On Productivity

Hey guys! I feel like I am getting into the swing of things lately with work being a little less hectic and making it a priority to spend a little time in the evening after the girls go to bed doing something a little productive (like blogging or finally finishing up Annie's baby book!). Usually I just want to fall into a heap onto the couch while browsing Instagram and half watching Netflix when really I should be doing some PT stretches and exercises, putting out clothes for the morning and maybe even moving allll the way to the husband's side of the couch for some uninterrupted snuggling. This week, though, I need to make it a point to get up and go to bed before I fall asleep on the couch. Not sure if this will help me feel less exhausted but I am willing to try anything because the tired struggle is real. I am in a pretty bad pattern of always falling asleep on the couch because it just seems so much easier than getting up and moving into my bed. So awful, I know, but at least I made it a whole week with washing my makeup off before bed after setting that big goal. Other people live like this, right? Or just the crazy people who love to have a million and a half things on their plate at all times?

I feel like such a more productive person when I lay out things for the morning, but especially my running clothes. There is legit no excuse when that alarm sounds to get up when clothes are out, coffee is automatically brewing and the sun is getting ready to rise. I am only running two weekday mornings right now since it is Matt's turn to marathon train so I really have NO excuse, and so far I have been getting out there, spending one day doing a tempo run by myself and the other doing hill repeats with friends at 5am. Once Maddie starts her summer track program tonight Matt and I will switch off getting in an evening run since she will be there two nights a week and we will be close to one of my favorite run routes. Nothing better than a setting sun, the ocean and the idea of grabbing a hot dog at Sullivan's during a run, am I right? Also hoping that extra run will help me kick the five pounds I gained after the marathon because I am still eating like I am running 30 miles a week...

I am also a huge fan of meal prep; we follow a meal plan for the week with dinners identified and grocery shopped for on Sunday mornings. This morning I made the dinner that we will bring to the track and eat on the way home since it ends at 7:30, which is usually Maddie's bedtime and half an hour after we normally put Annie down, Luckily there is only a two week overlap with school and hopefully means we won't be wearing out the kiddos too bad. Maybe Annie will actually sleep past 5:03 in the morning too (that would be a truly welcome change). I am also embracing the salad thing at work lately after picking up this Sriracha ranch dressing and deciding that leftover cous cous and other random things in the fridge make for really good toppings.

Other keys to keeping it all together: shared iCals with all my stuff, Matt's stuff, the girl's stuff and our nanny's schedule; a weekly schedule that hangs on the fridge with who goes to work first, who gets home first, who runs, what we have going on regularly with Maddie's activities and who is in charge of the night's dinner.

What do you do to keep it all together (or at least some semblance of it)? I have such a love of organization and running a tight ship so that we CAN do all the things we do so I don't feel like we are living in chaos, just nicely controlled chaos :)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was fantastic and I am already planning a Dot Day 2016 blog recap.

Here's a few cute pics from over the last couple of weeks!