Start With the End in Mind: What Does a Successful Evening Look Like?
I started a review of my content calendar and planning document a few weeks ago.
I have endeavored to do this activity this time of year the last few years. I thought the big picture thinking and planning was a feature of our annual trip to Massachusetts for a weekend long concert event, but we did not attend this year and I still find myself undertaking this process which means it is more likely a response to the shift in season and recommitting to creating high quality content, and finding or MAKING an opportunity to work on that project.
And, I share all of that because it leads into what I want to write about today!
I want to close the loop on a topic that you, my community, requested! Recently, my community was asking about how to get out the door on time, from families with students and also adults who want to make better choices for themselves, as well! We started this conversation about “starting with the end in mind” and with “calm and on-time mornings”. And I say “started” because as I was writing that article and episode, I quickly realized that there was a lot to say about this topic! In transparency, the original article was 8 pages instead of my typical 3-4 pages that turn into a 12-15 minute podcast episode. Yikes.
At the end of that article and podcast episode, I said I would follow up with Part 2, to look at starting with the end in mind for a successful day. And here we are. I feel like along with the changing season, after Back To School, and now the shift to Fall, we can focus on how we want to spend our evenings as the days get darker earlier!
To refresh, a successful morning could be “Arriving at school or work calm and prepared, a few minutes before my scheduled time. Maybe even having a moment or two to collect myself, my thoughts and belongings, before heading inside.”
What are the components here?
Successfully arriving on time or even early
Collecting your thoughts and belongings before heading inside.
Calm and Prepared
As I wrote today’s article, I realized that I don’t know how each of you spends your day. And I will not presume to tell you what a successful day would look like! So, in a twist inspired by a conversation with my son, “starting with the end in mind, what would a successful evening - the end of our day! - look like?”
We need to ask, What might a “successful evening” look like? Because if we don’t know what success means for us, how do we know we’re successful? In honesty, if we’re starting with the end in mind, that would be me falling asleep! So we’ll take a few steps back!
Maybe a successful evening:
Includes a Coming Home Routine that makes you happy.
Has a glow, a feeling of accomplishment, after doing our meaningful work.
As your productivity coach, I would suggest that a successful evening has at least a bit of preplanning to make tomorrow go smoothly.
Is Personal. Maybe for you, it means spending time with loved ones, or leaving space for creativity and spontaneity and fun, or even absolutely nothing firmly planned.
Is stress free, with a healthy balance of work and rest.
Is restorative, with whatever it is that refreshes you.
Concludes with gratitude.
Now, your definition of a successful evening may be completely different than my definition. And that is OK! The suggestion is to think it through for yourself, and NOT to adopt my personal ideas, unless you like them!
So, let me walk these through:
Maybe a successful evening:
Includes a Coming Home Routine that makes you happy.
I recently suggested having a “get to work routine” to ease us into our work day and set us up to succeed. The same can be true with a coming home routine.
Coming Home is a comforting image. My day is complete, I did the work, I helped the people, and I’m home now and can rest, relax and reset.
The routine helps me start with self care, self management, self regulation first.
Tasks in my Coming Home Routine include:
Drinking a big glass of water
Turning on music
Starting dinner or heating leftovers
Changing into comfy clothes
Putting away any stuff that came home with me
Turning on the lights, closing the curtains and checking the mail.
My challenge to you would be to figure out what these steps are for yourself.
I feel a successful evening can include:
A feeling of accomplishment, after doing our meaningful work.
Success for the day might be that we completed our intended work and touched on our focus areas throughout the day, because we know what is important to us. I love to know I crossed off big things from my to-do list, or at least made progress!
Remember “Today’s Top Three” and our “Done List”?
Personally, I would suggest a little preplanning in our evening, to make tomorrow go smoothly.
If you still have some energy left, do more to take care of Future You
tidy up the kitchen, run the dishwasher, set up tomorrow morning’s coffee, pack tomorrow’s lunch;
take care of today’s clothes, and plan ahead for tomorrow’s;
check the weather forecast plan ahead appropriately. Jacket? Umbrella? (It’s October in Chicago, this is VERY important these days, with 85 and sunny one day and 60s with rain the next!);
line your gear for the next day near the door. Future-You will thank Today’s You!
I feel a successful evening would hopefully be
Calm and stress free, with a healthy balance of work and rest.:
Don’t pack it too full of more work, and I am personally working on this very tip!
I am working on a clearer line of distinction between work day and personal time in the evening. As evidenced by the fact that I am writing this at 7:30 on a Tuesday night.
These next few ideas are very personal, but I feel like we can have intention for our evenings just like our mornings and our days. What are those facets, factors, activities, that you make sure to undertake that nurture you, that support you, that refresh you?
Maybe a successful evening for you includes
Spending time with our loved ones. And/ or, spending time alone if it’s difficult to be around people all day.
Space for creativity and spontaneity and fun, like my husband playing guitar and singing his favorite songs in the living room as I write this, or my son gaming with his friends.
Taking a walk or meditating or watching TV or streaming a movie or reading a book.
or even absolutely nothing firmly planned, and if that is good for you and makes you happy, go for it!
At the end of a successful day, I would like time to reflect with gratitude on my day as I head off to sleep!
So, friends, starting with the end in mind, what does a successful evening look like for you? Give it some thought and set those intentions now!
