I’m very late in getting this posted, but this morning, afternoon, and evening just flew by and I finally have a chance to sit down and get this written! That’s life sometimes, isn’t it? Thanks for your patience as I’m not always the most dependable blogger ever. 
I got up at 5:15 a.m. this morning. And I’m thrilled because today I felt really rested and energized when I got up. I’m hopeful that my body is starting to adjust to me being on an early-to-rise schedule again?
My One Nightly Must-Do: Create Tomorrow’s To-Do List
Today’s assignment is about creating a nightly checklist to encourage you to have better mornings. I love this idea and think it can be key to successful mornings.
I shared my evening routine yesterday — which sort of serves as my checklist. But I wanted to share one thing that has really helped me to wake up, jump into my day, and be more productive.
That one simple thing is to create a to-do list the night before. This one small thing makes a world of difference for my day. And I find that I sleep better, too, because I have mentally gone through the next day, thought through all the must-do’s and activities, and have created a plan for the day.
This simple exercise frees up so much space in my brain and truly relaxes me.
How it usually works is that I consult my Google Calendar (aka my “brain”) and see what is on tap for the next day — whether that’s a writing project that’s due, a phone call that must be made, an interview that is scheduled, an errand I need to run, or an activity one of my children has going on.
Once I’ve looked over my day, I then plan out our routine. We have a basic routine we follow everyday, but it varies based upon what needs to be done and what’s going on. So every evening, I write out my plan for the next day — including time blocks of when I plan to do everything.
This has been crucial for me, because it not only helps me go into the day with a Game Plan, but it also helps me to know if I need to bump some things I’d planned to do to another day or delete something I’d hoped to do altogether. I only have 24 hours in a day and planning accordingly instead of trying to cram in 36 hours’ worth of work into the day and then being frustrated and overwhelmed makes a huge difference!
I always try to include two to three hours of Margin Time — time when I don’t have anything scheduled. This is typically from 6-9 p.m. It doesn’t always end up being completely empty, but it allows wiggle room to finish things or catch up on laundry when inevitable interruptions or unexpected things come up throughout the day. It’s my sanity-saver!
