Resetting Your Evening Routine

We talked yesterday about our morning routine, but in all honesty, I think that the evening routine is even more important. Especially if, like me, you’re not a morning person. My decision-making skills don’t kick in until around 8:30am. If I’m up at 6:30am, that’s two solid hours where decisions are hard, even nearly impossible.

Think of your evening routine as you being nice to your future self. That can take many forms, depending on what stage of life you are in. It could be anything from packing your bag for work or school to packing lunches for your children.

Let’s look at our evening routines the same way as we did our morning routine.

First up, our “have to dos.” I think certain self care items should be on that list, but that is just me. My have to do list is:
Take out contacts.
Wash face.
Brush teeth.
Honestly, that’s what my evening routine looks like most days. I’m too tired after a long day of work to do much else.
Next, let’s look at our “want to dos.” For me, these are items that are more about setting ourselves up for the next day and quick tasks to care for our homes. Things that might be on my want to do list:
Clean up after dinner: dishes, counters, stovetop.
Quick pick up of the living room.
Pack computer into work bag.
Check calendar.
Pick out clothes for the next day.
Read.
Sometimes I just catch the kitchen items the next morning if I’m really tired. (Remember back to the idea behind routines? You know if you don’t get to something today, you know when you will get to it next.) The living room may get left to the next evening, or if I’m feeling energetic, the next morning. Or, if it’s gotten really bad, I’ll focus on it during my weekly cleaning. Reading winds my brain down, which is why I like to read a bit before bed. I have to be selective, however, because time does get away from me if I get engrossed in a good book. Next thing I know, it’s 2:30am and my future morning self hates me.
Finally, let’s talk “would like to dos.” I know there are families that have a whole-family, whole-house quick evening pickup. You might be making lunches for family members. (I pack my lunch as I put away dinner leftovers as that is usually what’s for lunch the next day.) You may have divided your weekly cleaning so that you do a task a day. Really, this section is highly individualized and depends on how much time and energy you have in the evenings.
I try to do a cleaning task a day, and then catch what I’ve missed on Tuesdays (if I’m working from home) or on the weekend. I’ll talk a bit more about setting up cleaning routines in the coming weeks – never fear!

My revised ideal evening routine as it stands right now:

Clean up after dinner: dishes, countertop, stovetop.
Weekly cleaning task.
Pack computer into work bag.
Check calendar. (So I don’t forget an early-morning meeting!)
Take out contacts.
Wash face.
Brush teeth.

Generally I can finish the above in about an hour. It depends on what my husband is watching on tv and if I get sidetracked as I’m doing things. (Do you notice a trend here? Sidetracked? Me?)

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What does your evening routine look like? Are you changing it? Or has it stayed fairly consistent?

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31 Days 2016 - Reset Your Home

This post is a part of the series 31 Days to Reset Your Home, part of the 31 Days challenge. Please join me during the month of October. Each day I’ll be posting what I’m working on, challenges so you can join in, and update my progress (and hopefully hear about yours!). The 31 Days challenge is a writing challenge to pick a topic and write a post on it every day in October.

This entry is post 3 of 21 in the series 31 Days 2016 - Reset Your Home

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