When I notice that my mornings are getting particularly crazy, one of the first things I consider is whether I’m following my evening routine. A great evening routine sets us up for a morning that runs like a well-oiled machine.
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If you brush your teeth and wash your face before bed, you already have an evening routine. Upgrading your routine is as simple as choosing a couple of things to add to your evening routine that would set you up for a better night’s sleep and better morning the next day.
Now, you may say, “Routines are for type A people, and that just isn’t me.” Having a routine doesn’t mean you have to hold a stopwatch and adhere to this strict schedule. It is just a group of activities that you try to do every night, because you see how much they benefit you.
As an example, I’ll share what my evening routine looks like:
- Clean up dinner food and dishes.
- Help kids clean up toys.
- Get the kids into pajamas, brush their teeth, read a story, say their prayers and sing their bedtime song.
- Write down my top 3 most important tasks for the next day.
- Stretches (because this prevents me from having as many workout-related strains or pulled muscles).
- Wash my face, floss and brush my teeth and change into pajamas.
- Write down 3 things I am grateful for.
- Apply face creams and lip balm.
- Read a physical book (not an ebook so the blue light doesn’t affect my sleep.)
- Roll lavender essential oil on my wrists.
- Pray until I fall asleep.
Other activities you could do in the evening:
- Lay out everyone’s clothes for the next day.
- Make lunches.
- Put laundry in washing machine to be ready to start in the morning.
- Thaw out meat for the next night’s dinner.
- Set out breakfast dishes and food, when possible.
- Prep kids’ backpacks.
- Pick up clutter around house.
- Set up coffee maker to start in the morning.
- Drink herbal tea.
- Do a sleep meditation.
My evening routine isn’t something I use a checklist for and check off every night with military precision. I am naturally into a habit of doing these things, because I know there are consequences to me physically and emotionally if I skip them.
If this seems overwhelming, just pick one activity to start with– the one that would be the most helpful to you. Do that for one week before adding a new one.
I hope this post has you excited and motivated to start your own evening routine. If you want more thorough guidance on creating your evening routine, I recommend Money Saving Mom’s course Make Over Your Evenings. It is very affordable and walks you through creating your routine one small step at a time.
Having an evening routine will require some extra time each night, so you need to save time in other places, right? That’s why I created this FREE guide with 25 ways to help you find more time. Just implementing one of these 25 ways will help you save a significant amount of time so you can spend it on whatever you would rather be doing, whether it’s playing with your kids or taking a nap. Sign up to get the FREE guide here.
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