Winter Nighttime Routine

After a long day of wrangling kids, managing a household and decision fatigue, we all just want to curl up on the couch and end the day with ease. Which is exactly what I like to do, once my evening tasks are complete. There is nothing worse than waking up the next day to a mess left from the night before. Morning me is always grateful to nighttime me for getting it all done.

We have enough to do in the mornings or the next day to be dealing with the previous days shenanigans’. Why pile on more than you have to? It is always ideal to start the next day with a fresh start and clean slate.

Now I do not have exact time stamps for my evening routines, because my structure tends to vary, all depending on how the day went or what is left to accomplish. It can also depend on if my husband is home or not to assist me with all of my evening chores.

Here are my evening tasks after putting my kids to bed:

• Closing the kitchen
• Tidy up any toys, books or activities from my children
• Shower and skincare routine
• Put out my workout clothes for the morning
• Complete any administrative items, ie: blog work, emails, scheduling or planning
• Take out the garbage or recycling
• Do a load of laundry – folding can always be done in the morning but the load must be dry before going to bed
• Occasionally I will watch a show or movie either alone or with my husband
• Read before falling alseep

While this is just a glimpse into my evening, there are still many more tasks I would love to add into my routine. This could be an evening walk or workout, spending some time on a hobby, catching up with a friend or family member or deeper preparation for the next day or days ahead. All in due time. Like my morning routine, this requires personal training. It takes discipline to stick to non-negotiable tasks set for yourself. Each new task you set requires adjustment and retraining. I treat my downtime as my reward for completing all I needed to. Some days, by the time I get to my bedtime reading, I barely make it through a page before my eyes are closing on me. And that is just life and motherhood. But you can be certain that my next day won’t be made harder because of slacking off the night before.

Melanie xoxox