Am Abend denke ich, dass alles leichter wird, wenn ich ruhig bleibe und die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt bearbeite.

Am is the contraction of an dem.

With parts of the day, German commonly says:

• am Morgen
• am Nachmittag
• am Abend

So am Abend means in the evening. Depending on context, it can mean either a specific evening or a general time frame. A more clearly habitual version could be abends.

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule. That means the finite verb comes in the second position, not necessarily as the second word.

Here, Am Abend is the first element of the sentence, so the verb must come next:

• Am Abend = position 1
• denke = position 2
• ich = after the verb

So:

• Am Abend denke ich ...

If you started with the subject, then you would say:

• Ich denke am Abend ...

Both are grammatical, but the original sentence emphasizes the time expression first.

Because dass and wenn introduce subordinate clauses, and German normally separates subordinate clauses with commas.

So in this sentence:

• Am Abend denke ich, dass alles leichter wird, wenn ich ruhig bleibe ...

the commas show where the subordinate clauses begin.

This is much more strict in German than in English. In German, these commas are not optional.

Because dass introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the finite verb usually goes to the end.

So:

• main clause: Ich denke
• subordinate clause: dass alles leichter wird

Inside that subordinate clause:

• alles = subject
• leichter = predicate adjective
• wird = finite verb, placed at the end

This is one of the most important German word-order patterns to learn.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Here, wenn ich ruhig bleibe und die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt bearbeite has a conditional flavor, so English often translates it as if I stay calm and work through the agenda step by step.

But wenn can also mean when/whenever in more general or repeated situations.

A useful contrast is:

• wenn = if, when, whenever
• als = when for a single event in the past

So wenn is the correct choice here.

Because they are inside the wenn subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses send the finite verb to the end.

The structure is:

• wenn ich ruhig bleibe
• und die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt bearbeite

Both parts belong to the same wenn clause, so the verb in each coordinated part appears at the end.

That is why you get:

• bleibe
• bearbeite

rather than putting those verbs earlier in the clause.

Because German can omit a repeated subject after und when it is the same as in the previous part.

So the full underlying idea is:

• wenn ich ruhig bleibe und ich die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt bearbeite

But repeating ich sounds unnecessary here, so German normally leaves it out:

• wenn ich ruhig bleibe und die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt bearbeite

English does this too sometimes: if I stay calm and work through the agenda...

Ruhig bleiben means to stay calm or to remain calm. It focuses on maintaining a state.

• ruhig sein = to be calm
• ruhig bleiben = to stay/remain calm

In this sentence, the idea is not just that the speaker is calm, but that they continue to be calm while handling things. So bleiben is the better verb.

It is the direct object of bearbeite, so it is in the accusative case.

The noun Tagesordnung is feminine:

• nominative: die Tagesordnung
• accusative: die Tagesordnung

Because feminine singular has the same article in nominative and accusative, the form does not change.

Also, bearbeiten usually takes a direct object, so something is being worked through or dealt with:

• die Tagesordnung bearbeiten

Depending on context, Tagesordnung can mean agenda, order of the day, or sometimes something like the day’s planned items or tasks.

Schritt für Schritt is a fixed expression meaning step by step.

It works like an adverbial phrase describing how something is done:

• Ich bearbeite die Tagesordnung Schritt für Schritt.

You do not normally add an article here. It is simply the standard idiomatic form.

German has several expressions like this that do not translate word-for-word in a fully regular way, so it is best learned as a chunk:

• Schritt für Schritt = step by step

Leichter is the comparative form of leicht:

• leicht = easy/light
• leichter = easier/lighter

In this sentence, alles leichter wird means everything gets easier. German, like English, can use a comparative without explicitly stating the comparison.

The comparison is understood:

• easier than before
• easier than it would be otherwise

So you do not need an explicit als ... phrase here.