Nightly Reset

Sometimes a list of “to do’s” hanging over your head interferes with your rest. If this applies to you, you might find a nightly reset to be helpful.

Start with the home and physical environment around you. Empty the sink. Pack your lunch for the next day. Fill up your water bottle. Check whether you need to rotate any laundry. Generally, prepare your home to be a fresh slate for the morning. You know which specific things you need to do to help you feel settled and to make the morning run smoothly, so you can adjust your own nightly reset accordingly. And by the way, this is not a do-by-yourself thing. If you are a parent, involve your children. They can get their own environment tidy before they go to bed. Have them find their school papers, shoes, and backpacks. They can lay out their clothes and pack their lunches too.

Internal Reset

Next, turn to your nightly reset to what’s inside of you. Are there a million tasks floating around in your head? Grab a piece of paper or a notebook and brain dump anything you think you need to remember onto it. If there is nothing you feel you need to write down, wonderful! Don’t by any means feel obligated to create a to do list for yourself—this is simply an opportunity to make space in your head. Whatever you write down, let it go from your brain. You don’t have to remember it anymore. You can organize that brain dump tomorrow when your mind is fresh, and the day is new.

And won’t it be nice to wake up to a clean sink with no dirty dishes?