A Bedtime Routine
I already have hinted in my last post that I had begun a brief 2-step evening routine. This is in addition to the 5-step morning routine that I have been doing for the past few weeks as well as my attempt to be more cheerful with my family (easier said than done!) All of these routines are a result of the fantastic Making Your Home a Haven series on Tammy’s Recipes. I did make a change to my original morning routine. The final product has been working quite well for me (and the whole family):
- Make bed.
- Breakfast, coffee and vitamins.
- Put away clean dishes.
- Start a load of laundry.
- Check the dinner plan and start any necessary thawing/marinating/slowcooking.
Now that I have all of my other routines down pat (okay, maybe not the cheerful part), I am feeling confident enough to add a few more steps to my bedtime routine:
- Make sure the dishes are cleaned up and my kitchen counters are clean.
- Fold and put away all laundry that was done that day.
- Do a 5-minute quick tidy of living room and hallways.
- Check calendar and jot down tomorrow’s schedule (I really like Simple Mom’s daily docket for this).
- Lay out clothes for the next day.
All of these things are pretty simple but go a long way toward keeping the chaos at bay. I will continue to say that a home that is simplified, running well and clean is a home that has the best chance of being green. Personally, I find it nearly impossible to make solid, green choices when I feel buried in chaos. It is just too easy to toss recyclables and compostables in the garbage when you are already feeling overwhelmed with dirty dishes, piles of laundry and clutter. These routines are helping me to keep the chaos at bay and should help me to be a better citizen of this earth as well.
What bedtime routines are you thinking of tackling?
Filed under Cleaning and Organization |2 Responses to “A Bedtime Routine”
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For me, it is the opposite. The routine I need to start putting together is a routine that eliminates doing all kinds of chores and such before bed. I suffer from an overactive mind. My husband and I have started a regiment of multitasking earlier in the evening to be able to let ourselves relax a bit before bedtime.
My weakness is TV… I have shows I’m addicted to but they are all later in the evening. I think my goal would be to turn off the tv every night 30 minutes before going to bed and just relaxing… aaaahhhh… what a beautiful thought!
Yanic-I can completely understand that…I think many people struggle with trying to jam too much into an evening and then being unable to relax or get the rest that they need. I agree that a half and hour should be spent quietly reading or meditating prior to going to bed.
My natural tendency is to completely sit and vegetate once we’ve gotten the kids down to bed (TV is also a vice of mine). In order to relax, I would put off some critical tasks ‘until tomorrow’. Then I would start off the next day with a dirty kitchen and the clothes would pile up day after day. My goal is to stay on top of the dishes and laundry so that they aren’t overwhelming tasks and I can actually have them completed by the time the kids are in bed.
What I have been finding is that I am able to relax guilt-free knowing that these tasks are done and that I will be starting off the next day on the right foot!
Thanks for your comment!