Hello and Happy Sunday! (And, if you celebrate it, Happy Easter!)

Quick summary:

• Task: Write down tomorrow’s tasks and events the afternoon or evening before while everything is still fresh in your mind.
• Free: Today’s Top Tasks Planner page that I use myself every day (pulled out from the workshop just for you)
• Paid: Work Shutdown Ritual Workshop for $9
  (Not sure if you already have it? Use this Login link and you can see what you bought)

This Week's Task: Plan Tomorrow Tonight

Do mornings feel like a scramble at your house too? For so long, I'd wake up in one of two modes: either feeling instantly behind - my mind racing with all the things I needed to do. Or still completely asleep in a mind fog, knowing there were critical things I needed to do but I couldn’t remember what.

Then I discovered something so simple yet game-changing: just 5 minutes of planning the night before completely transforms how I start my day. Instead of that frantic "what was I supposed to do today?" panic, I wake up with direction and purpose.

The best part? This tiny habit has probably saved me more mental energy than anything else I've ever tried.

The best time to plan tomorrow is always the night before. So this afternoon or evening, I want you to take 5-10 minutes to plan out Monday. Then Monday night, plan out Tuesday... and so on.

Here's why this works so well for me: I used to lie awake at night, my mind racing with all the things I needed to remember for tomorrow. "Don't forget to get milk on the way home from work...and the kids need their permission slips...and I can’t get distracted on that document again, it’s due in two days!"

The stress of trying to remember everything was awful. (Anyone else identify with the additional emotional labor we moms often do?)

Then I started thinking of my planner like a pensieve from Harry Potter. I take all those swirling thoughts out of my head, put them down on paper, and suddenly my mind is clear. Those tasks aren't going anywhere—they're safely captured, and I don't have to keep them swimming around in my brain anymore.

A special note for the busy moms out there: There is NOTHING WRONG with only having one item on your list. When my kids were little (for example, a 2-year-old and twin 8-month-olds), I had to limit myself to ONE thing a day. Two was a stretch. Three was a miracle. Five should be the absolute MAX. Anything else needs to be delegated, deferred, or deleted (instead of done).

My suggestion? Use the notes area of your planner to jot down everything that's on your mind. Then ask yourself: "If I only get one thing done tomorrow, which one would it be?" That's your priority. Everything else is a bonus.

Remember: If a task isn't time-sensitive, it can carry over to tomorrow. And if something's been on your list long enough without getting done... maybe it doesn't actually need doing at all!

Something Free: Today’s Top Tasks Planner Page

To help you get started with this evening planning ritual, I'm sharing my Today’s Top Tasks Planner page. This simple but effective daily planner has:

• Space for your top 5 personal priorities
• Space for your top 5 business or work priorities
• A full hourly schedule from 5am to 11pm
• A handy notes and doodles section (perfect for brain dumping!)
• A gratitude section to end your day on a positive note

This is the format I use every night before I go to bed. I run over tomorrow’s schedule to make sure I have everything ready. (Did I mention I’m not a morning person?) Then I brain dump everything I’m stressed I’m going to forget to do, and then I prioritize. Usually I only get to the top 1 to 3 things. But if I’m only going to get to one thing, it had better be the thing that counts.

Something Paid: Work Shutdown Ritual for $9

Want to take your planning to the next level? My Work Shutdown Ritual workshop will transform how you end your workday so you can start tomorrow already knowing what to do before the caffeine even has to kick in.

This simple system helps you:

• Write tomorrow's to-do list while everything's still fresh in your mind
• Process and close all those open browser tabs (we all have too many!)
• Review tomorrow's calendar so you're never caught off-guard
• Wrap up your day with intention so you can truly disconnect
• PDF downloads as well as editable versions in Canva, Docs, Airtable, etc. so you can customize everything to you.

It's the perfect companion to your new evening planning habit!

(Not sure if you already have it? Use this Login link and you can see what you bought)

Until next week, remember that organization isn't about perfection—it's about finding what works for YOU. Do what works until it doesn’t, then try something new until it does.

Summary

Here’s that quick summary again because I’m all about making things easier for all of us:

1. Task: Write down tomorrow’s tasks and events the afternoon or evening before while everything is still fresh in your mind.
2. Free: Today’s Top Tasks Planner page that I use myself every day (pulled out from the workshop just for you)
3. Paid: Work Shutdown Ritual Workshop for $9
   ​(Not sure if you already have it? Use this Login link and you can see what you bought)

Happy planning!
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Allie, Technically Eclectic Digital organizer, technical writer, and mom of three boys

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