How long before I can stop say that I am settling in? Asking for a friend.

Here we are in OCTOBER, and I am still saying that I am settling in, whatever that means.  The problem is, if I take this long to settle, it will be December before I am totally "in" my routine, and then it's time for a 5-week break and a new routine.  I waste a lot of time settling, is my point.

Anybody else find this problem plagues them each semester?  How do you just admit to yourself that you are in already before you've totally slaughtered your productivity?

One thing we have seemed to figure out is mornings!  Jack gets up and does his 25 minutes of reading.book logging as soon as Harry goes to the bus.  I pack lunches while he's reading (and do a little academic housekeeping work on my computer and 30 mins of cardio before Harry leaves), and then when Jack and Cooper go to walk the god, Dorothy and I do a quick 15 minutes of yoga.  After that, it's time for breakfast/getting dressed/making beds, etc.  The kids are gone by 8:15 am, and I have a little time to get dressed and get on with my day.  It's pretty lovely.  (Although I will have to pick up the pace a bit next semester when I teach an hour and five minutes earlier and also a day more frequently).

 We even have time for violin practice in the morning!

After this lovely routine, I spend the rest of the day being surprised by all of the things on my calendar and never quite finding a work/writing rhythm.  I end up devoting what turns out to be too much time to the low-hanging fruit on my daily to-do list and then the work day is over and I never did the creative stuff.  And I never do that kind of work in the evenings.  I do, though, enjoy a slate of tasks I can neatly check off for an hour or so everyday.  The obvious solution seems to be to do the writing first, knowing I will always come back to the grading/planning/mailing piece?

(Question mark because I guess I just don't want to do this.)