Next Day Prep Checklist

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Flylady.net calls it the before bed routine. Others think of it as planning for tomorrow. Whatever you call it, the routine you go through to prepare for the next day is critical to staying organized and stress free. Here are some tips to make it effective for you.

Pick the time of day that works best for you. A before bed routine is great IF you are at least somewhat of a night person and have the energy to do the thinking and prepping. But what about if you are more of a morning person like me? Then a dinner hour routine may be better. While dinner cooks, do the prep work for the next day.

Include on your list the things that stress you out the most. Do you get most frustrated in the morning because

your technology isn't charged (i.e. phone, iPod, iPad or laptop, etc.) or because your outfit isn't picked out

Maybe you can't stand to leave the kitchen a mess. Whatever most stresses you, make sure this item is on

your "next day prep" checklist.

Prepare for more than one day in advance. If you are making sandwiches, for example, why not make a

couple more if it's the type that can remain fresh? For example, you can freeze peanut butter and jelly or

peanut butter and honey sandwiches for use the rest of the week.  When picking out one outfit, why not pick

out two or three?

    

Everyone's "next day prep" checklist will be different. Make it unique to you. When you wake up the next

morning, you'll be glad you did it!

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Take It On Tuesday: Handrails

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Well, you may be off the hook today if you don’t have a second story.  We are going to take care of cleaning the handrails!  It hasn’t been too long since I have cleaned mine off, but I imagine that they will be in bad shape again today when I go to clean them.  If you don’t have handrails in your house, maybe consider cleaning a few baseboards, unless you would just rather stay off the hook!

Karina Whisnant

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Take It On Tuesday: Cups

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Let’s tackle part of the kitchen cabinets today!  I know how easy it is for my cups/glasses to get out of control, especially when I had lot of small cups for the kids.  Take 15 minutes today and look through all the cups /glasses in your kitchen and see if you can clean out or change anything in that area.  All those plastic cups can be pretty annoying and take up a lot of room!  Decide how many of those you need to keep in the cup rotation and give away the rest. Clean plastic cups can make good toys for the bath or sandbox.

Karina Whisnant

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Pray While Folding Laundry

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Chances are, you fold a good bit of laundry each week. As you fold your clothing items or those of loved ones, consider praying in this way:

Sweaters/Tops: pray for the warmth of God's love to surround them; for them to embrace modesty before Him.

Sports clothes: pray that they will "run and not be weary" for the Lord.

Underclothing: pray that their hearts will remain pure, that they will guard their hearts from evil, and that they will have a foundation of faith.

Socks: pray that they will walk in "newness of life," that they will walk toward serving God and others and not away from Him

Pants/Skirts: pray that their legs will take them to places that will honor God and that they will walk alongside people who need encouragement

Bed linens: pray they will rest easily "under the shadow of His wings."

Towels: pray that they will be cleansed from sin, poor attitudes, and concerns/worries.

What other ways can you pray as you fold clothes?

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Take It On Tuesday: Your Purse!

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Today you are going to tackle--drum roll please--your purse!  Start with your wallet.  Clean out unnecessary receipts, cards and possibly pictures.  Once you have your wallet out of your purse, you are ready to tackle the rest.  I think I would be amazed to hear from any of you as to what you might find in that purse of yours.  For many of us, it is a catch all for any number of things we think we may need in day.  If you have young children, you may find some really interesting things in your purse. Once you have it all cleaned out, you may even decide it is time to switch up purses for the summer and enjoy a new look!

Karina Whisnant

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Six Tips to Take When You Go

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A couple summers ago I had the great opportunity to go to Orlando with Karina. It was the first...perhaps only time...I had traveled away from my immediate family for several days. I enjoy getting out of town from time to time and, since it is a popular travel time right now, I thought I’d share several travel tips I've picked up.

Bring a garbage bag to hold dirty clothes. When packing up to leave, put the dirty clothes in the bottom of the suitcase, lay the garbage bag on top, and put unused clean clothes on top of that. You may be able to just stuff the garbage bag of dirty clothes back into the suitcase!

Consider getting an audio book from the library to listen to on long trips. 

If traveling alone on a road trip, and you have smart phone, consider using a tracking app (like Google "Latitude") so that a family member or friend can track your trip. During our trip, my husband could see our progress on a map. When we veered quite a bit off the known route, he called to check on us. Turns out our GPS had "told us" to go on that road to get around a city, but he would have been able to re-direct us if we'd gone the wrong way, or could call for help if we couldn't be reached. 

Prepare a variety of activities for kids so they can switch between games, "screen time" activities, and car friendly crafts. 

When you stop at a rest area, make everyone use the facilities even if they "don't have to go right now." 

If you travel frequently, keep a separate bag of toiletries "on the ready" at all times. This way you can just grab it instead of thinking about all the miscellaneous items you'll need. If flying, make sure to follow TSA guidelines for such items. You might even want to keep a suitcase packed with underthings, bathing suit, etc that go right back in the suitcase when you return from your trip.

Prepare a little recreation/treat bag for yourself with puzzle book, coloring books,card game, and snacks you don't usually eat to while away the time in a car or on a plane. 

One caution: be aware of how certain drinks or snacks affect you and plan accordingly, especially if there is a long distance between "pit stops." I think you can figure this out! Your digestive system can be affected by non-familiar water or the tendency to eat or drink more "junk food" because you are "on vacation" (i.e. allowing yourself more caffeinated beverages or soda.) Intermingle healthy snacks and familiar or bottled water to avoid discomfort. 

What are some of your best travel tips?

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Take it on Tuesday!

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Today you are going to be brave and bold enough to complete two tasks.  They are so closely related I just couldn’t resist! Do you dread opening that microwave door to warm up that leftover roast because you know it is going to remind you that the inside needs to be cleaned out so badly?  Today is the day you are going to be excited to use your microwave because it will be sparkling clean!  It won’t take long to clean it and the reward for a clean microwave oven is going to be spectacular.  Here is the second closely related task—cleaning one shelf of your refrigerator.  You may get so inspired that you clean more than one refrigerator shelf but just start with one.  I just cleaned my refrigerator yesterday and just felt a sense of accomplishment in knowing what I had on each shelf and that there was order to the food again!  Woman spend a lot of time in the kitchen and having places in the kitchen that are clean just make us feel good.

Karina Whisnant

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