Getting Back on Track: Evening Routine

I mentioned here that I am joining Crystal in her quest to get back on track. Here's my new evening routine and a few pictorial reminders about why I need that routine!

1. Make sure the dishes are done and any cooking items are put away.
Hi. Here's my kitchen right now. You'll note the undone dishes, the crockpot shell sitting there, the poppy seeds from my latest bread endeavor, and the library's copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day camping out. Waking up to a messy kitchen is not a good way to start my day off right, and I can clean up this mess in less than ten minutes- I just have to do it!


2. Clear off and wipe down the kitchen table before bed.
Flylady calls areas that stuff seems to congregate "hot spots." My kitchen table is one of my major hot spots! We dump the mail there, I do work here (even though I should be doing it at my desk...more on that later on when I tackle getting a working from home routine going!) and...stuff...just seems to collect there. Waking up to a messy kitchen and then having to shove junk aside to have a place to eat breakfast does not make for a peaceful morning. For somebody who claims to hate clutter, I seem to have a lot of it!

3. Hang up clothes and put away shoes...

..and pick up general clutter.

I have a bad habit of folding up clothes and then putting them wherever, and it's cluttering up our small bedroom. Our PJ's always seem to end up on the floor and not under our pillows when I make the bed. (One thing I am pretty consistent at at least!) We also read the paper in bed on the weekends, but the advertisements always pile up somewhere in our bedroom, rather than in the recycling bin where they belong. I want our bedroom to be a restful and peaceful sanctuary, not a clutter barn, so I'm going to make it part of my routine to do a general pick up each evening.

4. If I'm teaching the next morning- pack my teaching bag and lay out clothes. I've frantically ironed things in my bathrobe while the clock ticked away more times than I care to admit, and I've gotten to school without important papers a few times as well. Doing these things will eliminate this stress from my life.

5. If I'm doing a crockpot breakfast, be sure to start it before we to to bed! If I'm having a crockpot dinner the next day, have everything cut up and in the crock insert so I can just start it tomorrow.

I'll share my progress (or lack of progress...) later on this week!