My Daily Quiet Time Routine

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I started doing daily quiet time years ago, and it has evolved throughout the years as everything else tends to do.  I really revamped it for 2024, and today I’m sharing my routine.

While most people seem to do their quiet time in the morning, that just doesn’t work for me.  For starters, I am not a morning person, so I prefer to sleep until the very last second possible to get myself ready and get the kids out the door for school.  Also, during the times that I did try to do my quiet time in the morning, I felt like I was rushing through it so I could get to the tasks that needed to be done.

With that said, I much prefer to tackle the big tasks first thing in the morning while my brain is fresh, and then I do my quiet time midday as a little treat.  I’ve found that by the time car line pickup time rolls around I’m feeling anxious and overstimulated some days, and mentally exhausted as well, so not only do I view my quiet time as a little treat, it also serves as a great way to give my mind, body, and soul a little midday reset that refreshes me and allows me to get through the rest of the day with a little more peace.

Therefore, I tend to do my quiet time either right before I leave to pick up the kids from school, or right when we get home from school.  The kids’ after-school activities shockingly afford me the time to do that after school this year, and I’m fortunate enough to have a break between getting home and getting Olivia to dance, or getting home from music lessons before I have to start cooking dinner.

My quiet time is quite long these days, but as I said before, I view it as a privilege and a treat, so I really soak up every single second.

This is what my quiet time looks like…

I start by grabbing a little treat (usually a couple of Trader Joe’s cookies, or a couple of Target rolled wafers, or a muffin) and a cup of my favorite Harney & Sons Hot Sunset Cinnamon Tea, and then I grab a fluffy blanket to wrap up in and get cozy while I study.  Some days I’ll turn on some soft music… I am utterly obsessed with this acoustic album by Phil Wickham.  It is beautiful from start to finish and it sets the perfect tone for my quiet time.

I sit down in my office at the big table in the middle of the room (not at the desk where I do all of my work) because it’s a nice, big empty area that affords me the space to spread out. 

This is how my quiet time usually flows…

Gratitude Journal – the first thing I do is open my gratitude journal and write down three or four things that I was thankful for that day (or sometimes the day before… since I write in my gratitude journal midway through the day, sometimes there are things that pop up afterward that I’m grateful for, so I just note them the next day).  I use this basic journal that I found at Target, and my favorite pens that I've been using since college.  My word of the year is GRATITUDE, so I started this journal at the beginning of 2024, but I’m enjoying it so much that I’ll probably continue after 2024 comes to a close.  I did keep a gratitude journal a few years ago, but then discontinued it.  This year, I feel like I’m being more intentional with it, though, and I’m really enjoying it.

 

Prayer Journal – next, I open my prayer journal and write down my prayer intentions for the day.  Some days I write only a few things, and some days I write two full pages.  It just depends on the day and what’s going on at any given time in life.  Again, I just use a basic journal that I found at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx, and my favorite pen.  I couldn't find my exact journal, but these are very similar.

 

Devotional – Next up, I read the page for the current date in my daily devotional.  Right now, I’m reading New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp, and it is, by far, the best devotional I’ve ever read.  I do change my devotional every year, and a few others that I have read and loved in the past are Strength for Each Day by Joyce Meyer, Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and Jesus Always by Sarah Young.  I also love Emily Ley’s devotionals Sure as the Sunrise and Near in the Night.  However, Emily’s devotionals only contain 100 in each book, so they’re not yearly devotionals.  Instead, I just read those sporadically whenever I need some extra encouragement.

 

Bible – I started doing The Bible Recap late last year, which is a 365-day plan to allow you to read the entire Bible from cover to cover in one year.  So next up, I locate the current day in The Bible Recap book to see what scripture I need to read for the day, and then I read my Bible.  I love that it has lined columns for journaling, and I absolutely adore the tabs that I applied to it last year.

 

The Bible Recap – after I read my scripture in my Bible for the day, I read the two-page spread in The Bible Recap book explaining what I just read in my Bible.  I use this time to highlight and take notes in my Bible and in The Bible Recap book, and sometimes if a particular line of scripture stands out to me and time permits, I may do a doodle in my Bible.  I use these Mr. Pen Bible pens and these highlighters to write and highlight in my Bible because they don't bleed, and I also use basic Crayola colored pencils for my doodles. 

 

The Bible Recap on You Version Holy Bible App – after that’s all done, I watch the YouTube video for that day’s The Bible Recap… it basically reiterates what I read in The Bible Recap, but sometimes Tara Leigh Cobble (the author and narrator) adds extra little nuggets into the YouTube videos that aren’t in the book.  I also love to use The Bible Recap in my You Version Holy Bible App because it tracks your progress and tells you how many days you’re ahead or behind for the year.  This app is completely free, too!

You Version Holy Bible App – While I’m in my You Version Holy Bible App I also read the Bible verse of the day, and if time permits, I’ll listen to the 3-minute video that accompanies it.  This isn’t affiliated with The Bible Recap… it’s just a random daily verse that The Bible App offers every day.

 

I also have a stack of fun journals that I purchased from Target a few years ago, and some days I’ll even pull one of those out and fill out one or two of the prompts.  The prompts for those usually take only a couple of minutes, and eventually I think they’ll make fun keepsakes to look back on.

Calm App – I also meditate every single day, but I actually started doing this at the end of the day about a year ago because it makes me sleepy, so I feel like it’s a good way to wind down each evening.  I purchased the lifetime subscription to the Calm app several years ago and it has been worth every single penny.  Most days, I do Jay Shetty’s daily meditation, but sometimes I’ll change it up and do one of the meditations for anxiety or stress or whatever else calls to me that day.  I only meditate for 8-10 minutes each day, but it has benefitted me greatly since I started.  The app also offers meditations for kids, sleep stories, white noise, green noise, brown noise, and binaural beats & theta waves.  The Binaural beats are odd sounding, but it’s soooo calming.  I cannot recommend that app enough!  It is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.  

All in all, my quiet time takes anywhere between 30-60 minutes each day (excluding meditation), depending on how much I write, how long the Bible passages are, whether or not I decide to doodle etc. but it is worth every single second to me to carve out the time to do it. 

When I travel, I will bring all of this with me and do the things I can when I can.  But on days when I don’t have time (Disney World trip, I’m looking at you), I will keep notes in my phone for my gratitude and prayer journals to later transfer to my journals, and then I will spend time catching up on my devotional, Bible readings, and Bible recaps when we get home.

I will never skip a meditation, though.  I have been meditating every single day for five years now, I think, and I’ve only missed a small handful of days since I started.

And that’s it, y’all!  Again, it is quite a daily time commitment, but this time well spent has enriched my life in more ways than I can count, so it’s definitely worth it to carve out the time each day.