I am a Night Owl. I always have a burst of energy before bedtime, so I take advantage of it and use it to simplifying my morning the next day. Packing more into my nighttime routine lets me keep my morning routine short, and my snoozing long. Here are the tasks I do during my simplified nightly routine to better prepare for the weekday day ahead:

• Shower: I wash my hair in the evenings, because my lion’s make takes approximately 40 minutes to blow dry (or 7 hours to air dry) and I am not adding that plus shower time to my morning routine. Instead, I wash it in the early evening and let it air dry for a while before giving in and blow drying it so I don’t have to sleep on a wet pillow.
• Style my hair: If I want my hair curled the next day, I do it before bed the night before and sleep on it (it’s called a gentle wave and it is very in vogue) so I don’t have to wake up any earlier to look chic.
• Make my lunch: I make the same thing for lunch every single day (turkey sandwich, bag of pretzels, and most importantly 2 Oreos) and in the evening I get it prepped and ready to grab out of the fridge in the morning.
• Prepare my medicines: I pop my medicines for the next day into a pill container in my purse so I don’t forget to bring them to work, and I don’t have to use extra time to take them before I leave for work.
• Pick my outfit: I take a cursory look at my closet and decide what I will probably wear the next day, with full knowledge that I will probably wake up and pick leggings and a t-shirt instead.
• Put out my breakfast materials: Every morning I have a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios (and yet I still have high cholesterol) for breakfast. I put my bowl, spoon, and cereal box out on the counter so I don’t have to waste any morning time gathering them from the cabinets. In the morning, every second counts!
• Gather my next-day items: I cannot be running around looking for things in the morning. There is too high of a danger that if I see my bed I will climb back into it. I put everything I need by the door together so I can just grab it and go.
• Leave myself notes: My morning brain does not remember ANYTHING, so I will often tell Siri to remind me about something, or I will stick a post in note to my door handle. For example, I’ll leave notes to take an umbrella, bring extra Oreos, or remind me that I was supposed to leave 15 minutes ago.

What do you do in your nightly routine to prepare for the day ahead?