In Kriyat Shema al Ha’Mita, the prayer service before we retire at night, we take 5-10 minutes to do an accounting of our day and do teshuva for any wrongs we committed that day. We should do this daily and do it honestly. Focus on the little things we usually brush off.

For example, we ask ourselves: Did I behave properly the entire day? Did I carry out Hashem’s commandments as required? Did I make a commitment and not carry it out? Did I not speak nicely to someone and owe them an apology? Did I behave properly at work? Or did I do personal things on my boss’ clock? Was I honest in all my interactions? Etc.

We need to think about what we did wrong, ask Hashem for forgiveness, decide what amends we need to make and make them (or plan to make them at the first opportunity), and we must commit to doing better in the future. In this way, we keep ourselves spiritually clean on a daily basis instead of waiting until right before Yom Kippur since it is not possible to remember everything we have done wrong throughout the year nor make proper amends for everything in one short period of time.