Morning routine shapes what my day is going to look like, and it’s up to me to make the best out of it. I’m in my romanticising slow morning era and there’s nothing more joyous than the tranquillity of the first sip of green tea in the morning.
6.50 am – 8.00 am – This time of the day is the most hectic where I wake up for Fajr prayers and get my kids ready for school. Getting them in the shower is one thing, but getting them to put on shoes and out the door? It’s an extreme sport by itself. During this time, I don’t have the time to be on my phone, so it fits one of the habits I’m tracking this month.
8.00 am – 9.00 am – I’ll make my bed, do a load of laundry if I have any and make myself a cup of hot green tea. I’ll then bring my tea to my home-office-slash-wardrobe-room where I’ll have my planners ready while catching up on YouTube videos. I’ll create a to-do list for the day in my planner.
9.00 am – 10.00 am – Sometimes my husband would buy breakfast and we’ll have it together before he goes to work, or I’ll whip up something simple to hold me until lunch. Right now, I am loving runny, soft-boiled eggs with some pepper and soy sauce. I’ll take a shower afterwards.
10.00 am onwards – I’ll be on my desk working on my blog or I’m checking off to-do list and doing other house chores.
The whole thing about having kids is quite controversial in my opinion as you’ll have some who prefers to have children and you’ll have some who prefers not to and to me that’s totally okay. Both of the choices have their own sets of pros and cons and only you know what’s best for you and not anyone else.
The backstory
Before I got married, having kids is something that my husband and I wanted. We wanted like, five or six kids (we didn’t know any better at that time haha!) and immediately after our wedding, I got pregnant, miscarried, and got pregnant again right after that. We weren’t really trying but we weren’t actively avoiding pregnancy. We just let nature ran its course.
I had my first baby in September 2020 at 25 years old during Covid-19. I enjoyed my pregnancy and motherhood at that time because we were just spending time at home, it was awesome. At that time, we were staying with my in-laws so I did get help which I’m very thankful for. Almost six months after my son was born (somewhere around February 2021), we were in the middle of moving out with packing and whatnots. I had been feeling off so I told my husband to get me some pregnancy tests. I did the test and it turned out positive. To say I was shocked was an understatement but my husband said it’s okay, it’s a rizq (a form of sustenance in my religion). I gave birth to my daughter in October 2021. It turned out I was almost 2 months pregnant with her when I did the test. Shocking.
So I had two children in a span of 13 months, both delivered via caesarean section. The first three months were spent living with my in-laws and my parents as we transition into having two kids. By the end of December 2021 we returned back to our home and that was the start of my being a stay-at-home mom with two under two.
The motherhood
It was hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I didn’t understand or even fathom why God blessed me with a second child so soon as we planned on having another one some time in 2023. I made peace with it once I’ve accepted everything happens for a reason and God knows what’s best for me. Now that we’re in 2024, I can see why it happened the way it did and I’m forever grateful for that. My husband is busier than ever and he always has to work outside of working hours (he owns a business) and if we did decide on our intial plan which was to have another kid in 2023, right now I’d be at home with a 3-year-old and a newborn baby probably most of the evenings. Just, no. I’m just glad that both of them are past two years old with my son being 3 years and 8 months old and my daughter 2 years and 7 months old. They are best friends, I let them play by themselves in the playroom (yes I made a playroom for them), and they enjoy each other’s company. What more do I want, really?
The first three years of motherhood was hard. I feel like my life was all about catering to their every little need. In a way, I lost essence of my life, of what made me, me. I didn’t feel like myself. I didn’t feel like I have a hobby outside of being a mother and now looking at it, it’s just one of the many sacrifices that mothers do for their kids and it’s not a bad thing at all. Your kids will remember all the things you do and that you are there for them.
Me, right now
I am blessed to have a kind and understanding husband that despite my being at home after resigning in January 2024, he is still sending both our kids to play school for a full day program. He’s given me a chance to choose what I want to do with my life and not just dump the kids to me all day long without considering if that is what I want to do by default. I am the one setting the trajectory of my life. I don’t have my kids standing in the way of who or what I want to be. It is entirely up to me and I know not many people have this opportunity which is why I’m not taking it for granted.
Now I feel like I’m in a comfortable place, mental health-wise. I do think that I’m feeling like the old, pre-baby me that has a bajillion things she wants to do in life. I do think that motherhood will get better if and only if you have a strong support system and in my case, my husband and both of our families. There’s nothing more rewarding than to have an understanding husband that respects you not only as his wife and a mother to his children but also as a person who has hobbies and dreams and needs and interests that are not just being ‘a wife and a mother’.
It will get better, I promise
I like being a mother. Of course, there were days where things were just falling to pieces and all I wanted to do was get away from my children but that was exactly what I needed. Take a me-time. Get your husband to care for the kids for a day. Go shopping. Go to a spa. Go get your hair done and your nails. Watch that movie on the cinema. Have an exquisite meal by yourself. I promise you’ll come back to your kids refreshed as ever. Heck, you’ll find yourself missing your kids like I am right now as they are in school. That’s motherhood for me. And I flipping enjoy it.
Now–I did not buy a new iPhone–it’s still the same one I purchased two years ago (a 13 Pro Max if you’re wondering!) However, considering that I am constantly on my phone, I kinda get tired of the overall look of it sometimes. One in a while I need a refresh, and these are what I do:
A new phone case and charm
Sometimes less in more and that includes the type of phone case I’m using. This glitter phone case is actually a second repurchase for me. The old one that I’ve had for a year and a half has yellowed and since I like it so much, I thought I’d buy the exact same one. It’s a very sturdy and hard case, unlike the typical flimsy silicone clear case we’ve seen everywhere. This 3 heart charm just adds some personality to it. I prefer having phone charm on the bottom part as it doesn’t get in the way of using the phone.
A new wallpaper
Pinterest is a great way of getting new wallpapers, and my new one embodies my current vibe–desk, a laptop, a cup of cofee, and candles. I used to have flowery, bright-coloured wallpapers but I like my wallpaper to match my phone case. You can’t go wrong with neutral monochromatic colour scheme.
Declutter apps and reorganise home screen
I’ve done these a while ago, but this is a great way to refresh your iPhone at no cost. Whatever apps I already have on my iPad would be uninstalled on my phone especially streaming apps like Disney+, Netflix, and the likes. I also like a one-page home screen with only apps I use every day to avoid redundant apps to clutter the home screen.
Journalling has been a big part of me since I was a kid. My mother used to say that I would carry around a small notebook and a pencil in my pocket and when we were out of the house I would write on it whenever I can. What did a five-year-old me write on her notebook? I wish I knew. I would love to see what I had penned. I wished my mom kept all of the notebooks but I knew she didn’t think that they would become something that I would treasure in the future.
At this point in my journalling journey, I must say that I do not discriminate neither digital nor paper planning. I’m a planner girlie through and through and I love them both equally. I love my iPad Air and Apple Pencil and I love all my paper planners and Pilot pens. Journalling itself is therapeutic and what medium I would prefer to do so depends on my mood at that time.
A few years ago, I used the bullet journalling method and loved it for quite some time but for reasons I have explained in this blog post – Why I stopped bullet journalling – I moved on to a customised planner from Ana Tomy which served its purpose and was exactly what I wanted in a planner to plan my day. It’s refillable so once you’ve used up the planner, you can order a new set of refill which I have done a couple of times in the recent years.
In early 2021, I got myself and iPad Air 4 and dabbled into the world of digital planning. My, my, my. The whole journalling era is changed forever because digital planning is just out of this world. Both planning systems have their pros and cons and speaking as someone who has tried both digital and paper planning, I love them just the same. What can I say? I’m a sucker for everything planners.
In this post, I’m going to show you the three ways of how I take notes.
01. For monthly/weekly/daily to-do lists and habit tracking
The planner I am currently using is the ana tomy X Lilin+Co ‘Fireplace’ A5s Trio Book (it is sold out but you can shop different variation here) that I purchased last year on a whim because lilac? It’s screaming for me. The trio book is essentially a 3 notebook set that you can customise to better fit what you need.
As for myself, I chose:
12-month undated planner (it also comes with two grid pages after each month for more note-taking)
53-week undated planner (horizontal layout, two pages per week)
To-do list & habit tracker
This will be my refill order going forward because it has everything I need to plan my day and to track my habits. If you need more space for notes, you can swap the to-do list & habit tracker notebook for plain ones.
The monthly planner is strictly used for events and also for jotting down my kids’ schedule because they are in school and they have field trips, sports day etc that I need to remember.
As for the weekly planner, I transfer events from monthly to weekly planner and I also write down blog post published in that week (for reference), my meals, my daily chores to-do list, and some quick notes about the day, for example, “– went for breakfast with the hubs after sending kids”
For the to-do list & habit tracker, so far I’m using the to-do list for listing down post ideas that I hundred percent want to write on my blog and the habit tracker is self-explanatory. If you would like a glimpse of the layout, check out my previous post.
02. For daily list-making
The pocket notebook I’m using for my daily list-making is from Muji in the size 148x105mm – small enough to fit in medium-sized bags so I can bring it along with me.
The lists include everything, but not limited to grocery list, blog post ideas, favourites list, hopes and dreams, snippets of life, to-buy list, wish list, and your usual general notes.
One of the things I love doing with my pocket notebook is listing down points for a blog post I’m planning to write, for example, for my upcoming Her Little Loves post, I have a page dedicated to it so whenever I come across little things that spark joy, I can just write them down – it really helps with my blog writing.
03. For unwinding and long-form journalling
I am a type of person who prefers to write with a paper and pen when I’m not in the right headspace. Therefore, the Leuchtturm1917 dotted notebook has been my journalling companion for the past five years and I’m only almost halfway through with it.
One of my goals this year is to finish this journal by the end of the year so that would require me to daily journal as much as possible, spilling every thought and documenting as many snippets I can.
I have a section in my journal called “500 things I want in life” where I list down 500 things I want from as small as craving instant ramen to as big as wanting let’s say a 10,000 sqft of mansion with 40 ft heated lap pool. It can be anything, really, and you don’t have to list down all 500 in one-go because trust me – it’s impossible. Once in a while you can go back to your journal and just cross off whichever you have achieved or accomplished. It really puts things into perspective and develops sense of gratitude in yourself. Try it!
This is the current note-taking system that I’m quite happy with so far (until I go back to digital planning, that is.) Let me know what your current setup looks like!
I am not much of a habit tracker, but in April I managed to track my habits for the whole month – which, in my opinion, is big BTW – because habit tracking isn’t usually of utmost importance when it comes to my way of planning. I am more of a monthly and weekly planner. To-do lists, some notes about the day, and jotting down important events on my monthly calendar are my tried and tested trifecta.
A week ago I came across a post on Instagram on “You will be unrecognizable if you do these for 50 days” and I thought I would like to incorporate these into my daily habits. I am not going to attempt on doing all of these in a day for the whole month (because I know myself and I know it’s impossible, tsk) but it would be great to at least attempt on doing these as I do want to be more productive during the day.
These are the habits I’m tracking, in May:
01 Sleep for 7 hours – self-explanatory. I am a self-proclaimed night owl who would like to be in bed before 12 am because now that I’m a certified housewife, I kinda take my bedtime lightly thinking that I can just sleep during the day but it’s not productive and I hate the lethargic feeling of day sleeping. Hate it.
02 1 hour of morning routine with no distraction/no phone – I am addicted to my phone that even when I’m not scrolling on Instagram, I would always find something to do on it which my husband hates (haha!). In the morning, apart from checking the time once I wake up, I will not unlock my phone and tap on Instagram or X or Threads or whatever. I swear (I think.)
03 Exercise for 1 hour a day – I choked and died a little upon writing this on my habit section in my planner because me???? Exercising????????? Hell hath frozen over. BUT, it will not deter me from attempting to follow a light routine on YouTube. Maybe a pilates would be good for my frozen muscle?
04 Read 10 pages a day – I have been a shit reader in April and I would like to resume this hobby, thank you very much. It’s either I finish a book in a day or a book in a month. Pick your poison, babe.
05 Dedicate 1 hour towards a new skill – This skill can also be a career if I really put my heart and mind into it but I am my own demon and self-doubt clouds my judgement every time. I need a push to start but I can’t seem to find the button. Hmh.
06 No sugary drinks – I am not much of a soda drinker but boy I do love me some 3-in-1 coffee for that quick caffeine needs in the morning (or at midnight – like I said, pick your poison, babe.) I stopped stocking on instant coffees and juices so it’s just me and iced water, hopefully.
07 Meditate for 10 minutes before bed – We’re living in a fast pace life even more so when you’re trying to run after two active toddlers who can’t seem to let me relax a bit and unfortunately it does take its toll on my mental capacity so I think meditation would let me hit a pause and just soak in the moment of peacefulness and quietness.
09 Journal everyday in my Leuchtturm1917 – I notice that I am quite bitter on social media when I haven’t been journalling for a long time so I do want to pour my hearts out in my journal for that mental satisfaction and not on… Twitter. Yikes. I also would like to finish my Leuctturm1917 journal so I can buy a new one!
10 Drink green tea in the morning – My main reason of having this in the morning is so that I don’t opt for its better counterpart – coffee. I really want to cut back on sugar and I feel like nowadays I’m immune to coffee like it doesn’t keep me energise at all. Drinking coffee feels like a lifestyle for me and not something that I need to power through the day. However, I do still enjoy coffee once in a while. I just don’t want to need it every day.
Time seems to fly by in a blink of an eye, even more so when you’ve been socialising and rekindling relationships with family members whom you don’t see often. April has been wondrous to me – full of get-togethers and spending time with my loved ones. Only good things happened this month so here goes a recap of what’s been happening:
April highlights
✧ Manicure appointment before Eid with my sister-in-law! I didn’t get a pedicure as I have just groomed my toenails, in return I shopped some beauty bits with the extra cash I had.
✦ A 5 days 4 nights trip to my husband’s hometown. It was so much fun I had the most delicious food.
✧ I went to IOI City Mall with my mom and little brother as he had to get his iPhone sent to Machines. Satisfied cravings at Dubuyo and Oriental Kopi. Yums.
✦ I went to more open houses, which were my in-laws’ friends.
✧ I spent 5 days at my mom’s house and we went for a café date at Apacaba Coffee. The wild blueberries bagels are to die for!
✦ I watched Sheriff: Narko Integriti with my mom and husband at IOI City Mall. Before that, we had Dookki Topokki Hot Pot for lunch. I love topokki and I love it even more when it’s unlimited!
✧ I went to more open houses on the weekend. Good food + quality time = what’s not to love?
Disappointed that I only managed to read only 4 books this month but it was the month of Eid-ul-Fitr, I didn’t have many time to spare on reading.
What I watched
I watched quite a lot of horror movies but none of them worth a shoutout for.
Sheriff: Narko Integriti was good! I know that the ending might throw some people off but I’m guessing they’re coming out with a sequel…?
What I listened
REO Speedwagon – Can’t Fight This Feeling. I love finding new old songs that just scratches the itch.
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENTalbum. It’s the only thing I listen to since its release a fortnight ago.
What I wore
Sometime Fuffa Micro Hobo Bag in baby pink. It’s small, it’s cute, it’s for the girlie girl era. I’m obsessed!
This blouse and pants set from Panda Eyes. It’s super comfortable and highly affordable!
What I loved
I have settled on a morning routine that increases my productivity. I didn’t have a routine before – I kinda just winged it and that resulted in my spending the whole day reading books after books. Now that I have a set routine in place, I am more productive in my day-to-day activity although it might take its toll on my reading time (there was one day that I read for eight hours straight – I was hit with a tension headache a few days after that.)
What’s on the May schedule?
✧ More Eid open houses.
✦ Fun Run Carnival held by my kids’ school.
Upcoming posts
✧ I want to write about my updated skincare routine, morning routine, some beauty hauls, and a what’s in my bag post.
✦ More blogging tips and recommendations in the works.
