Surviving the First Trimester: Simplify

My first trimester is quickly approaching its end (less than two weeks--woohoo!), but in the last several days, I really feel like we've finally gotten into a rhythm that is meeting the needs of our little family despite my fatigue and occasional nausea (so our days are smoother and our house is cleaner than it was in this post!).

Several weeks ago, I sought advice from friends about how to deal with the discomforts of the first trimester while keeping up with a very busy toddler, in addition to other household duties. The best advice anyone gave (thanks, Amy!) was to go into survival mode--get everything out of my schedule that wasn't necessary and focus on getting the most important things done. It took me a while to figure out exactly how to do that, but simplifying our life and getting into more of a routine (albeit a simple one) have been great for our whole family.  In the midst of this, Ben started a new job away from home leaving me without a car several days per week. Though inconvenient at times, this has proven to be a blessing because it forces me to spend most of my time at home.

When trying to figure out what had to stay in our schedule, I came up with a list like this:

~devotions
~church
~three nourishing meals every day, plus snacks
~clean dishes, floors, clothes, and bathrooms
~time with Katie
~time with Ben
~basic errands (grocery store, bank)
~time for school work
~time on the computer (for blogging, freelance writing, and e-mail)
~time to REST
~exercise (still working on this one...)

Really thinking through what absolutely had to get done and what things could go was really helpful, and is something I think I'll reexamine regularly even once I'm back to my normal self. Is this something y'all do very often?

Next week, I'm planning to do a 'day in our life' post to show you our new routine, as well as a great giveaway! :)

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.