How To Create An Evening Routine You’ll Actually Stick To

Who else here struggles to stick to a routine? I know it can’t just be me. Today I am going to walk you through some tips to creating an evening routine you’ll actually stick to.

Why create an evening routine?

1. Structure – Evening routines can help you develop more structure to your life in these chaotic times we’re living in.
2. Sleep – You will sleep better if you create a purposeful evening routine to help you get to sleep.
3. Me time – If you schedule time aside to spend on yourself, you are much more likely to do self-care.

Parts of an evening routine

The parts of an evening routine are flexible and pretty much up to you. Here are a few things that I would personally recommend including.

Self-care time

This is when you should be doing things you enjoy doing. Think about what your hobbies are. Think of things that you don’t usually have the time for. This is when we are going to make time for those things.

Some things that people do for this are reading, art activities like painting or scrapbooking, or even crocheting. There are so many possibilities. It’s up to you to decide the best activities for yourself.

Prepare for the next day

This includes things such as cleaning up so you don’t wake up to a messy kitchen, setting out your clothes the night before, and planning out your next day.

This will result in a smoother morning which will make your entire next day go so much better. I highly recommend including this step. Even though it may seem small, it really does make a big difference.

Gratitude

Take time to reflect on your day. What are you grateful for? What went well? If you would like to dig into more gratitude exercises, I have a whole post about gratitude journaling here.

Hygiene routine

You’ll want to make sure you schedule in time for any hygiene-related activities you do before bed. These are things such as showering, a skincare routine, and brushing your teeth.

You may be used to doing these sorts of things right before bed, but it would be more effective to do some relaxation exercises right before bed.

Relaxation and wind down time

Your relaxation and wind down time is when you will be doing things that will help you to feel calmer so that you will have a better chance of falling asleep. You may be interested in trying some mindfulness activities for this, which I think is a great idea.

One really useful mindfulness activity for sleep is meditation. I really like Yoga Nidra guided meditations for sleep, which you can find on Insight Timer. If you’re interested in reading more about meditation, I have a post about it here.

You may also consider yoga. Yoga with Adriene on YouTube has a lot of excellent videos. I don’t do yoga very frequently (though I would like to) so I am not sure how many of her videos are more about exercise versus sleep, but I do know she has some relaxing ones.

Warm tea is another excellent option to wind down. Make sure you get something decaffeinated and that it has no contraindications with any medications you may be taking. My favorite is lavender and lemon balm tea. (If you choose this option, I highly recommend brushing your teeth again.)

If you aren’t into any of the above suggestion for relaxation, you can always at least practice some deep breathing. If you have other relaxation ideas, I would love to hear them! Comment on this post or feel free to email me. My contact information can be found here.

Go to bed

And finally, it’s time to end the day and go to sleep. Get comfortable and catch some zzz’s.

Sleep hygiene tips

Follow these tips for a more restful night’s sleep.

1. Limit caffeine intake. Avoid it entirely at least 6 hours before bedtime. Caffeine is a stimulant that can keep you awake. In case you didn’t know, it’s in chocolate too.
2. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. This kind of consistency keeps your circadian rhythm in check.
3. Avoid using the bed for activities other than sleep. Your brain will associate your bed with the activities you do there, so if you work on homework in bed, your brain will think it’s time to be focused when you are trying to sleep.
4. Stay off electronics for at least two hours before bedtime. The blue light can keep you awake.
5. Avoid intense exercise for the two hours leading up to bedtime. However, light exercise such as walking, stretching, and most yoga exercises are unlikely to have an impact on sleep so they should be fine.

My new evening routine

So, I haven’t been following much of an evening routine lately even though I know I do better when I am in a routine. That needs to change. Here is the evening routine I am committing to trying for one week.

7:15 – Self-care time

I will be using this as my time to be creative. Some of the activities I may engage in include writing letters, art journaling, making friendship bracelets, or drawing.

8:00 – Prepare for the next day

I have been really into bullet journaling for a while now. I’m not particularly artistic, but it’s the functionality of the bullet journal system that appeals to me.

I will use this time to review any appointments I have written down for the following day, jot down a quick to do list, and get out my clothes for the next day.

8:15 – Gratitude

I will be using a method called GLAD Journaling to reflect on my day and practice gratitude. Basically, you write one thing you’re grateful for that day, one thing you learned, one thing you accomplished, and one delight.

More information on GLAD Journaling can be found in my post on gratitude journaling here.

8:30 – Hygiene time

This will be quick for me as I currently shower in the mornings. I will just need to brush my teeth, wash my face, and moisturize.

8:40 – Relaxation and wind down time

I will be using this time to do meditation. Like I mentioned before, I have really been enjoying Yoga Nidra on Insight Timer. I am sure there are also some excellent recordings on YouTube.

9:00 – Go to bed

I plan to be in bed at 9 pm every night. Hopefully I will be able to fall asleep quickly after the relaxation part of my evening routine. If I can’t, I will play some lo-fi music to help me fall asleep.

Final thoughts

I will be trying out this new routine for a week starting next Monday. I would love it if you would share your evening routine or try out a new one with me!

Until next time,

Danna