I am not one of those people who has a perfectly organized nighttime routine.
There are no matching baskets involved. I’m not prepping beautiful overnight oats for everyone, laying out coordinated outfits, or spending an hour resetting my entire house before I go to bed.
But there are a handful of things I do almost every night that make the next morning SO much easier.
Over the years, I’ve figured out that our mornings go much better when there are fewer decisions to make and fewer things to find.
Because nobody needs to be searching for a school badge, a missing shoe, or a permission slip when we’re supposed to be walking out the door.
So these are the things I do every night to make tomorrow easier. Nothing fancy. Just little things that make our mornings run a whole lot smoother.
1. I Run the Dishwasher and Clean the Kitchen
This is probably one of the biggest ones for me.
I run the dishwasher at night and try to get the kitchen cleaned up before I go to bed.
Do I always want to?
Absolutely not.
But waking up to a sink full of dishes immediately makes the morning feel more chaotic to me. I’d much rather walk into a reasonably clean kitchen and start fresh.
It doesn’t have to be spotless. I just want it clean enough that yesterday isn’t waiting for me when I wake up.
2. I Set the Coffee to Start Automatically
This one is technically a gift from nighttime me to morning me.
I get the coffee ready and set it to brew at a certain time.
There is something wonderful about walking into the kitchen and having coffee already waiting.
One less thing to do.
And possibly the most important thing. Ha!
3. I Pick Up the House as Best I Can
Notice I said as best I can.
I’m not doing a full-house cleaning every night. I just try to put things back where they belong, straighten up the main areas, and make the house feel a little less chaotic.
Even ten minutes makes a difference.
I’d much rather wake up to a mostly picked-up house than immediately see everything I didn’t get done the day before.
4. I Check the Calendar
This is a big one because I really don’t like surprises in the morning.
Before bed, I check the calendar to make sure nothing has somehow snuck up on me.
Appointments, school things, soccer, somewhere someone needs to be, or anything else that could completely change our normal routine.
I also use reminders for when everyone needs to be awake, ready, and out the door. That way, I don’t have to keep the entire morning schedule in my head.
Basically, I let my phone remember things so my brain doesn’t have to.
5. I Check the Weather
I especially do this during the fall and spring because the weather can be all over the place.
Is it going to be cold?
Warm?
Rainy?
Some combination of all three in the same day?
Checking the weather the night before helps me figure out clothes and whether we need jackets or anything else before we’re already trying to leave.
6. I Get Clothes Ready
Austin’s clothes and shoes are picked out the night before.
No decisions.
That’s the goal.
The fewer choices anyone has to make in the morning, the better.
I also try to get my own clothes ready, and I make sure everyone has whatever clean clothes they need for the next day. This is especially important when uniforms are involved.
There are few things worse than remembering you need a specific uniform when it’s sitting at the bottom of the laundry hamper.
7. I Get Austin’s School Stuff Completely Ready
After homework is finished, we get Austin’s bag ready for the next day.
Homework goes back in.
Books go in.
Permission slips go in.
Anything else he needs for school goes in.
His snack is packed in his bag, and his water bottle is filled and waiting in the refrigerator.
That way, we’re not trying to remember six different things while also trying to get everyone out the door.
8. I Make Sure Braden Has Everything He Needs
I also make sure Braden has everything ready, especially his school badge.
Because again, the goal here is to avoid the morning scavenger hunt.
If there’s something important that needs to leave the house with one of the boys, I want to know where it is the night before.
However, we cannot simply put everyone’s things by the front door like normal people.
Why?
The dogs.
More specifically, Ruby.
Ruby is a master at zippers and has gotten into more than her fair share of schoolbags. So bags have to be ready, but they also have to be safely stored somewhere that Ruby cannot conduct a full investigation of their contents.
Life with multiple dogs comes with its own organizational system!
Read about our basset hounds here!
9. I Get Soccer Stuff Ready
On soccer days, I also make sure we have whatever we need for practice ready to go, including the water bottle.
Soccer adds another layer to the schedule, so anything I can prepare the night before is one less thing I have to think about the next day.
And again, everything has to be stored somewhere safe from curious basset hounds.
10. We Shower at Night
This is something that makes a HUGE difference in our mornings.
Braden, Austin, and I all shower at night.
That means nobody has to work a shower into the morning schedule. We’re already clean, clothes are already picked out, and we can move on with getting ready.
It’s one of those simple things that saves us a surprising amount of time.
11. I Make Sure Devices Are Charging
Phones, watches, and anything else that needs power get plugged in at night.
I also make sure Austin has his watch because it has an alarm that is supposed to help wake him up.
Does it work?
No.
He turns it off.
But I continue to make sure he has it because I remain hopeful that one glorious morning the alarm will go off, he’ll get up, and this entire system will finally work as intended.
A mom can dream.
12. I Look Over My To-Do List
Before I call it a night, I check my to-do list.
I add things I’ve remembered, remove anything that no longer matters, and rearrange things if my priorities for the next day have changed.
I don’t need every minute of the next day planned. I just like knowing what’s coming and what actually needs my attention.
It helps me go to bed without mentally repeating, “Don’t forget this tomorrow,” seventeen times.
13. I Do a Quick Dog and House Check
With four dogs, there are always a few dog-related things to deal with.
I usually do a quick backyard cleanup at night so we’re starting fresh the next morning.
I also make sure the front porch light is on, and the front door is locked.
Nothing complicated. Just the little end-of-the-day things that tell my brain we’re done for the night.
14. I Let Reminders Handle the Things I Don’t Need to Do Yet
I’ve also learned that not everything needs to be done the night before.
For example, if I need to take something out for dinner the next day, I set a reminder for the morning.
That way, I don’t have to remember it overnight, and I don’t have to do something before it actually needs to be done.
This is probably one of the biggest ways I keep myself organized.
If I can set a reminder instead of relying on myself to magically remember something at exactly the right time, I do.
What I Wish I Did Every Night
Now, if we’re talking about my ideal nighttime routine, I would also prepare some sort of wonderful breakfast for the next morning.
Maybe I’d have homemade muffins waiting.
Or breakfast sandwiches.
Or something nutritious already portioned out and ready to go.
In reality?
There is a lot of flavored oatmeal and sugary cereal happening around here.
And you know what?
I do what I can.
I’ve realized that making mornings easier doesn’t mean I have to prepare absolutely everything. It means figuring out which things cause the most stress in the morning and handling those ahead of time.
For us, that’s clothes, bags, water bottles, schedules, school stuff, soccer stuff, and coffee.
Definitely coffee.
And Then I Try to Leave a Little Time for Me
Once everyone is showered, everything is packed, the kitchen is clean enough, and the house has finally settled down, I try to leave myself a little time to read.
It doesn’t happen every night, and sometimes I’m too tired to make it through more than a few pages. But reading is one of my favorite ways to unwind at the end of the day.
There’s something about finally climbing into bed when everyone else is settled, opening my Kindle, and knowing I don’t have anything else I have to do.
Of course, this is also how “I’ll just read one chapter” occasionally turns into staying up much later than I planned.
So technically, reading may not always make tomorrow easier.
But it makes tonight better, and I think that counts, too.
Making Tomorrow a Little Easier
None of these things are groundbreaking.
That’s actually why I wanted to share them.
My nighttime routine isn’t about having a perfectly organized house or preparing for some picture-perfect morning. It’s about doing a few small things tonight that make tomorrow feel a little less hectic.
Every decision I can make ahead of time is one less decision when we’re tired and trying to get out the door.
Every bag that’s already packed is one less thing someone can forget.
Every reminder I set is one less thing I have to keep floating around in my brain.
And every morning when I walk into a mostly clean kitchen and find coffee already waiting for me, I’m very grateful that nighttime me thought ahead.
Even if Austin still turned off his alarm.