You know I recorded an episode recently about self-care and being a role model to others when it comes to self-care. I mentioned routines as a way of ensuring you are taking care of yourself and as you know, I regularly talk about my morning routine. I teach my clients about a solid morning routine and having a win to carry forward into the workday. But it struck me yesterday that I haven’t yet talked about an evening routine! What is your evening routine?
Do you have one? You know, we can work hard to create a morning routine, we can work diligently to keep our calendars on track and when we end the workday, we feel amazing. Then, we shift ourselves to our families, our spouses, and what an ideal evening should be and if that isn’t up to par, we feel like the entire day has been wrecked. Isn’t it amazing how that happens? All of that work was negated by a crazy evening.
Today I want to talk about two pieces of your evening routine.
First, I want you to create an evening routine. Now, it doesn’t have to be set in stone. I like spontaneity in my life just like the next girl. So remember, you don’t have to map out each detail. You simply need to have some times and some overarching activities you want to do. For us, it’s dinner together around 6pm. It is an evening walk in the neighborhood after dinner. It’s time spent with the kids. It’s bedtime for the kids, or at least in their room time until they go to bed, at a set time so we can have adult time together to talk about our day, etc. So as you can see, I’m not super specific about what I will do in that time slot, only that I have that time dedicated to those events, because those events matter to me and to my family.
Second, don’t let your workday trickle into your evening routine. Your evening routine needs to force you to end your workday. And yes, that is the point. You have worked enough. If your to-do list had 15 things and you only got 5 done, realize 15 is too much. You don’t need to sacrifice your evening to get it done. Do you need to feel fulfilled, remember? Your evening time is part of that fulfillment process for you, just like it is for me. I want and need that family time. It’s part of how I have defined my Legendary Life. So I have to stop letting work trickle into that family time if I am letting it.
Now, will fires happen from time to time? Yes, but deal with the fire, contain it, and move on. Don’t let 5 minutes of business insanity derail your evening routine. Get it back on track and keep going.
Sit down and create your evening routine today!
Be Legendary!