Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2015. The reference to Obama acknowledging that he owned only two types of suit was written in 2015, during his presidency.
Starting the morning productively is easy. Setting up a good routine at night is the key to getting a few things out of the way before morning, so you can focus on what really matters.
After all, if there are people out there efficient enough to get a whole pile of things done before they leave for work and finish all their tasks before noon, surely the rest of us can do it too. Especially if we get a head start by doing some of the next day’s chores before going to bed the night before.
We’re talking about taking control of the next day 30 or 40 minutes before going to sleep, although many people do it right after the working day ends.
Which evening routines make the next day more productive?
Even if your only bedtime routine consists of scrolling through Facebook and other social networks, that doesn’t mean you can’t take the steps needed to make tomorrow a better day. All the steps to make the next day more productive can be done in five minutes. Here are some of them.
1. Plan your three main tasks
Before going to sleep, schedule your three main tasks for the day. Setting up your smartphone before you close your eyes is probably not the most relaxing activity, but you’ll be grateful in the morning when you wake up with a foggy mind and see your three main tasks for the day clearly laid out.
If you’re a professional or a businessperson, having already set and marked out what you need to do the next day will keep you from drifting around wondering what you should be doing.
Leo Babauta, creator of Zen Habits, describes his main tasks as the three things that need to get done today. They are by no means the only things Babauta does that day, but they are the three things he wants to be sure to get done. If you also want to know your priorities when you wake up, schedule them before you go to sleep.
2. Write down all the ideas buzzing around in your head
Sometimes we can’t fall asleep because too many random thoughts and unresolved issues are flowing through our brain. If that sounds familiar and you’re constantly trying to clear your mind before bed, consider gathering all those thoughts in a journal.
What’s more, given the evidence that writing has therapeutic benefits for the body, the process of documenting your thoughts can free your mind to think about other, less stressful things. That way, the next day you can use your brain to come up with new ideas, and your journal to remember any leftover matters that were important yesterday.
3. Check the weather forecast and choose your clothes
The secret of many successful people, including Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama, is wearing the same clothes every day to limit decisions (Obama acknowledged having only two kinds of suit so he didn’t have to decide what to wear). For those who want more variety, though, choosing clothes is something best left ready the night before, so there’s one less decision to make.
The more things you get done before going to bed, the fewer you’ll have to do in the morning. By checking tomorrow’s weather before you turn in, you can save the time you spend in front of the wardrobe in the morning wondering what to wear. And if you’re someone who struggles to get to the gym, having your workout clothes ready makes it more likely that exercising will feel like less of an effort.
4. Tidy up your bag or briefcase
At the start of the week, we usually begin with a bag or briefcase that holds only the essentials. By the end of the week, however, we almost always tend to fill it with useless things such as flyers handed out on the street, receipts and so on, and we often end up wasting time looking for the things that matter.
Do yourself a favour and get rid of the unwanted items in your bag or briefcase. That way, you won’t have to start the day searching for important things under a heap of junk.
See also: Elon Musk’s almost obsessive habits for being more productive
5. Relax with your favourite activity
To start the day with energy, you need to rest well at night. And there’s no better way to relax than spending time on your favourite activity.
Whether it’s reading a book or talking on the phone with a loved one, make the effort to spend at least 30 minutes a day doing what you enjoy. Unwinding from the hustle of the day and giving your mind the rest it deserves makes it more likely that you’ll sleep much better.
Even if your evening routine doesn’t include anything productive, it’s never too late to bring these habits into your life. At the end of the day, a planned nightly ritual will help you take better control of your time and move closer to your long-term lifestyle goals.
See also: 25 habits of successful people
Featured image: Waldo Jaquith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
