As important as having a morning routine is having an evening routine. Daily success happens the night before. An evening routine can also help improve the quality of your sleep. But, where to start? That’s where this post comes in – here are some evening routine ideas to inspire your own routine.
If you want to learn more about evening routines in general and how to best form them, read this detailed post. Likewise, if you want some morning routine ideas.
Each evening routine idea is listed in my recommended order and recapped at the end of the post.
Evening Routine Idea #1 – Put Your Phone Away!
This is non-negotiable! If you want to improve the quality of your sleep (and life in general) then put your phone away before bed. Stop using your phone in bed. No screens, no emails, no social media, nothing ‘plugged-in’ for at least half an hour before bed.
At first, this will be difficult. More so if you have a hard-ingrained habit from years of phone usage. What you don’t realise though is the extreme damage this causes to the quality of your sleep.
When using digital screens, you are exposed to a wave of light known as ‘blue light’. Seeing this wavelength, which we naturally get from the sun, makes us feel alert and awake. Blue light also suppresses the secretion of melatonin – which is the sleep hormone. Melatonin regulates our sleep cycles, otherwise known as our circadian rhythms.
In basic terms, absorbing blue light prevents you from feeling tired. If you want to learn a bit more about the science behind this, check out the post on sleep.
To help prepare for sleep, avoid screens for at least an hour before bed. Put your phone away, out of reach. Turn it off if necessary.
Evening Routine Idea #2 – Prepare Water For The Morning
In the morning routine ideas post, I covered a key habit of morning routines: drinking water as soon as you wake up. To do so, unless you head straight to the tap, prepare this water in advance. The obvious time to prepare is the night before. This is how I begin my evening routine, after putting my phone away.
Evening Routine Idea #3 – Showering
This is not something I do, but I know it can be very beneficial. Your body needs to cool by around 2 degrees before it can fall asleep. If you take a warm shower before bed, it will be easier to reach that temperature drop. When the body is hot, your blood rushes to the surface to release that heat. Additionally, this will help your muscles to relax.
Instead of taking a full shower, try splashing warm water on your face, wrist and neck. Do this in similar places where you’d put aftershave, perfume, or cologne. These points on your body release heat the fastest. This won’t be as effective, but will still help.
Idea #4 – Meditation
Meditation before bed will help you relax and calm down. It will quieten the mind, which makes it easier to drift off.
I’ve found something interesting with doing an evening meditation. It acts as a ‘divider’ between your day and your evening, allowing you to separate from the day’s actions. This disconnection is useful to create distance between any problems you faced throughout the day.
With a calmer mind, it’s easier to fall asleep. There are less active thoughts in your mind competing for your attention. If you’re someone that struggles with an overactive mind before sleep, try meditation.
Idea #5 – Stretching
Before bed, put tension into your body through stretching. This allows your body to relax and cool down, which in turn makes it easier to fall asleep. Five minutes of stretching can make you feel loose, relaxed, and ready to drift off. Try some of these stretches for a start.
Idea #6 – Reflection / Journaling
Understanding what you achieved each day can do wonders for your daily success. It’s beneficial to your motivation and helps clarify where you are in relation to your goals.
Are you slacking in one area or would you change something about the day? Reflect on it.
What could you do tomorrow for better results? Are you ahead or doing well? Reflect on it! What are you doing well in this area and how could you apply it to other areas of your life?
Reflection and journaling are very important to success. The physical act of writing something down solidifies the words in your brain. It also allows you to keep track of your progress. Writing things out is a logical process, which helps to organise your thoughts.
To go a step further, you could categorise your reflections into weeks, months, and even years. When you look back on how far you’ve come, you’ll be able to see exactly what you did and how it contributed to your success.
Idea #7 – Gratitude / Prayer
It’s impossible to be in a state of negativity and gratitude at the same time. We can use this to our advantage by ending each day with gratitude. No matter how negative the day has been, we can end on a positive.
List three things you are thankful for, whether in the form of prayer or written down, every evening.
Train yourself to appreciate life through a gratitude practice. Your baseline level of positivity and happiness will increase as a result.
You can learn more about gratitude here.
Idea #8 – Read A Book
Reading a book is a great replacement for your phone. Until three or so years ago, I would use my phone in bed. I found that I needed some form of mental stimulation before bed to fall asleep.
Reading fiction is the best alternative to using your phone in bed.
It helps to wind you down and is both relaxing and engaging. Another benefit is that once you begin getting into a book, you become excited to read that evening. No matter how difficult the day has been, you’ll always have a great story waiting for you.
Further Evening Routine Ideas
Add anything else you want to your evening routine. Like with a morning routine, the more structure you can create, the better. Here are some further evening routine ideas:
- Going to the toilet
- Brushing teeth
- Having a short conversation with a loved one or friend
- Saying goodnight
- Preparing clothes for the next day
- Writing a To-Do list or schedule for the next day
- Changing into sleeping clothes
- Playing sleep sounds
In Summary:
- Put Your Phone Away – To promote better sleep
- Prepare Water For The Morning – To help wake up faster
- Shower – To relax the body and reach the required temperature drop
- Meditate – To relax and clear the mind
- Stretch – To loosen and relax the body
- Reflection / Journaling – To ensure daily growth
- Gratitude / Prayer – To end the day on a positive
- Read A Book – To unwind and relax, and to provide an alternative to using a phone in bed.
- Add whatever else you like!
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed this post or found it useful, share the site with your friends. We have loads of other useful posts if you want to learn more, so have a browse. Cheers!