If you get everything sorted the night before........

[confusedlots]

....then what time do you actually sit down and have a few moments to relax? Tomorrow the kids are starting back at breakfast club and I'm working so we'll have an earlier start than we did the past couple of days. I'm determined not to be running round frantically in the mornings trying to find things which usually ends up in us all being late and and me being stressed.

So tonight I set out my work clothes and the kids uniforms, made sure their bag was ready for after school, prepped lunches as much as I could, made sure my work bag was ready, showered and washed and dried my hair. Now I feel exhausted and like I've spent the whole evening just preparing for tomorrow! Surely people who live like this normally and are much more organised than me don't spend so much time just getting stuff organised for the next day??

I guess we all have different routines/standards and levels of organisation

So for example from your list:

setting out mine and kids’ clothes would be a maximum of 2 minutes per person. (Whereas some people I guess would realise they had lost items, need to wash or iron something etc)

Bag ready for school - 5 minutes maximum per bag. Very little changes day to day and no paper letters any more.

Work bag ditto, very little to change/add

Lunches - 5 minutes maximum per person but I am organised with shopping so nothing to buy. Plus keep it simple - such as sandwich, fresh fruit, snack. all in fridge or lunch bags depending on item, ready to assemble in morning

shower/wash hair I wouldn’t do at night unless I really needed a wash before bed in which case very quick shower. I wash hair most mornings as it is quicker than washing and thoroughly drying night before, and having to untangle in the morning.
my morning routine is coffee (non negotiable) then shower just over 5 minutes including hair. Leave hair to dry naturally whilst sorting other things out, and then finish off last thing with dryer.

Also when the dc were small I had them on school dinners mostly.
and made sure enough uniform washed for the week ahead
i work shifts so spend time on days off making sure laundry, shopping and basics are sorted.

All of those things would probably take me an hour maximum. That leaves plenty of time to sit down for a couple of hours once DC are sent upstairs for the evening.

I do all uniforms on a Sunday for the full week, it usually takes about 45 minutes depending if things need ironing but it's worth it not to think about it every night!

I do the packed lunches and shove snacks in bags whilst I'm waiting for dinner to cook the night before which usually only takes 10-15 mins as it's just sandwich/fruit/crisps etc nothing fancy.

We sit down around 10/10.30

After dinner around 6/6.30
Wash and dry up
Baths ,story bed.

Then dh and i have our shower or bath, then teen has shower, spray and Wipe round bathroom otherwise goes damp. Its shit ventilation

Tidy toy room. Sweep or hoover. (No Point doing b4 dinner with toddler)

Uniform out. Pack Bags. Make Lunches.
Normally there something else that needs doing, paperwork ( we own a business so often only time to do that is when kids in bed)
Then cuppa and bit of tv.

Jobs are between us

I try to keep my items ready from the previous day, together so if I'm late, it's all together for what I need.

It doesn't take me long. Even blow drying my hair is max 15mins which I don't do if I'm just WFH.

The only prep for tomorrow I did tonight is making ds2 pack lunch. Tomorrow the kids will get their own clothes out of designated spots in cupboards, I will fill water bottles and get ds2 to take his pack lunch. Not a lot to do.

I went out to swim at about 7 tonight so had evening to myself from then.

All uniform ironed on a Sunday for the week, whilst dinner is cooking I make a packed lunch for DH, sort out school bags, wash and fill water bottles , lay out underwear and socks for the younger children. I then listen to reading, check spellings. After dinner whilst DH supervises bath time I tidy kitchen, wipe work tops, hoover floor and a quick mop. Bed time is done by 7.30 for youngest , eldest DS reads or watches tv in his room until 8.30. DH and are I sat down chilling from 8 at the latest. 10ish I run a bath and lay out my clothes whilst it running. DH has a shower as soon as he gets home from work.

I suppose it's about deciding whether you want to do the faff/prep/organisation in the evening or the morning. It'll always take as long as it takes (unless there are things you can cut out or change to save time).

I aspire to be a true 'evening organiser' but with two young children the lure of down time (or simply an early night) tends to take over.

What does really help when I do it (I'm trying to form the habit but I'm not quite there yet), is sorting out (replenishing, etc.) the changing/nursery/'day trip' bags as soon as possible after getting in the door. This means that it doesn't become 'a big chore to do later' and it's easy to just add a water bottle and/or sandwich the following day. You could do the same with school uniform/bags and make each child responsible for sorting their bag and uniform for the next day (while you supervise as necessary) as soon as they're in the door.

The other thing is to remember is that tasks often expand to fill the time you allocate... things probably take less time in the morning because you have a deadline for leaving the house. Try giving yourself a deadline/time slot and see whether that helps!

Everything onepiece said.

Most of what you said I wouldn't consider "a job" as such.
For example, my work bag is "ready" as I've not taken anything out of it since getting home today.
If your dc are starting back at breakfast club the younger one must be at least 5, so why do you need to 'lay out their clothes' ? When it comes back from the wash, get them to put all their uniform items into one deep drawer or large box, then each morning they just put on clothes from the uniform box. A Yr1 (or above) child knows what they need to wear and it is all there in front of them - no searching.
Clothes isn't something that really takes time unless you are off to a wedding or something - it's just part of getting undressed / ready for bed - do I put those trousers in the wash or are there more days' wear in them typle fraction of a second thought.
In terms of having your shower / washing your hair, that takes the same length of time whether you do it in the morning or evening - just personal choice really. If you are more of a morning person, do it then. I prefer an extra 10mins sleep in the morning - we are all different.

I work full-time, take kids to swimming/dancing/sports, cook dinner, sort lunches/clothing/bags etc then sit down and do 1-2 hours of my own work. Hence the fact I am on MN at 12.30 at night!

I’m a run around every morning like a headless chicken mum. I vow everynight to be more organised but I work as a cleaner and just can’t be arsed on an evening 😂. I’m a single mum and don’t run a tight ship at all although the houses I clean are immaculate

I think all new routines are time consuming at first. You need to carry on until it becomes a habit and you are doing it without thinking, and much quicker than before.

My kids are a little older (9 and 12) so I don’t need to do things like lay out clothes as they just get themselves ready.
On Sunday I put together the “week plan” which sets out what they need every day (instruments, swimming stuff etc) and their ironing gets done.
When we get home from school they empty bags and get their things ready for the next day (checking the list). I then make lunch apart from sandwiches while dinner is cooking. That’s it really. I shower in the morning and make sandwiches.
Kids get ready and are in bed by around 8.30, I have a tidy up and wipe down, put a wash on and sit down around 9, go to bed around 10.30.

Having five of each school uniform item (at the beginning of the school year anyway!) And having it all washed, dried and ready on the Sunday. I iron each night which takes five minutes and then lay it out in the bedroom for him, shoes, socks underwear included. Usually aim to have my stuff laid out ready too.

Free school dinners so not got the faff of lunch boxes anymore (for the time being!).

Five labelled water bottles and make sure reading folder is in the bag and any letters taken out, they get put on the fridge.

He had a bath at night and then just a flannel face and bum wash in the morning before he cleans his teeth.

No telly or tablet until everything at breakfast or until he ready and has done his reading.

I try and keep a few pounds coins/fifty pence's in a secret spot in case of "your child needs £3.50 for xyz by 9am tomorrow" texts, with a pack of mini envelopes.

How old are kids?

Ours (7 and 10) get their own uniform ready as soon as they change when they get in.

Ditto bags.

We sit down about 9pm

I do it in the evening but it’s only for my 18 month old and myself and I guess she has earlier bed time than a school child ! So I’m probably able to do it a bit earlier

but I doesn’t take too long - I found having a good routine in general makes this easier - so we batch cook on a Sunday and now the freezer has lots of different frozen dinners in there and in the we never cook from scratch in the week anymore after work as it takes too long - we just reheat leftovers! One of us in charge of a load of laundry a day and the one who isn’t doing bath and bed for child quickly packs the nursery bag and leaves tomorrows clothes out!

I pack my lunch for work after dinner and we clean up and then we are usually sat down by 8/8.30!

i think you’ll get better at it and it will be quicker then

Try and do things as you go along, and get the kids to do as much as possible eg empty their lunch bags, wipe them and leave them out on the worktop for the next day. They can get their uniform out too.

Also don't put any uniform away that you wash during the week. Just leave it on the back of a chair or on a hanger on a wardrobe door handle for the next day.

Like write their reading records as soon as they have read and leave book and record at the top of the stairs.

I check their backpacks as soon as they get home from school and do letters etc. They always have a non perishable snack (crisps, cereal bar etc) so that goes in the bag then and I refill water bottles then. Mine now have school dinners yay, but previously I made packed lunches either while I was making dinner or while cleaning up after and had them all ready in fridge along with snack and water bottle. Just put in bag in the morning. I’d also do DH lunch, but he mostly wfh now. I don’t miss packed lunches!

Uniform I’ve showed them what to do and they get themselves ready on a morning. I don’t lay out specific clothes for each day but I do make sure there are enough, so 5 polos on a Sunday and I do a midweek wash for jumpers and trousers. My 4 year old does need some supervision to make sure she wears underwear etc, but 7 year old is fine and had been for a good year now.

I usually shower and wash my hair on an evening, let it air dry. Then I just run straighteners over it for 2 min on a morning. I kind of consider that part of my down time though. DH and I usually sit down to watch tv around 9/9.30pm. We aren’t early birds though and don’t get up before 7.

My work bag doesn’t really change. Keys stay in it so I’m not running round hunting for them. Work clothes don’t require much thought thankfully. Again some minor planning on a weekend to ensure I have enough outfits for the week. You’ll get into the routine of it!

Anything specific needed for the morning gets put right by the door as soon as I remember. Sometimes in the car if that’s appropriate - cos I won’t remember at 8.40 when I’m in full on shouting get your shoes on for the third time mode.

9pm at the latest. I don't have to do all of that now, so it's more like 7pm or maybe 8pm. But when there was a lot to do in the evenings with four children, dogs, cats, rabbits ... 9pm was the latest unless I'd had a parents' eve or something that meant later bedtimes for everyone.

I do two or three days sarnies at once and leave in fridge. Makes life easier. And I make them same time as cooking tea.

I've just about managed to streamline it. I don't prep clothes the night before, and instead I keep the flow of washing through the machine so that clean clothes/uniform are always available in their usual places. I used to be terrible with this and would always wake up to find we had no clean socks, no clean shirts, etc.

DS has school dinners and his school bag is minimal. My bag doesn't change. I check bags on a Sunday night and then we're generally set for the week.

I keep bits for lunch and snacks at the office which I usually buy on the weekend, so it means my food is there and there's no prep the night before.

My hair doesn't need washing often, maybe twice a week. So that's never too much of an issue.

I get home at 6.30. We're usually sat down and relaxing for the evening by 8.

I always get everything ready the night before. But unlike you it doesn't feel like a trial. It takes a few minutes, 5 or 6 max. I do it straight after dinner at say 6.30pm, having just put the dishwasher on. I can then sit down and MN for say 2.5 hrs whilst Dh watched champions league football (which I quite like too). And I have tonnes of time, before going to bed. I think you're viewing it all wrong.