Power of 6™. It's a simple system where you focus on six key objectives each day—three big ones and three small ones. This helps you tackle your priorities without spreading yourself too thin.
As you go and make your list, try giving the Power of 6 a try and see how well it keeps you focused and productive without feeling overwhelmed. That's the goal: six objectives divided amongst a 12-hour period so you feel more in control and are still accomplishing a lot. There’s more to this method, but this will get you started.
And if this sounds intriguing, be sure to hop on the waitlist for my Power of 6™ Masterclass and Journal Releasing very soon!
4. Reflection and Review
At the end of the evening, be sure to reflect on how the day went, express your gratitude through prayer, and close out your evening. The goal of this framework is to help you feel productive and calm closing out your evenings.
Your Morning Rhythm for Success
Now that we have a good foundation for our nighttime rhythm created, let's create a good morning rhythm for your success. Write this down as your foundation for creation:
- Morning meeting and prep
- Transition
That's it. That's all you really need for a great, successful system in the morning.
As moms, we often try to pack too much into the first 15 to 30 minutes of our morning, and that instantly makes us feel defeated before the day even starts because oftentimes it doesn't always work out the way we hope it will.
The idea behind this framework is keep it simple, keep it moving.
Morning Meeting and Prep
Your morning meeting is the foundation of a successful day. Take about 10 minutes to review the objective list you made last night to orient yourself, and then share it with your family. Getting everyone on the same page eliminates surprises and helps children feel secure knowing what's coming next.
This brief check-in also primes your brain to start working on your objectives and makes you prepared for your day by doing any final tasks before transitioning into your daily rhythm.
Give yourself 10 minutes to do this in the morning. That's all that’s needed to be successful with this.
You can layer in additional habits over time, but this simple framework is what creates a smooth morning rhythm. Don't overcomplicate it.
A Perspective Shift: Get Yourself Ready First
One thing I want to give you perspective on that's been coming up a lot lately with my clients is starting your day with getting yourself ready first. I recommend this as you start your day if you need to leave the home quickly in the morning—whether you need to go to work or take the kids to school.
By starting your day getting yourself ready first, you have the ability to feel in control of the rest of the objectives for everyone else prior to leaving the home. It's like that philosophy of putting on your oxygen mask first in an airplane before anyone else's. You help yourself first to be best equipped to help others.
This immediately takes a task off of your plate and helps build momentum for yourself and everyone else in your home.
Let's Review: Your Action Steps
End Your Day with Peace
Create your own personalized Power Down Hour and start implementing it immediately. What is necessary for your Power Down Hour to feel successful? We have that framework—build in those tiny habits that make it unique to your family and fun for everyone.
Don't forget to have that task list period where you're prepping for the next day, because that's going to set the whole tone for the next day. Write it all out and set a timer to immediately implement the habit.
Shift your thinking from "I have to do this" to "I get to," and watch your days close out peacefully and in control. It's a whole mindset shift and you're going to be far more prepared going into the next day with that shift in mind.
Start Your Day with Purpose
Review your objectives and share with the whole family to move forward intentionally together. Have your Power of 6™ objectives list ready to share with the family and then break with the family to transition into everyone's day.
This morning meeting works whether your kids are toddlers or teenagers, whether you're all heading out the door together or going separate directions. Set a specific time for your morning meeting and stick to it to keep it a priority. Announce "Morning meeting in 10 minutes, please come down and be ready." This consistency establishes the structure that makes both your mornings and evenings run smoothly.
End your days with peace and start your days with purpose, and you're going to find yourself in a rhythm of success.
Ready to Create More Freedom in Your Time?
Grab FLOW—my audio course that helps you transition your time and energy towards creation of control and freedom. Your time is finite and we want to make sure you're getting the most out of it. That's why I created FLOW, with practical strategies for your time management success.
Need Help Figuring Out Your Next Right Step?
Sometimes you need someone to help you see what you can't see on your own. That's exactly what I do in my free 20-minute Roadmap Calls. We'll talk through where you're struggling most, identify your next right step, and map out how to move forward with clarity and confidence. No pressure, just real talk about creating the intentional life you're craving.
Now it's time to implement your rhythms for success. Tag me on Instagram @lisaautrycoaching and share what you're doing as a family to close out your nights, and tell me how morning meetings are going.
