A feather on your path - Prepare for tomorrow
- Lou @ Feathered Paths
- Mar 17, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 8
Prepare for tomorrow - so you can relax tonight
The What -
Prepare things the night before you need them to calm your mind before you go to bed. Put your clothes out ready, place your mug by the kettle, pre-prep your breakfast and then go to bed knowing there is nothing more you need to do today.
The Why -
How many times have you been led in bed with a massive to do list for tomorrow whirring round your head and thinking "Oh shitake mushrooms, I forgot to.... and I won't have time to.... and I really wish I didn't have to....and why did I even agree to that? Oh lordy, I have so much to do tomorrow!"
And now you will be lucky if you manage to drop off before the sun comes up. It really sucks huh?!
So let's instead put achieving a calm mind first and then everything else will follow. There's a rule with this that I find super helpful to follow. The rule is, if it can't be done in 10 minutes, then it shouldn't be done in the morning. Basically aside from the absolutely necessary (of course we have to do some things first thing like eat breakfast and have a shower.) But anything aside from the totally necessary that can't be done in less than 10 minutes should absolutely be done the night before.
This llama aint got no time for drama
So if you're thinking, "I will check my tires for that long drive in the morning" or "of course I can make a full fry up before we have to leave at 10am." Please don't.
You are going to cause yourself a whole world of unnecessary drama to start your day with. Do as much of it as possible the night before. So if that fry up is really important to you then prep it the night before, store it all in the fridge ready to go straight in the pan, in the morning and lay the table before you go to bed.
Now I know how this goes, you've had a long day, you just want to go to bed and like hell are you going to stand in the kitchen chopping mushrooms when the apprentice just started. But if it's important for tomorrow then it's totally worth doing today. And if it isn't that important for tomorrow and a smoothie or some cereal will do fine, then just forget the fry up. Life is short. Sleep for longer instead.
The night before ten minute rule goes for all the usual weekly activities. So if you are likely to change your outfit 7 times in the morning, before going back to the first one, then try them on and choose one tonight. If you usually have a cuppa in the morning, put your cup out ready with a spoon and tea bag in it. If you walk your dog before work, put your pooches collar and lead by the door before you go to bed.
Get to preppin'
Schedule in your 'prepping for tomorrow' time in the evening. I mean, if you were planning to fit it in before you go to work in the morning then surely it's not going to take long to do tonight? And if it does, then thank goodness you didn't leave it until the morning!
There are so many reasons why prepping the night before can have more of an impact on your well-being than you might imagine. Some of the real biggies for me are that it gives me something to do when i'm at my most unsettled in the evening and it calms my mind to know I have some control of tomorrow before it's even begun. It also means going to bed with a brain that's feeling like there's nothing more it needs to do today so it might as well chillax and get some snoozey time.
Your scheduled prepping time can also help you get more balance. It can even go as far as reducing the amount of time you spend in front of a screen and getting your step count up by just spending a half hour less a day on the sofa while you're getting things sorted.
It's also a lot easier if you do your prepping time as soon as you get home from work, if possible.
Serene as a tangerine
Now I know this probably sounds super obvious as a bit of a life hack. Plus you may be thinking what a pain you see this as, to put into practice. But it honestly really surprised me just how much this little change to my routine helped me manage stress and anxiety.
Plus an absolute bonus, it genuinely made my house tidier! Once I started my prepping, I often noticed other things as I was going round the house that I had been 'meaning to get to.'
Yeah - let's be honest, I wasn't going to prioritise getting that little windowsill dusted in the spare room that hardly gets used. At least not until somebody actually needed to stay in it, if I hadn't been doing my 'night before prep' and noticed it. It even made me feel more energised and I enjoyed my evenings far more. It became my end of the work-day routine and helped my mind settle so much after my prep for tomorrow was done. By the time I got to bed I was as serene as a tangerine.
So give the ten minute prepping rule a try tonight. If it's going to take more than ten minutes in the morning and it's not essential to your day, sack it off completely. If it's important, then do as much of it as you can before you go to bed tonight.
Make prepping for tomorrow your priority tonight. Avoid all that morning drama Llama and leave for work in the morning, feeling as serene as a tangerine.
The Who -
This feather was inspired by my parents who have always prepped what they need for their breakfast and morning cuppa the night before.
There's also some helpful articles below with some good tips from others who have felt the same benefits of prepping the night before -
Lou @ Feathered Paths Xx
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