mental self care Archives - Musings by Danna

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.

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Why create an evening routine?

Structure – Evening routines can help you develop more structure to your life in these chaotic times we’re living in.
Sleep – You will sleep better if you create a purposeful evening routine to help you get to sleep.
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.

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.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. This kind of consistency keeps your circadian rhythm in check.
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.
Stay off electronics for at least two hours before bedtime. The blue light can keep you awake.
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

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Self Care on a Budget

For many of us, our wallet has gotten lighter recently due to the current situation. Today, I will be walking you through how to keep up with your self care on a budget.

But first, there’s something you need to do.

Make a budget

I know, it sounds obvious. But if you’ve never sat down and made a budget, there are a lot of things you could miss.

How to make a budget

My favorite way to budget is to create categories of things I may need or want to spend money on and then allot each category an amount of money based on my total amount I can spend for the month.

There are a lot more categories than one might think, so it’s important to honestly evaluate where you know you will spend money.

Let’s consider some categories.

Rent or dorm expenses
Electricity/Water/Sewer
Wifi
Cable
Groceries
Gas
Pet expenses
Health insurance
Car insurance
Phone bill
Money for hobbies
Money for miscellaneous fun things

Consider how much money you have total each month. Then, for each of those bills that apply to you and are essential, write in the amount you expect to spend. It is better to overestimate your expenses, rather than to underestimate.

Once you have the essential bills covered, see how much you have left over for hobbies or fun things.

At the end of the month, if you spent less than you thought you would, you can transfer a bit of money to your savings account so that you have a little extra money in case something goes wrong.

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Physical self care on a budget

There are so many ways to take care of yourself on a budget. People tend to focus on one area of self care and leave out others, but part of self care is being balanced.

Taking care of your body is something people tend to think is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few examples of ways you can practice physical self care on a budget:

Get outside: You could take a walk. You could go hiking or kayaking. Getting outside is a great way to soak up that vitamin D and get a mood boost.
Free online exercise videos: If you miss going to the gym, consider trying some free exercise videos online. There are lots of free videos on Youtube for all different types of exercise. I also have an app called FitOn with free exercise videos.
Work on your sleep habits: Do you bring your phone to bed? Are you staying up all night when you could be sleeping? Try to adjust your routine to allow for some time to wind down before bed. Make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep.

Mental self care on a budget

Journal: Take some time to pour your thoughts out onto the page. A daily practice of journaling is best, but even weekly will make a difference. I have a couple posts about journaling. You can find the one about gratitude journaling here and the one about journaling for anxiety here.
Read for pleasure: Find what kind of book speaks to your soul. Reading is a great distraction, whether you are reading fiction or nonfiction. It allows you to escape to another world and temporarily not worry about this one.
Group therapy: This option is almost certainly not going to be free, but it is usually significantly cheaper per session than individual therapy. You may also want to look into sliding scales for individual therapy. It is definitely still not the cheapest thing, but it can make therapy significantly more affordable.
Therapy workbooks: You can get a therapy workbook at a bookstore or online. The down side is you do need to know what you’re looking for to some degree. However, for example, if you know you want to work on anxious thoughts, you may be able to find a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) workbook for anxiety.

Spiritual self care on a budget

Meditate: There’s lots of ways you can do meditation. You can read more about different meditation practices here. My favorite way to meditate is to use guided meditations. You can find some on Youtube. My favorite app to use for meditation is Insight Timer.
Find a hobby you’re passionate about: For some, this may be drawing. For others, it could be scrapbooking. My favorite hobby is writing letters. It brings me a lot of joy and I would encourage you to find something that brings you that much joy.
Try yoga: There are plenty of free videos online that can help you get started. All you will really need is a mat and potentially some blocks for certain poses, but you can start with just getting a mat. You will also need some comfortable clothes that have some stretch to them. If you don’t have any, consider shopping secondhand.

Additional tips for college students

Consider what your college may include with your tuition. Schools usually have some options to help students with their mental health. Here are just a few of the things that many schools include:

A gym: That’s right, you can work out in a gym without paying a monthly membership fee.
Individual counseling services: I honestly believe most schools don’t offer enough, but you can usually get 6-12 sessions for free depending on the school. If you have something really specific you need to work on, it may be enough.
Group counseling services: From my experience, colleges usually provide significantly more group sessions than individual sessions. They are likely to be on a wide range of topics.
A dietitian: This can be a huge difference for students with eating disorders. I do believe they can help anyone who is struggling with things surrounding food, whether they have an eating disorder or not. Not all colleges have this option, but many do.
Life coaching: Not all schools have this, but some have an option where you can work with a life coach for a semester or longer. I think this is a great option for a lot of people, especially those who don’t feel comfortable with the idea of therapy but need someone supportive in their life.
Student health services: Most schools have some sort of health services for students. This is important if you become ill while away at school or if you just need a routine exam completed. Different schools have different levels of care that they offer, so be sure to check what your school offers.
Campus events: They aren’t really happening right now, but when they do, there are a lot of resources you can take advantage of. Most campus events have free food. They also often give away small items like stress balls that could be used for self care. It’s a great time to socialize with others, too. There are also sometimes events with therapy dogs, especially around exam time.

Some final thoughts about self care on a budget

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are always options out there that can help you.

If you feel as though you need immediate help and you are located in the US, please reach out to the suicide prevention hotline at 1 (800) 273-8255. You can also reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting SHARE to 741741. Both of these options are free as long as you are able to place calls or send and receive text messages on your phone.

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