An Evening Routine for Better Mornings

I’m a sucker for a routine, particularly AM ones. Eat the frog, exercise before breakfast, meditate in the dark, optimal smoothie fruit to protein ratio… I’ve read and tried most.

Yet, I still don’t ACTUALLY get what I want to get done. I’m the queen of intention setting. Present Maria has the utmost confidence that Future Maria will act differently — Future Maria has the follow through that Present Maria lacks.

I have figured out how to better set up Future Maria for success, and that starts in the evening.

Timebox my calendar

Yes? You’re like me. Now, I do two things:

  • My To Do list are Calendar Events — whenever I have a new task, I add it immediately into my calendar as a hold event.
  • At the end of the day, I review all tasks and adjust the time it will take to complete and then assign it to a time slot to accomplish it.

Now, each day is chock full of tasks that I can actually accomplish.

Clean the Kitchen

Set up Coffee Supplies

But, nothing is more frustrating in the morning discovering that you are out of coffee or filters, the kettle isn’t filled, etc. So, I do a spot check in the evenings, and lay out all the stuff I need to just go.

Choose your Clothes

So, I choose my day clothes and workout clothes the night before. I also find this helps with actually wearing what is in my wardrobe. I’m not a big clothes shopper in the first place, but I definitely have the core 3–5 shirts I wear the most. This forces me to choose different options.

Try a few out and let me know how it goes.

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