The Internet Lied About Morning Routines | Simplified Summer Pt. 1

How simple routines lead to less stress and more peace

The method I use to simplify my life

Declutter Discontent™ is a 4-step Gospel-centered approach to declutter the home, heart, and habits. The four steps include: take inventory, refresh space, create system, and implement system and boundaries. Clutter isn’t just a home problem but a heart one too. This method helps you clear physical clutter, while also addressing the deeper issue: discontentment. Because peace and joy don’t come from a perfectly organized house or a seemingly tidy life (trust me, I tried!). True lasting peace, not just relief, can only be produced by the God of peace. I’ve got a beginner’s digital guide and a signature online course on my website to help you declutter discontentment and finally enjoy the life God gave you.

Step 1: Take inventory

An honest conversation on routines
We’re all overwhelmed or stressed and I’m pretty sure it’s because we’re overcomplicating our routines. The internet has lied and convinced us that we need certain products for our mornings or days to go ‘perfectly.’ If you’ve ever searched the phrase “clean girl skincare routine,” you’ll discover hundreds of thousands of tips in a matter of seconds. And these routines usually consist of 20 steps that could easily take 2 hours or more. I’m done with that!

To be honest, I’ve had a hard time having consistent routines for months now. From losing my dad unexpectedly eight months ago to moving across the country (again) to my second pregnancy (yay but currently in the first trimester with nausea and fatigue), life lately has felt like survival mode. But once I paused to take a quick inventory with these questions, I realized this: routines are meant to be simple and to help us exit survival mode into more stability and rest.

Inventory questions to ask yourself: Which current routines are working? Which ones aren’t? Which are life-giving? Which are draining? What needs to be decluttered? What would help me go from overwhelmed to organized? What would help me go from chaos to calm?

Step 2: Refresh routines

Time for a change
You wouldn’t wear snow boots in the summer so why we do try to create so hard to create and maintain the ‘perfect or ideal morning/evening routine’ and expect it to work all year? But the point is we all need routines to thrive, especially during summer. Seasons aren’t just literal; they’re Biblical. There’s a time for everything under the sun, including a time to keep and throw away (see Ecclesiastes 3).

Ideas to refresh your routine:

• Switch up your Bible reading plan (maybe pick a specific book of the Bible or topic to study during these summer months)

• Drink your morning coffee outside if weather permits instead of staying indoors

• Try an evening walk after dinner instead of morning since the sun sets later

• Enjoy one meal outside like a picnic (whether you work from home or not)

Simplify Your Routines (June’s Workshop)

Subscribe to keep reading this post and access this month’s decluttering workshop and printable digital guide below this paywall (only $10/mo if you subscribe here). Consider it a reset for your soul and summer. This workshop includes Biblical principles and practical steps on why and how to simplify your routines so that your summer is refreshing rather than stressful. We’re talking about how you spend your time is how you spend your soul and sometimes our chaotic souls needs some decluttering.

What’s Included:

• A 3-page printable guide

• A pre-recorded workshop