This One Daily Habit Could Change Your Entire Day

Do you feel like you’re running around all day frantically cleaning and trying to keep up with everything that going on –only to get to the end of the day with more piles and more to clean up? It’s incredibly discouraging to think you haven’t gotten anywhere despite all your efforts. The solution to this? Build up a daily habit.

Trust me, building up daily habits helped me overcome so much anxiety about all the things I had to do …work, taking care of my daughter, and homemaking. I like to think of daily habits as ways to automate or put my home on autopilot.

It’s SO nice.

There’s one daily habit that I use that can change how your entire day will go, and that’s the nightly reset.

This isn’t a new idea. In fact, you could probably find hundreds of blog posts and podcasts on it. But it’s because it works. 

Imagine walking into your kitchen in the morning by shiny, pile-free counters, a sparkling, empty sink, and glimmering, crumb-free floors.

That’s how I start my morning, and it all begins with the nightly reset.

Why build a daily habit of a nightly reset?

A nightly reset gets your home set up and ready for whatever happens the next day. It’s like hitting reset on a video game …you’re back at the beginning and ready to start fresh with all your lives in order. (I only played video games as a kid, but this is what I think of when I think of a “reset.”)

No matter what happened during the day, if you can get your home reset into normal order, your next day will be that much more successful.

What’s in a nightly reset?

Every person could have a different way to reset her home each night. Here’s what mine includes:

• Clear surfaces of piles or things that don’t belong.
• Wipe kitchen counters.
• Wash dishes, put them in the dishwasher, and set it to run.
• Pick up stray items around the house and return them where they belong.
• Prep anything we need to get out of the house the next morning.

This doesn’t have to take long to do. My reset usually only takes 10-15 minutes. But this makes a huge difference in how I feel in the morning.

I don’t have to start the day looking at all the chores that need to be done in the kitchen. I don’t have to wonder if we have enough clean dishes for the day. Or try to battle piles or search for the things we need before we leave in the morning.

I’m free to use my morning the way I want to use it instead of worrying and stressing about the state of the house.

Start your nightly reset habit

If you want to begin a nightly reset but you’re not sure where to start, start small and start easy. Begin with having all the dishes done and running the dishwasher. Or begin by clearing your family drop zone every night. 

And if you’re having trouble keeping up the habit because you’re tired or don’t think you have time, think about how you’ll feel later as a result of taking action now. (I make it a rule to be courteous to my future self.)

If you need ideas for what to include in your nightly reset, download this free 10-Minute Tidy Checklist.