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Having done a post on my morning routine I thought it would be a good idea to include one on evening routines as they really do make the mornings much easier. I like to keep things simple and flexible, so my evening routine is not too elaborate. I don’t even always wait until the evening to get a start on it. In fact, I often find it easier to spread these out throughout the day instead so that I have more time in the evening to ~~wrestle my toddler to the ground and brush his teeth~~ relax before bed.
I do find my mornings go smoothest if I get a few simple tasks done the day before. Doing this leaves me extra time to spend with my kids and gives me a much better chance of getting some time to take care of myself in the morning as well.
For the time being I’m on maternity leave and will be for another 7 months as 12 months leave is pretty standard here. My husband works from home which means he’s able to help me out a lot more while we adjust to two kids. So for now this is where our routines are based. If you have a different set up, you may need different routines. My best advice, as always, is do what works for you!
**1. Coffee**
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Something I try to always do in advance is get the coffee maker set up for the next morning, so that I am not groggily trying to measure out coffee grounds. Too many mornings have started of poorly simply because I am tired and clumsy when I’m trying to make coffee and end up spilling water or coffee grounds everywhere that I then have to clean up. That is not the recipe for a happy start to my day.
I don’t always wait for the evening for this task, most often I take care of it while cleaning up from breakfast, but if I don’t do it earlier in the day, I try to always make sure it gets done before bedtime.
**2. Check weather and lay out clothes for the next day.**
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This is another task that I rarely wait until the end of the day to do but I try to always have done the day before. I do laundry almost everyday with very few exceptions, as there always seems to be more to do. Generally I take care of this step in the afternoon, when I am putting the clean clothes away. I try to check the weather we are expecting for the next day and then I lay out outfits for myself and both my little ones, along with the pajamas we will need for the evening. It takes a lot of mental work out of the next morning to have this done in advance.
**3. Go over any to do lists or tasks that are upcoming.**
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I don’t really do daily to do lists, I operate with a planner and a sort of master to do list that I work off of for a week or two at a time. I like to take some time, either in the afternoon or evening to add any tasks that I need to do to my list and review if I have any important events or dates coming up over the next few days. I find I am always thinking of a thousand things at once which makes it easy to forget things, so looking over everything at least once a day really helps.
If I do have anything that I need to do the next day I try to do any prep work I can if I have the time. This might mean moving my make up to the bathroom if we are going anywhere in the morning, packing up the diaper bag in advance, or setting out papers that I need to send or fill out or take with me anywhere.
**4. Start the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen**
This is pretty self-explanatory, once supper has been cleaned up, if I have a full load I will turn on the dishwasher so that it’s ready to be unloaded the next day. I am really not a fan of messy counters, so if I have any dishes that don’t fit, or that need to be handwashed I will do them right after dinner as well. Then I wipe down the counters and sweep the floor.
The kitchen is my thing. The whole house can be crumbling around me, but if the kitchen is clean I feel in control of it. Starting the day with a clean kitchen makes everything else easier. If the kitchen isn't your "need to have it done" thing, then swap this for whatever is.
**5. Plan meal for the next day or review meal plan if you have planned in advance.**
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I am pretty hit or miss when it comes to meal planning. Some weeks I have a full plan written in advance, some weeks I have a rough idea of what I want to make but not really when. Most weeks I am just flying by the seat of my pants. Regardless, I try to take a moment to consider what we might be having the next day so I can take out any meat that needs to thaw.
Sometimes I will also prep my veggies and keep them in the fridge overnight. If I know I will be baking I will set out my recipes or mixing bowls so that they are at the ready.
This can happen anytime of day, and there are absolutely days this gets skipped and I find myself trying to figure it out as part of the morning rush instead. Ok, there are a lot of days this gets skipped. I am trying to make this more regular though. I do find if I can take the time to prep ahead we eat take out and hotdogs a whole lot less.
**6. Tidy up the house.**
I am definitely not a minimalist, but too much clutter is pretty stressful for me. We live in a small two bedroom apartment with two little ones, and that means lots of stuff but not lots of space. I try to keep the floors and flat surfaces as free of clutter as I can to preserve my sanity.
Just before we start my toddlers bedtime routine we try to get him to help us pick up his toys and put them away. The key word here is "try", one day we may even succeed! I also do a quick walk through the apartment, tidying up and tucking things back into place. It only takes a few minutes but the benefits to my mental health are huge!
This is another thing you may not find necessary. Maybe clutter doesn't bug you, or you just prefer to do this in the morning. If that's the case, then skip it, the less work to do before bed the better!
**7. Bedtime routines**
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As far as bedtime goes, I often get ready for bed at the same time as my toddler. My husband usually takes care of the last potty trip of the night, brushes our toddlers teeth and puts him in the jammies that I laid out earlier. While he does this and gets some of our sons wiggles out, I often get our daughter ready for bed and nurse her. She doesn’t really have a set bed time as she still spends a large chunk of her time asleep, she does sleep longer stretches through the night, but we don’t have a real set time for her yet. Once that’s done, I will either lay our baby girl down or hand her off to her father if she’s not quite asleep.
He starts bedtime stories while I brush and floss my teeth, ( I’m a terrible flosser, but have been making a real effort to do this every night) wash my face, and get on my own pajamas. I try to use a little moisturizer and eye cream before bed as well, but I’m not as regular with this. Once everyone is ready we get the kids to bed and hopefully to sleep.
Depending on my level of exhaustion at this point, I have a bit of time without the kids to spend with my husband, watch tv, scroll through HIVE, or relax before bed. Though some nights I go to bed with the toddler. It very much depends on how well our daughter has been sleeping.
**So that’s it**, my evening/ all day routines to prepare for the day ahead. Much like with my morning routine this doesn’t always go as planned.
I like to know what my most important tasks are, this way even if everything else is a bust I know where my time and energy will have the largest impact. My two non-negotiables ( besides the get ready for bed routines) are prepping coffee and cleaning up the kitchen. If these two things are done, I can likely still tackle my morning relatively well. Generally though, as I tend to split these tasks up throughout the day I can usually get most of this done at some point in the day.
I hope you enjoyed this peek into our daily routines. I’d love to hear about your own routines and what your non-negotiables are.
Until next time, be safe and be kind!
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