I’ve learned a lot since I published that article! And I still find myself re-considering how to tweak my routines. Our days are complicated lately! While I work on un-complicating them, I still have to get to bed at a reasonable hour, get up and out of bed in the morning, and complete a handful of tasks before I leave the house every day!
I am older and wiser (as are my kids!), so today, let’s take another look at “A Great Morning Starts the Night Before”!
- Look Ahead.
- In my original article, this was a solitary step for me as Mom to take. These days, the teenagers and I all need to check in with each other and with the upcoming calendar.
- Part of parenting is to foster planning and self-management skills in our young adults (and working on that for ourselves, too!). Some days, there are scheduling challenges or car usage juggling!
- I look at the calendar for the next few hours, days and weeks, and ask the important questions of myself and my sons to move us forward. I may jot down those questions on a dry erase board, in case our schedules don’t synchronize. (For example, “Where is the grade report from last Friday”, “Does your tux jacket need dry cleaned after last week’s concert?”, etc.) They can start working on answering these questions in my absence!
- Meal Planning: I’m the only person who packs a lunch anymore, so lunch making isn’t as important as it used to be.
- However, ensuring we have portable breakfast foods on hand has become more important,
as has dinner meal planning to make sure I have a meal planned that works with the next day’s schedule. - Instead of assigning a specific meal to every day, I may list 5-7 quick and favorite meals on a note near the fridge, and make sure we have the ingredients on hand for each.
- Then I can choose a really quick meal on days we’re strapped for time, or a more involved meal if I have a little extra time.
- However, ensuring we have portable breakfast foods on hand has become more important,
- “Lay out clothes for tomorrow, for you and your children” was the statement in the original article. However, as we and our kids grow and evolve, we know this gets a little tougher!
- Laundry maintenance. The success of this step relies on maintaining the laundry process (and yes, I have started a load of laundry as I’ve been writing this). By “maintaining the process”, I mean – keep the laundry moving along and don’t let your wardrobe options pile up! For example, start a load every evening, and toss it in the dryer every morning while you get ready for your day.
- Another key to success in this area is to have a standard ensemble to wear for your typical day. I am NOT the person to give fashion advice, but I am the person to offer suggestions that will save you time and aggravation. Spend an hour some evening, and put together a handful of outfits you can easily use when you’re strapped for time.
- “Pack Your Bag the Night Before”. This piece of advice never grows old. I had an early
morning breakfast meeting today, so last night, I made sure my notes were in my bag. We still stumble, as the completed forms I laid on the middle-schooler’s backpack for him to take back to school today are still laying on his dresser… but tomorrow is another opportunity to turn stuff in!
- Go to bed. Good sleep hygiene is vital to success, for all of us. A reasonable and consistent bedtime and calming night-time routines, including planning and prep for the next day, help ensure good sleep and a better morning tomorrow!
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“What Do I Do With All Those Magazine Articles?”
if you want to read your information like a book, or if you want your information to stay portable.
category. As you collect the articles, filing becomes so easy! Then, when you’re ready to review the file, you can pull out all the similar articles at once.
cluttering the pile contents and adding attractive large wicker baskets to hold the bags and gear in the habitual drop zones seems a better solution than trying to establish new habits and drop zones elsewhere.
just never seemed to “work” right for you?
consistent Bill Paying! Try these 4 tips to Streamline Your Process!
used their shared work space. One person had a place to always tuck the bills to be paid. The other person had no idea that was the system in place!
individual vendor files and just have monthly folders for all income and banking info. Any paid bills, receipts, bank statements, etc., get added to those monthly files. Finding info is so easy, as is filing!
dirty laundry more like to get washed!
weekly errand for taking in and picking up.
felted hangers to take good care of your clothes and give your closet a tidier appearance.
you only wore once? or the track pants and sweat shirt you put on when you get home from work? Perhaps the jeans you wore for a little while but plan to wear again tomorrow. It’s not worth it to wash them all, or to hang them all up again, so we need a way to keep them close at hand but not strewn about your space!
“telecommuting”, “remote work” or “teleworking”. This is a growing trend, with many of us working at least some of the time from non-traditional work space.
on the clock! (The same goes for pets – one client closes the door and curtains to the back yard, to signal to her faithful furry companions that play time is over!)
most of these tasks are actually pretty short and to the point. So we assigned time estimates to them all, so we could be more objective.
I detest errands and shopping. The expense, hassle and time spent. But, of course, there are items – food, clothing, supplies, etc. – that I need for my family, our home and my business. Errands and shopping are a necessary evil.
I have been pondering how to spend less time, money and hassle on running errands and shopping. I’ve talked to a lot of people also working on the same challenge, and we’ve learned a lot from each other!
it was my constant companion. Most days, amidst working and family and living our lives, I was also planning / orchestrating / cleaning or occasionally waiting for activities centered on the Kitchen, and by extension, my office. No summer va-ca for this girl.
track lighting. As soon as we stood at a counter to work on food prep or anything else, we would block our own task lighting. The under-cabinet lighting makes the whole kitchen GLOW, while providing task lighting any where we need it! This is a simple upgrade. You can purchase ropes of LED lighting that simply plug in at any home improvement store.
also beautiful, I am truly loath to leave anything on them. One of my favorite (and cheap) purchases to complete the project was this dish drain that fits over the smaller side sink and can be easily slid over or rolled away (Amazon.com, ILifetech Roll-Up Dish Drying Rack).
now have a breakfast station. My coffee maker lives on this small counter, along with the fresh fruit basket and napkins. In addition, the cabinet above houses breakfast bars and Pop Tarts (my sons’ quick breakfasts of choice), our daily vitamins and supplements, the toaster, and coffee / tea / hot chocolate supplies, etc.
The tops were dusty, and storing stuff up there looked cluttered, so we never used the space. If you don’t want to remodel, you can also re-imagine how you use your cabinets. Use the bottom shelf or 2 for daily use items, the middle shelf for items you use once a week, and the top shelves for items you use less often but would still like to keep accessible.