A Case for Starting Your Morning Routine at 9 PM

You already know where I’m going with this. I’ll say it anyway: prepare for your morning self before you go to bed.

I have no business being an advice columnist and I certainly don’t have a dialed in morning routine.

But.

Lately I’ve discovered this great secret that makes my life a hundred times easier and who knows how long it’ll last but I just want to share it with the universe in case there’s some fool out there who hasn’t yet discovered it.

Running the dishwasher before you go to bed, even if the dishwasher isn’t full, saves me a disproportionate amount of time the next day. Even when I’m exhausted, or don’t feel like it, or whatever, if I can spend ten minutes throwing things willy nilly into the dishwasher and turning it on, then I’ve leveled up the next day.

I don’t go so far as to lay out my clothes (let’s not be ridiculous) but I not only run the dishes, but the laundry, too. I make sure my espresso machine is ready to go. I wipe down counters, pick up a few things, and get the girl’s stuff ready for daycare.

I’m not super woman; not every step happens every evening. And I feel like any Instagram mom has already figured out this superb secret (I’ve seen it referred to as “the evening reset”). But on the evenings when I do find it in me to complete all or most of the steps, life is just better the next day.