I looked at the clock last night and realized it was almost my bedtime and I was already stressing out about getting up in the morning. I’m returning to my pre-pandemic routine and going to the office every day. While my morning routine was flexible during the pandemic, the realization that I’m losing the extra time I gained from not commuting really hit me. I give myself 35 minutes to get to work in the morning. If I leave right at 5pm, I have to give myself 60 minutes to get home. That’s 90 minutes a day in drive time that I am losing. While I handled it fine before, the pandemic made me realize how much time I was wasting on things like commuting, winding down from my day, etc that I could be spending on my health and wellness. Going back to my pre-pandemic life, I want to focus on maximizing my time as much as I can.

The only way I know how to do this is to make sure I am prepared ahead of time for my day. While some people like to meal prep (and I will probably never be one of those people), I am going to day prep. I am sure that sounds odd. But, what it means is that once a week I will sit down and figure out my plan for the week. (Workouts, appts, dinners out) And then I will make sure the night before that everything is ready to go. I want to waste as little time as possible in the morning. Here is my initial list of things that will be part of my day prep.

Every Sunday Night:

• Plan workouts for the week

• Plan menu for the week

• Transfer calendar appointments to my planner

Nightly:

• Get workout clothes ready for the morning

• Have breakfast/lunch packed and ready to go

• Fill water bottle and place in the fridge

• Review planner/calendar for next day appointments

I am sure I will modify this list as I get back into the habit of working in the office. In the meantime, it gives me a good place to start.

If you are returning to the office, is there anything you are struggling with?