Evening routines and Bullet journal week 3
I tested out a new weekly layout idea this week and it really helped keep me better on track. Still not perfectly productive, but I’m not aiming for perfection, but progress, right?
It really helps me to plan out all our meals. We don’t eat all of these because there are usually leftovers at a point or two during the week that I substitute when available. But at least this way I have a plan and can prepare or plan for breakfast as part of my evening routine (like for the Amish Baked Oatmeal). When I have a plan I am way less tempted to overeat because I know I am going to have something good and not just empty calories and I’m less tempted to graze because I never sat down for a full meal. That was a win for the week and I’ll keep doing it for next week too.
It was also extremely helpful to plan my errands and to-dos for the week, spreading them out and marking them down ahead of time. That really helped keep my days from being crammed or empty.
I then each evening I’d prepare my next day’s page referring back to my week plan each evening.
Speaking of evening routine, I have been working on and changing my evening routine for years. As the boys grew, as activities and commitments changed, my evening routine changed to match. Here’s an earlier routine:
and my current routine:
Need some inspiration?
I LOVE watching how other people do things to get inspired and motivated! Here are a few evening routines that are simple, or customizable, or right after dinner (she also has her evening routine here).
And over on FLYlady’s site, there are a bunch of evening routines for a slew of different life seasons, like single parents, homeschool families, working outside the home families, preschool age children, teenagers, etc.
The best, however is watching people’s evening routines. It’s like a good before and after video. YouTube has tons including this sweet lady (love her videos!), this lady from Denmark who has some great tips, and this mom with younger kids has a quick evening routine, and finally here’s a one hour evening routine.
The main thing to do to be successful, however, is start off SMALL. If you’ve never done an evening routine, start with just adding one thing. FLYlady suggests clearing out the sink. Keeping your sink shined really does make a world of difference and is a do-able habit to start off with.
If you have an evening routine, could you share below? We’d all love to hear!