Warriors, I’ve got a bit of something different lined up today. As we head into back to school season (which hopefully this year actually means back to the classrooms), I think it is valuable to talk about routines. Especially since most of us have had 18 months of disruption at this point. There is an abundance of info about creating a successful morning routine out there, but there is less about an evening routine and I think they are equally important.
A strong morning routine sets up the entire day for success, or at least that’s the goal. Most suggestions for morning routines include the obvious basics of getting ready for the day (dressed, teeth brushed, eat breakfast, etc.). Some suggest other practices like reading, journaling or writing, movement, and visualization as part of the morning routine. Do what you find helpful to get your day started off strong.
An evening routine should set us up for quality sleep. And if you search for good sleep habits or sleep hygiene, you’ll find a lot of good recommendations. Turn off the screens at least an hour prior, do something relaxing, read, and journal are all suggestions.
I could go on and on about the value of quality sleep to Mental, Emotional, and Physical Health, but there are tons of articles that do it better than I could. And while sleep is important, I think that there are other parts of an evening routine that are also valuable.
Growing up, my dad often had to be to work at 5 or 6am. He’d be home before we (my brother and I) got off the school bus, but he usually wasn’t home to help us in the morning. With my mom also working full time, we would usually put ourselves on the bus. So my parents taught us to take care of things the night before. When we got home, bookbags would get emptied so that forms could be filled out, signed, and repacked before dinner. We were also responsible for making our lunches and laying out clothes the night before.
Basically the idea was that there would be less chaos in the morning. Less chaos in the morning usually means a smoother start and an overall better day. Our evening routine was so ingrained that my parents rarely missed anything. And while I hated it at the time, I definitely see the value of it now.
Every family or household has their pain points in the day. Those times, that happen about the same time every day, that are just more chaotic. Difficult to manage. For a lot of families, getting everyone where they need to be on time in the morning is definitely one.
So why not take a bit of time the night before to make those pain points less painful? Figure out when your households pain points are. When are you the most rushed? When are you jugging the most number of tasks? When is your attention the most divided? Then try to brainstorm some simple things that each household member can do to alleviate some of the stress.
Maybe you don’t mind making lunches in the morning but everyone finding their shoes is a huge time suck. Take two minutes the night before to look up the weather and get everyone to put the shoes they intend to wear the next day by the door. Or maybe dinner time sees a lot of obligation stress (i.e. someone has soccer practice, someone else has piano, and someone works late twice a week), so eating breakfast as a family is important. What can you do the night before that might make that easier to accomplish?
The value of an evening routine is that it does the same as a morning one. It sets you and your household up for success. It won’t work perfectly every single time and there will always be emergency situations that come up. But it allows for productive stress management.
Do you have an evening routine? Tell us what it looks like in the comments!
