The start of the new year is about setting goals for yourself and your family. Regardless of the goals you set for the new year, organization and routine plays a big role in whether you meet your yearly goals.
Take losing weight for instance, if you don't have an organized plan of action and create a routine of exercise and healthy eating, it will be difficult to meet your goal. Therefore, one of the best ways to ensure you are meeting your goals for the day or the week is by setting nightly routines.
Creating structure and organization to your evenings allows you to be more productive the next day and meet your goals. It also helps create consistency for your family.
Why?
There are so many benefits to creating an organized nightly routine.
Allows you to set priorities for the next day.
Creates more productive mornings.
Provides a more calming evening because family members know what to expect.
Creates consistency.
For me, the most important benefit is how setting a nightly routine helps make my mornings so much more productive. This is crucial with families with multiple children needing to get to school on time and parents needing to get to work.
By incorporating these nightly routines, we are able to keep the declutter to a minimum in our homes and stay on top of the organization.
Tips for Success
Before giving you my 5 tips for improving your nightly routine, I want to first say how these can be customized to your family. The importance is that you are striving to focus on an organized life and improve productivity the following day by implementing routines.
Baby Steps
Don't attempt to implement all of these strategies at once. Start with one routine and implement it for a week. Then incorporate another nightly routine until you are able to have a routine that works for you and your family. After creating a routine that you love, you will be on your way to meeting any goals you have set for yourself!

Write it down!
I can not stress enough the importance of writing down your ideal nightly routine. Write it in your journal or planner. Post in somewhere you can see it each day. Writing it down makes the routines and goals tangible.
Inform your Family
Make your family apart of your routine. Help them see the value of creating a routine and living a more organized life. Plus it's always more fun to work together!
My 5 Nightly Routines
1. 10 - 15 Minute Tidy

This is a really simple task that can be completed each night to make your mornings so much more simple. But I would be lying if I said this was easy. I've often said this is the one task/routine I have an internal battle with myself.
There is a caveat to this routine... It is so much easier to accomplish when you have a decluttered home and everything has a place. All family members will be able to help because they know where everything goes, and you won't have to micromanage the routine. Plus you will have less items to tidy at the end of the night!
2. Set Out Items for the Next Day

For our family this includes getting my coffee pot ready, picking out the kids' clothes (including socks, shoes, and accessories), laying out my workout clothes, and having backpacks packed and hanging on their hooks.
For your family, it may include setting out the stuff to make tea or getting all of the sport equipment loaded in the car or placed by the door. You may also be a family who packs lunches and therefore needs to get in the routine of packing lunches the night before.
Make a list of all the things you need to have prepped for the next day so there is nothing that is forgotten. As you develop the routine, you will rely on the list less because the routine becomes habit.
3. Start a task for the next day

This routine can be customized for your needs. We have a large family, so doing dishes and laundry is a priority each day.
Therefore, I start a load of laundry each night. This task sets me up for the next day. When I wake up, I will transfer the load to the dryer, then fold by lunch. If you work, fold once you get home. Sometimes we may have to wash an extra load during the day (weekends preferably) for sheets or blankets.
Another task is to turn the dishwasher on before going to bed. The dishes will be ready to put away the next morning. You will have the luxury of waking up to a kitchen that is clean and ready for breakfast.
4. Organize the Next Day - list priorities and goals.
This has been a new routine I've worked to implement in 2024. It hasn't been perfect, but has been so helpful when I have taken the time to complete.

I have heard on so many podcasts and read in books or articles to do a top 3 list on goals to focus on within a day. This has been life-changing for me! Therefore, I strive to sit down the night before and list out the 3 goals I have for the next day. Then I can mentally map out when I will be able to accomplish those goals the next day.
5. Family Time
This is why I strive to create a nightly routine and maintain an organized, decluttered home. Family is so important. When my house was in chaos, I spent my entire time cleaning because I had so much stuff to manage. It wasn't until I started decluttering and creating systems in my home that tidying and cleaning started to become a quicker process giving me more time to spend with family.

Simple ways I incorporate family time most nights is by reading, playing a quick game, or just relaxing together after a long day. How does this improve my productivity the next day? I feel refreshed and rejuvenated from spending that time with my family. I cannot recommend this final routine enough!
Let me know in the comments the nightly routines that improve your productivity!
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