Evening Routine > Morning Routine? My Hot Take & How My Evening Routine Supports My Life Better!
Last Wednesday, I was on Instagram stories talking about how we were about to leave for vacation in less than 36 hours (which fun fact, we had to postpone our vacation which was a real bummer) but I have a to-do list a mile long, and for the first time in a long time… I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed.
And RIGHT AS I WAS GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF to tell you about the evening routine I have been implementing to help to not feel so overwhelmed…Instagram decided to stop uploading my videos. 🫠
Lesson #1: Start building an email list NOW bc you never know when social media will decide to call it a night, but it 98% (anecdotally) of the time be when you are getting to the good stuff.
Anyways, I decided to send an email out to my list with my thoughts and the feedback I got from those who received and read the email was really great SO I figured in case you missed the email, we would turn it into this blog post!
So, back to the “not feeling completely overwhelmed” part.
It's been about 8 months since I have really felt like I have been in any kind of solid routine (that would be right around the time I came back from maternity leave). Or at least if I do get into a routine or a groove, it lasts about a week and I stop doing it. Can you relate?🙋🏻♀️
However, I am finding I really need the support of systems, routines, and habits because in case you missed it (part 2), I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and my symptoms have been pretty severe over the last 6ish months (more on that at a later date).
And one of those habits that I am finding incredibly, is my evening routine.
Now, I used to be a morning routine STAN (that's what they say these days, right?).
I used to wear the “5 am Club” title like a badge of honor.
I used to think that the only way I could really be successful was if I woke up before my kids and had this elaborate morning routine.
I used to…
But I have officially unsubscribed to those thoughts.
And I will even go as far as saying that I think an evening routine is actually MORE important than a morning routine.
Spicy, I know. 🌶
But hear me out 👇🏻
My 11-month-old does not sleep through the night and both my kids get up between 5-6am. So when I wake up in the morning, our day has started. I am getting the boys changed, getting breakfast going, feeding them, myself included, cleaning up, getting dressed, etc…
And maybe you can relate to this and maybe you can't, that's okay, but stick with me here.
When I wake up in the mornings, we hit the ground running – that's a fact. But when I take time at night before I go to bed to actually practice my evening routine, that morning goes so much smoother than when I don't.
And honestly, it's really simple. So here it is:
01. After the kids go to bed, set a timer for 20 minutes to clean up the kitchen and living area (because the evening/dinner time chaos…. IYKYK).
This part is super important to me because I love having a clutter-free environment to wake up to in the morning. It's a “reset”. And a lot of times, my husband and I team up on this, or take turns taking it over.
02. Set a timer for 15 minutes to pull out my calendar and notepad to plan out the next day.
Planning my day the night before has helped me maximize my work time the next day because I already know what I am going to be doing. I know what calls I have, I know what time I need to be where, and I know what my Focus 3 tasks are (shoutout to my girl Jess Massey for the Focus 3 habit… truly a game changer).
03. Set a timer for 10 minutes to do my evening journal entry.
And then I top it off with a shower and/or my skincare routine.
So, in a perfect world, it takes about an hour, maybe a little longer if it's hair wash day, and the timers help me stay focused on the task and not jump around or pick my phone up to scroll.
Does this happen perfectly every evening? No way.
But do I feel much better when my head hits the pillow and when I open my eyes in the morning when I at least execute 2-3 of these steps, 10000% yes.
Even if you aren't a mom, or you love waking up at 5 am, or you have an Instagrammable morning routine— I really think that having a solid evening routine can benefit you, too. The best part? It can look however the heck you want it to look! The only requirement is that it makes you feel good and sets you up for success the next day.
A huge part about our The Va Roadmap is learning how to create a schedule + routine that align with your goals and priorities! More about the investment here.
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