Hey Lovely,
This month, I’ve been focusing on getting my life together with routines.
You know that I would have been practicing to have a night routine for the past few weeks. Before I go on, I want to tell you that I’m not just doing this for so. I just wanted to highlight why it is important because I believe routines matter. Human beings naturally thrive on routines; God made it that way. Even nature has routines.
Routines help you to thrive
So this happened…
I began this because I was starting my day overwhelmed, and FRIEND… y’all already know how disorganized spaces mentally cripple me! My mornings were a whirlwind of chores. I always rushed to make and pack food, shower quickly, search for and put together my clothes, steam them, then run through the door and the latest possible minute. I sit in the car, THEN remember I didn’t eat. By that time, it’s too late for me to prepare sustenance, so I go to work hungry, then end up hunting desperately for food and end up putting junk in my body because it is the quickest and easiest thing to get. Something had to change.
I decided I needed another time to do these chores because what was happening was unsustainable. My mom told me sometimes you have to stay up to do these things,” and that was my AHA moment. I did it, and when I opened my eyes in the morning, I could easily flow into the day. What a relief! I decided to make it a habitual routine to do so. My routine includes tidying the house, washing dishes, preparing food for the baby and me, checking off and adding to my to-do list, and taking out the clothing pieces I need for work the next day. (Keep in mind that my baby goes to sleep by 7:15 nightly. Thats a routine too!). After that, I shower, tap my Hatch to wind down and get into bed.
Building a Routine
Before starting to build any routine, you need to have a good reason or motivation behind why you are doing what you are doing.
Do you want to develop good habits?
Do you want to build self-discipline?
Do you want to set a good example for your kids?
Do you need a change of pace?
Does being organised make you feel better mentally?
Another thing to consider is your current season of life. What does your life allow you to do now? Do you live alone or with others? Whether you have children and their respective ages matter, so that chores and responsibilities appropriate for their age can be divided and assigned.
Plan for what your tasks will include
Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself when deciding if this is right for you:
What does your daytime look like, and what do you think needs to change?
How can you accomplish tasks more efficiently?
When can you do these tasks?
What is my scope of work?
(List the things that you are going to focus on and the things that are not a part of the routine).
You can be tempted to do things that are not planned just because they appear in your eyeshot, so you have to decide what you’re going to do and what you’re not going to do and designate time to do each task you have listed on the to-do list.
The final question is, how much time do you want to allocate to these tasks? If you have a half-hour, ensure the tasks can fit into the half-hour realistically. That way, you know that when you begin your routine, within 30 minutes, you can be done. As a side note, I recommend doing only what will take less than 45 minutes. Keep it short and sweet.
Try it!
Try it for three nights, and let me know how it went! I hope this helps give some perspective on how to set up a night routine and learn why it is beneficial. The results are twofold — you feel accomplished and set yourself up to WIN for the next day. You can get up, take your time, and breeze through the morning, or even the entire day, because you are organised and ready for all of your predictable activities ahead.
Until next time,
