Almost every night, as the kids are doing their nightly routines and getting ready for bed, my husband and I spend 10-20 minutes putting our house to bed. Meaning we clean up and prep the house for the morning routines. By spending a bit of time at night, we're making our future selves extremely happy. It's a surefire way to ensure we start the morning fresh because we do not have to play catch up from yesterday's mess.
On a near-nightly basis, we try to accomplish the following tasks:
Clean up the kitchen, including wiping down tables and counters
Sweep the kitchen floor
Put dishes away that are on the drying rack
Load and start the dishwasher
Load the kid's backpacks with their homework, library books, clean masks
Gather laundry and start or fold a load
Pick up everything off the floor in each room
Put away the random items that seem to pile up from the day
Lock the doors
The above tasks might seem endless, but honestly, we can tackle all of them quickly. We've been doing this routine for about nine years, so it's become a healthy habit. And since I love the way waking up to a tidy house every morning, it's well worth the time and energy each evening.
If you're interested in putting your house to bed each night, you can ease into the new routine by starting small and tackling only one or two tasks. For example, what is one thing you loathe doing in the morning? Or what is the one morning activity that takes the most time?
Here are a few ideas that will kick start getting into the routine of putting your house to bed:
Pack lunches and snacks
Fill water bottles
Prep for breakfast
Sort the mail
Straighten up shoes, jackets, backpacks, and miscellaneous items
Put away the laundry
Write your tomorrow's to-do list
Meal plan
Take out the trash
Putting your house to bed will pay dividends to how you feel in the morning. You'll love the results. How about you? What are the evening routines that make your future self happy?