Are you exhausted at the end of the day and the absolute last thing you want to do is clean more? I have been there (in fact I experienced this literally tonight). You most likely have been cleaning constantly from the moment you became a parent. First burp cloths and onesies, then teethers and sippy cups, next came the big plastic toys that took over your house and maybe you’re like me where now its loose papers, broken crayons, and dried yogurt stuck on the table. And that doesn’t even include the never ending dishes and laundry. I’m exhausted thinking about it! But I also have a super simple evening reset routine that will set future you up for success and it with NOT have you cleaning all night.

I heard KC Davis say it best on a podcast: housework is never ending. Literally there is always something to be done. Something to dust, wipe, sweep, vacuum, scrub, shine, spray, you name it! My evening routine is NOT meant to be a cleaning marathon or an elbow grease contest. This is not meant to make you feel overwhelmed or like this is one more task to get through. This routine is all about setting you up for success the next morning and preventing the clutter/life messiness from accumulating over the course of the week. This is just a daily maintenance to reset your home so it is functional and relatively tidy. And if you’re starting from a place of feeling incredibly overwhelmed in your house and want to start decluttering, check out this post about my trash day decluttering hack.

Mornings with kids are usually hectic. Getting everyone up and dressed , teeth brushed, breakfast made, eaten and cleaned up before running out the door to school or work. Whew. It’s physically, spiritually and emotionally exhausting! When you wake up to a dirty kitchen, crumbs on the floor or a toy store in your family room, you are certainly not feeling encouraged and excited for the day. An evening routine is literally the first part of creating a better morning routine for yourself and your family. The evening reset is the building block for a calm morning. You are locating items you will need in the morning and setting up your future. Think of it as a gift to future you.

My perpetual goal is to wake up everyday before my kids and have me time. Some days this happens and other days this doesn’t. On those days I do wake up extra early, I want to do something for me. Read a book, savor my coffee, listen to a podcast, work on this blog. I don’t want to wake up and start cleaning immediately. Once you start doing this evening routine and it becomes a habit you won’t want to skip it. It truly makes the next morning feel more manageable and sets your day up well.

1. Empty the sink of dishes (ok I know this is obvious and trite but it really makes a difference especially with the visual clutter!)
2. Sweep the floor in your kitchen and dining area. These are the most likely places to have crumbs lurking and this will be a very high yield sweep! If you have a robotic vacuum have it sweet while you do dishes!
3. If you have a landing space by your front door, do a literal 2 minute tidy. The goal here is to make sure coats are hung up, shoes in their spots, backpacks ready to go, outdoor accessories (hats, gloves, etc) are ready to be used, and that random stuff gets returned to its home. This is about setting yourself up for success tomorrow morning. Do not spend a lot of time deep cleaning or attempting to declutter right now especially if this is the family drop zone. Goal for this space is function not organized perfection. Actually, that is my goal with my entire house!
4. I have a no-think bin where I will put papers that I am not ready to go through now but want to eventually sort/declutter. This is usually the kids artwork and school projects. I have a small wicker basket I keep inside of an Ikea cabinet that I will put papers in and go through 1-2 days a week. It really reduces decision fatigue when I am already exhausted and it means I can grab papers quickly and store them out of sight without spending mental energy late at night.
5. Grab items that don’t belong and put them in a laundry basket. Things like hair ties, toys, random socks, a barbie shoe. If you have the time and energy put them away. If not move them to a different room to be put away at a time when you have the capacity to do that. This is removing the clutter build up and giving you control over your space. I try to have my downstairs living area (family room and kitchen) to be as clear from toys as possible. If your house layout does not support this I highly recommend investing in a big bin or Ikea Trofast that you can put things in large groups to quickly tidy up.
6. If you put things on the steps to go upstairs, spend 2 minutes and put them where they belong. Yes, it’s annoying but we are setting future you up for success. You won’t want to see that early tomorrow morning.
7. “Make” your couch the same way you would make you bed in the morning. Pillows in correct positions and blankets (if you have them) folded or put in a basket.

I aim to keep this to 20-30 minutes. Some nights it’s even less especially if dinner is light on plates and my husband or I can do the dishes while the other gets the kids ready for bed. Moving our toys upstairs to a designated playroom has helped with toy clutter 1,000,000%. I DO NOT reset the playroom every night. I try to have my kids do that at the end of the day. It is absolutely not instagram worthy after they clean it but it is functional and they are learning to take care of a shared space.

Ok, I get it. Life is unpredictable always, but especially with little kids. This routine is meant to be quick and simple. Nothing to overthink. And nothing that needs to be perfect. This is a maintenance reset to prevent massive clutter/crumb/dish accumulation throughout the week. You are spending 20ish minutes per night so you don’t need to spend hours on the weekend doing an entire house reset.

When life is extra lifey, we skip aspects of this routine. If I have a pot or bowl that needs to soak I will leave that overnight and not spend extra time scrubbing that item before bed. There are times when the kitchen piece is done but the papers and drop zone have not been touched. If it’s a Friday night and there is no school tomorrow and you are completely zapped from the week maybe that is the time to reset everything except the coat and backpack area. You really can tweak this to what works best for you. I have found that after consistently doing this you won’t want to skip it because it really will set you up for success!

Have you tried this simple evening reset? How did it go?

Wishing you a moment of peace and calm today!