What little things do you do in the evening before bed (or anytime I guess) which makes life easier later on?

[walkwalk]

What little things do you do now which makes life easier later on?

Particularly if you have young kids/busy lives or chronic illness (I have all...)

Like putting the dishwasher tablet in machine during the day so I don't have to bother walking six steps to the cupboard and back just before bed when I'm lazy knackered.

Fascinating stuff I know...

Hmmm I don't. Which is probably why my house is a mess and I'm run ragged and never catch up with it 😂 I am desperately hoping to turn into the sort of person that does things the night before though! I wish I made the school lunches the night before; hate doing that all bleary eyed and rushed in the morning. I do try and have the kitchen straight before bed, but it doesn't always happen. I am the least conscientious person I know. Let's hope someone organized comes along...

Watching with interest.
Keep thinking that part prepping DCs packed lunch boxes might be a good idea, e.g. putting fruit and biscuit thing in night before, and only messing around with hot food flasks in the morning.

You're joking aren't you? I'm barely organised enough to remember where the bed is I'm so knackered by the time I get to collapse into my out at night

Glad it's not just me. One day, one day...

In a previous life I used to make the sandwiches on Sunday whilst cooking dinner and freeze them, it didn't take long but seemed to save loads of time in the morning.

I set an automatic timed feeder for the cat’s breakfast at the same time as sorting out her dinner. It means 1) I don’t have to wake up so early and 2) I can skip faffing about with cat food first thing in the morning.

Make my packed lunch and put it in the fridge. Fill my water bottle and coffee flask and put them in my work bag by the front door. Put two clean masks in the outside pocket of the bag.
Get tomorrow's dinner out of the freezer and put on a plate next to the cooker.
Go upstairs. Lay out tomorrow's clothes on the chair...
I am useless in the mornings - I need to have EVERYTHING ready the night before.

Honeybobbin nailed it. We are the "up too late doing MN when we should be in bed" crew.

How do you fill your coffee flask before bed @Scarby9 ? The coffee will be all old and cold by tomorrow am.

I've always 'got things ready the night before'
Even before dc, but, in terms of when the dc were little, i'd have the pram bag packed and in the hall the night before, to pick up and take to the childminder on the way out.
Then school bags the same, once they got to that age.

I always get my clothes out the night before.
I used to get lunch box ready the night before - just waiting for the sandwich to go in, in the morning.

I'd prep veg and be all ready to chuck it in the slow cooker in the morning before going out to work.

I've always "put it on the shopping list" when I've taken something out the cupboard to find there is only one left - so I've always got 'stock' in the house and could last quite a while if I couldn't get to the shops one week (snow, illness, or a pandemic!)

I am quite organised in things like I've got hooks by the door, so keys get hung up as you walk in, so I'm not looking for them when I want to go out (same with coat, and gloves live in the pockets of each coat)

Most of this comes from the fact I am definitely a night owl and don't function that well in the mornings, so I always get things ready the night before.

I make lunches for the week on Sunday afternoon for all 3 of us, it is salads, so stays just as fresh made up!
I also prep all the veg for the week and bag it up so when we need it just empty the pre prepared veg into cooking pot of choice!
I have a quick tidy round the living room before bed, any pots in the dishwasher, cushions plumped and blankets pot away.
Meal plan & put on the board so whoever is home first can start tea
Have shopping delivered so I don't have to trail round the supermarket
Have the same stuff to eat on nights when we are all busy, for example, fish on Fridays, pizza on Thursday ( scouts), stir fry on Tuesdays (clubs ), takes pressure of trying to think what to have.
Follow Tomm for cleaning
Wash towels and sheets on same day each week (Tuesday sheets, Wednesday towels.
We drink fresh coffee so I prepare the pot the night before and then just have to turn it on in the morning.

For me it's all these little habits done regularly that take the thought out of running the house and I've done it so long now, it is second nature. Not for everyone but they make my life easier!

Tiny baby steps in organisation, which probably sound like nothing to most people...
Always leave space in dishwasher for dc lunchboxes and put dishwasher on in the evening so lunchboxes are clean and dry in the morning (to avoid having to hand wash and dry them when rushing around)

Try to leave kitchen clean in the evening - washing up done and sides wiped

Write everything into my phone diary - with a reminder set, as soon as any arrangement-appointment is made

Yeah - I'm definitely up too late and posting lame tips in hopes of some proper ones in the morning

Oh yes, I always have a shopping list on the fridge and add to it as and when needed. I have two lists actually because my main shop is Aldi, and then top up what I can't get there in Tesco, so I have two columns.

Wash hair at night to save time in the morning (it's long and is easier to style after a night's sleep too!)

Prepare packed lunches before bed.

Choose clothes for the morning.

Iron essentials while watching TV - takes about 20 mins a couple of times a week and means work clothes are smart and ready throughout week without spending hours ironing.

Have constant lists on the go for food/household items/christmas pressies to buy etc so I can add to them as I go and not have to remember things. If i think of something in the day I text myself- if I dont writes things down, they dont happen! But once noted, it's as good as done and makes life so much easier!

I have an admin list which I quickly review each week as well on the calendar - ie car tax/send bday card etc, always noted a few days in advance of when it needs to happen.

Set my clocks about 5 mins fast to ensure I have a bit of leeway!

Gosh, I sound like Monica. I'm really not, I just would be terrible if I didnt make these quick adjustments!

Oh and I'm a definite night owl, not a morning person

@theonlywayisup33

Honeybobbin nailed it. We are the "up too late doing MN when we should be in bed" crew.

I am definitely part of the 'up too late' crew! Things I do which are non negotiable are... make sure there are clean water bottles for school the next day, double check there is a pair of clean socks and pants for each person in the house, and rotate laundry- empty dryer if I havent already done it at some point during the day, put wet laundry in the dryer, next load of clothes in washer and set all the timers and add powder ready for the morning. I only dry things on the airer if they are delicates, everything else gets tumbled.

I do most of these when I go to work in the office, since we've been wfh I've managed to avoid it. Except prepping ds's lunch for the day afterwards which I do the night before. DH cleans the kitchen up after dinner.

I have a set of upstairs cleaning materials in a basket in the bathroom, and a replica of downstairs stuff in the kitchen cupboard. I'm more inclined to wipe down a mirror or polish over a surface if I've got everything to hand vs losing interest if it means walking up/downstairs 😳. I also keep the 'good hoover' downstairs, and have a shitty wand type affair to do a quick once over stairs and whatnot in between actually hoovering properly. I keep a coat hanger in the bathroom I bung crumpled shirts on when I'm showering vs getting the iron out and the steam helps towards making them look half presentable.

A robot vacuum! It makes you keep the floors tidy so it can do its work, and having hoovered floors makes the house look a lot tidier.

A whiteboard in the kitchen to write shopping lists etc on.

Squeegie and shower spray after every shower to keep limescale and general grub at bay.

(PS I'm not a night owl like some of you 😜 I went to bed at 11 but pregnancy insomnia is with me tonight/this morning!!)

I've bought an over the door hanger with five compartments. On Sunday nights I put all my daughter's nursery outfits in each compartment for Monday to Friday so we don't need to worry about finding clean outfits in the morning. Everything goes in, including vest/socks etc. Really handy especially as I start work early in the morning and it also stops my husband putting her in ridiculous outfits

Always do the lunches for the next day, fill the water bottles, sort the uniforms. This year we got organised with school kit so each boy has 5 polos,,5 trousers, 5 sweatshirts, black socks for 1, grey for the other. And all uniform is kept in a communal drawer unit on the landing rather than in bedrooms. I don't know why this has made a difference but it really has. I do my work bag, keys, lanyard etc every night too.

And I cover my car as soon as I get home so I don't have to scrape, and don't have to drag my carcass out in the cold before bed. Plus park your car as near to the house as possible, you'd be surprised how much less frost you get.

Following with interest!

There are some very organised people here!
But I have 2 questions:-

1. How do you know what you are going to want to wear the next day?
2. How do salads stay fresh if you are prepping them in advance? I've always found that they are soggy after about 24 hours.

My tip is to put everything in it's place as you come in the house, so keys get hung up, then coat off, with gloves and hat in the pocket, then lanyard off and returned to designated pocket of work bag. Empty lunch boxes and flasks go straight into the kitchen.
Then, I try to keep a portion of dinner for lunch the next day, or freeze leftovers in portion sizes.
My favourite tip is a to keep a small washbag hanging up by the washing machine, which is for stray socks found lying around.
Other than that, we now wash each person's clothes separately, so then we don't waste time trying to sort it out and remember which pants belong to whom. That does mean that you have to have sufficient clothes for each person.

A robot vacuum as mentioned above. It means every evening, last thing before we go up to bed dh and I spend 5 mins making sure everything is off the floor as vacuum is scheduled to turn itself on at 7am and it eats or gets stuck on cables/ toys/ bag handle etc if left out.

1. How do you know what you are going to want to wear the next day?

Er, kind of the same process as you would if deciding when you got up in the morning, I presume. Depends on what you are doing that day (smart, casual, fancy, office wear, gardening clothes, uniform of some sort - whatever you will be doing..... and then depending on the weather (I don't tend to get open toed sandals out in January nor boots in August)......then it might be influenced by what is clean (if you don't have many clothes) or what fits (if your size fluctuates)......