Motherhood. Boy, how it changes you in so many way. So many unexpected ways. I never imagined my life would look like what it does now that I’ve had Levi. Motherhood has taught me so many things and one of the most important has been the importance of a routine.
I have never been a stickler to a routine. Routines to me have always felt so restricting. I know there are so many great resources out there to help people find a routine in whatever area of their life they are needing it. But many of your typical successful “criteria” for helping routines stick are not my cup of tea. I do not respond well to external motivation or accountability. Accountability groups often feel like a waste of my time and energy. Someone telling me what to do and how to do it makes me want to avoid doing ANY of it. In short, I am and have always been somewhat of a rebellious personality and also very stubborn. I do something only if I want to do it. And that’s the end of the story. Just ask my husband on that one. 😉
So here I am. New mom. Hater of routines. Finally going back to work. And trying to make life work as I had beforehand. I was a Hot Mess Express. In all ways. I was finding it impossible to get out the door in the mornings and I was completely overwhelmed with trying to get everything done in a day that needed to get done. Something had to give. So I’ve shared before that I started on a journey of living ruthlessly intentional. And I mean that in every sense of the word.
That journey started with me finding sanity and freedom in a nightly routine and eventually working on a morning routine. Having a routine has helped me actually find more time and take up less mental capacity in my head having to remember all those things – I just do them without thinking. It has allowed me to be more productive, get things done much quicker, and give me some time at the end of the evening to do something like take a bath or read. WHO KNEW!?
Anyway, I wanted to share with you my current nightly routine. In hopes that if you are feeling overwhelmed and like a Hot Mess. Maybe you can take something away from this that will help revolutionize your life.
I also want to share that when I shared these things on Instagram, almost immediately I got a call from my parents. They wanted to know who stole their daughter and replaced her with the gal on her Instagram…. If anyone knows my former habits, it is my parents. Let’s just say – I took the phrase Hot Mess to its literal translation. My life was a MESS, physically. My husband can also attest to this.
My nights begin typically when we get home from work and daycare, each day can look different but a lot of it is spent playing with Levi and cooking supper. Some nights it is easier than others, some nights we ride the struggle bus. We all typically eat together, if I get my timing right with dinner. If not, Levi eats leftovers and we eat what I was cooking after he goes to bed. From the table, we go straight into the bath and then into our bedtime routine. After Levi goes to bed is when my nightly routine begins.
1. GET THINGS READY FOR THE NEXT DAY
Before I put any food away and work on cleaning the kitchen, I spend a few minutes preparing Levi’s lunch for the next day, making sure his bottles are ready to go, and preparing any of my food for the next day, etc. Most of the time for lunch Levi and myself eat leftovers from the night/week before – this makes lunches easy. I also like to have a few things on hand that I know Levi likes if I’m in a pinch and didn’t cook. Some of these can be foods I’ve frozen which are ready to heat up and eat, some of them are produce (fresh or canned), and some are just snacks I know he likes.
2. DO THE DISHES & CLEAN THE KITCHEN
Can I just say that one of my most DESPISED tasks is unloading the dishwasher? I will load that sucker like a champion and I have also been known to HAND WASH all my dishes to avoid unloading the dishwasher… It’s weird, I know. But it is this huge mental stumbling block for me. But lately, I have been really pushing myself that NO MATTER WHAT, I do the dishes. Most of the time, my amazing husband will unload it for me (he has my same issue when it comes to loading the dishwasher). But in the rare times he isn’t around or hasn’t had time, I will unload/reload and hand wash any dishes that need to be washed. I also take the few minutes to wipe down the counters and table and wipe out the sinks when I am done. Sometimes if it needs, I’ll pull out the Dyson stick vacuum and just vacuum the kitchen area too. The more I’ve made this a part of my nightly routine, the more I realize that there is something SO calming about coming out to a clean kitchen in the morning. It helps me feel like even if my house isn’t CLEAN, it is tidy and put together. And most nights it only takes me a half hour MAX to do all of these steps.
3. TIDY UP HOUSE
Once I am done with the kitchen, I will usually move into the living room where Levi has typically successfully pulled out every toy he owns and throw it around the living room. I spend the few minutes it takes to pick up and put away his toys for the day. Unlike the kitchen, this takes me MAYBE 5 minutes but packs a huge impact. I don’t walk out in the morning to toys strew all over my living room. I walk out to them put away and ready for Levi to play with them again the next day. I also feel like Levi plays better with his toys when I “reset” things for the next day. It makes pulling out a “new” toy seem more exciting than picking up one that has been on the floor for days on end.
4. LAUNDRY AND OUTFITS
Okay ya’ll – truth time. I used to be the world’s WORST at doing laundry. I would literally, no joke, be that person with a MOUNTAIN of laundry because I waited a week, sometimes two to do laundry. And then I would do like 5-7 loads on the weekend. Once all of the laundry was clean, it never got put away and hanging things up? Hell no. My husband literally called my closet “a nest” that would take over almost half of my closet. It was overwhelming all the time, I could never find anything, and I hated going in there. I decided that I was going to try and give doing laundry one load of laundry a day, from start to finish, a try. And OH MY GOSH, you guys, it has CHANGED my life. No longer am I wallowing in heaps of laundry and constantly feeling dragged down by spending my weekends battling through laundry. AND all my clothes are clean so I really know what is in my closet!
Either in the mornings or at night, I will start a load of laundry and by that evening or the next morning, I will have it done and FULLY put away. This even includes going in my closet and HANGING UP the few pieces I may need to hang up. Putting away clothes and hanging them up is WAY less of a monumental task when there are only a few. I wash my clothes, Mark’s non farm clothes, and Levi’s clothes all together. Nothing is sorted. I wash in cold water to avoid any bleeding of colors. And then I throw it all in the dryer together. When it comes out, I fold into separate piles and then I put everyone’s away in their appropriate closets. I also take the time when I am putting clothes away to set out an outfit for the next day. This has been a game changer for me in the mornings, so I don’t have to even think about what I am going to wear. I can just grab, get dressed, and go. If there is one tip that I recommend EVERYONE trying, it is doing one load of laundry a day.
5. MOMMY TIME
Alright, so let’s add it up. I spent maybe an hour (this is less if Mark is home!) of my evening after putting Levi to bed getting my life in order and ready for the next day. It sounds crazy but having a nightly routine has helped me actually find more time and allowed me to be more productive. I find that I get things done much quicker because I am not trying to do five hundred things at once and only finish 1/4 of them, I focus on these few things every single night. It also gives me some time at the end of the evening to do something like take a bath or read, which has also become a part of my nightly routine – my mommy time. Some nights this is reading while in the bath, some nights this is doing a face mask before bed, some nights this is an organizing project, some nights this is simply doing nothing but watching a tv show. Whatever it is – I make time for it.
Currently this is the routine that works for us at nights. Obviously, as Levi grows and our lives change, things will change and adjust to accommodate our current life. I am learning that life happens and sometimes you get out of routine. But the nice thing about a routine is that you have something to fall back onto – you have the standard that you know and can do again at any time. Hopefully even if this routine doesn’t work for you – routines are not one size fits all – there is something you can take from this and adapt it to fit your life and your needs. Or something you hadn’t thought about doing before.
Do you have a nightly routine? What is included in your nightly routine?
