3 Easy habits to help you be prepared and organized for tomorrow

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

In order to make tomorrow run smoothly, it’s important to build good habits today. Being organized is about more than keeping your space tidy; it’s also about optimizing your time and energy so that you never have to feel rushed. Here are 3 easy habits you can start practicing tonight to help you be prepared and organized for tomorrow!

1. Pick your outfit. Who remembers doing this when you were 6 because you were so excited about your first day of school? It’s a great habit to harness because it’s easy to do and having an outfit ready the night before gives you a head start in the morning.
   
   Picking an outfit the night before means that you have no decisions to make when you wake up; you can simply jump in the shower, grab that outfit, and off you go! You can cut your preparation time virtually in half. No more spending 10 minutes staring at your closet going, “What should I wear?”,“Is my blue sweater clean?”, or “Where are my grey pants?” And since you won’t be rushing, you will have extra time to sleep in the morning. How great is that?
   
   
   
2. Make your lunch.  This one’s a lifehack for champs! Let’s be honest - how many of us have eaten lunch out because we couldn’t be bothered to make ourselves a lunch in the morning? No problem - do it the night before and all you have to do in the morning is pack your leftovers or whatever you’ve prepared. My mom taught me to batch cook and make enough for two or three days’ worth of lunches so that I wouldn’t have to be cooking constantly. The options are endless, especially with Google on your side. Making your lunch in advance helps you save time and it saves you money. If you spend $10 on lunch 5 days a week, that’s a whopping $50 that can go a long way at the grocery store. All you have to do is plan in advance!
   
   Another benefit of this habit is that it gives you control over what you are eating. When I don’t pack a lunch, I’m usually tempted to buy food that is not particularly healthy, so then my energy is not where I need it to be and I end up buying lunch some more. Making your own lunch is a great way of staying on top of things.
   
   
   
3. Go to bed on time. It’s so easy to get distracted by Netflix, your phone, emails from work, the kids, the news… the list goes on and on. Time flies and suddenly it’s 1 am. How did that happen?!
   
   One of the techniques I use to make sure I go to bed at a reasonable hour is to schedule my bedtime into my phone’s calendar with an alarm since it’s highly likely I will be near or on my phone around the time I need to go to bed. My bedtime is 10 pm, so I set my alarm for 9:30 pm, which gives me 30 minutes to prepare and tells my brain,“It’s time to wind down.” I start preparing myself for bed by washing my face, brushing my teeth, and doing habits 1 and 2. When I get to my bed, I am ready to sleep. In the morning I feel more rested, I have more energy to be productive, and am in a way better mood.

Nobody is perfect and sometimes it’s hard to follow or make new habits. Try implementing the above habits one at a time. What habits do you have that help you get prepared for the following day?

I would love to hear from you!