I'm a big fan of "new systems." If something's not working quite right—the counter's always a mess, I can never find the scissors, I'm always forgetting something at work, etc—I sit down and think and come up with a new system, a new way of doing it that might work better.
I came up with a great new system a few weeks ago. Ever since Posey joined us last fall, I'd been hoping to take her on a loooong walk every day. She sank that plan herself right away, by refusing to go on walks for the first month or so (she's a rescue who was scared of the big scary world). So she and I settled into a routine that went something like this:
6 am — Sonia wakes up, let's Posey out of her crate and takes her out.
6:15 am — Sonia tosses Posey in the bed, where she promptly snuggles down under the covers, near my warm toes. Sonia gets ready for work.
7 am — Posey's catnap is over, and she's ready to run downstairs to say goodbye to Sonia. I have to follow, to make sure she doesn't make a mess or eat something she's not supposed to once Sonia's gone. I stumble, half asleep, downstairs and flop on the couch. I can totally see her from here. And you can totally see where this is going.
7:02 am — Posey joins me on the couch. She's up for a second catnap—yes! Let's watch the Today show and snuggle, and maybe check email.
8:15 am — Crap! Going to be late for work if I don't get off this couch!
8:45 am — No, really—going to be late! Still have to shower! And pack a lunch, and pack the dog into her carrier so I can strap her on the scooter, and gear up to ride the scooter. And do the 10 minute scoot to work.
9:00 am — Ok, seriously. Time to shower.
10:00 am — Sheepishly saunter into work, mutter something to colleagues about "getting carried away with working from home in my pajamas this morning, again."
Yeah, that was the system for the last few months. I was frustrated, Sonia was tired of hearing how frustrated I was, and Posey wasn't getting enough of her ya-yas out, so she drove me nuts at the office all day. Time for a new system.
Luckily—in an effort to quit hearing me whine, no doubt—Sonia was game to help with the new system. I needed to wake up both mentally and physically first in the morning, so the couch wasn't as tempting. Breakfast was the answer! Sonia makes me an egg on toast when she's making her oatmeal, and she calls me to wake up, just as she's putting it on the table. I can't pull my "ughmgph... five more minutes!" crap, or my egg will get cold. I gotta get my butt down there and enjoy that breakfast. And by the time I'm done with that egg—and a few sections of the paper—I'm raring to go! Toss on the shoes, grab a jacket, and Posey and I are out the door for a 45 minute walk.
We've kept it up for two weeks now, even over the weekend. This morning, we caught a ride to work with Sonia, so we had to skip the walk—and I could feel the difference. I'm looking forward to returning to the new system in the morning.
Bonus: Actually waking up in the morning means I'm ready to sleep by 10 pm. Which makes getting up in the morning all the more easy.
