Having a good evening routine helps you get to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up ready for the new day. But I used to view evening as a kind of “free for all time” when I would do whatever I thought would be fun. I’d been working all day, right, so I deserved it …
I should know that when you tell yourself “I deserve it” it often means you want something and you don’t have a real reason … that’s how it is for me, anyway ,,,
Sometimes I had extra energy and felt unsure what to do next. Or I’d sit down in my easy chair “just for a minute” and fall asleep without considering preparation for the next day.
I try to polish up the kitchen, too, though sometimes it’s hard if I’ve let it get to be late. Then it’s a war between my good and bad angels. My Good Angel says “Finish the kitchen,” and my Bad Angel says “Forget it just do it in the morning.” But if you wake up to a clean kitchen, it’s a good start of the day.
I would be clicking around on the internet and then realize an hour had passed. As for getting ready for bed, I just would try to remember to brush my teeth.
Sometimes I stayed up too late.
I woke up a lot in the middle of the night. I slept through my alarm a few times. i was pretty sure I was not getting enough sleep because the tell tale sign of feeling sleepy on the drive home from work had appeared.
It was time to have an evening routine! And I knew what I needed to do in the evening. Sort of …
The problem was, by eight p.m., I couldn’t even remember any of what I meant to do. Washing dishes was forgotten. Evening yoga had gone out the window. Clearly I needed to have it all written down.
Finally acknowledging there was a problem, I reflected for a few days on what I thought I might want to have done the previous evening when I woke up in the morning. I made a list on a notebook page. I considered how long the list would take and i subtracted that amount of time from my planned bedtime so I wouldn’t run out of steam before the routine was done. began to try to check the items off before falling asleep. It turned into a routine.
These are the 8 things on my evening routine:
- Wash the dishes. I do the dishes every night and I have even decided that I don’t have to fill the dishwasher all the way up.
- Writing. I try to work on some writing every night.
- Take a hot bath. I never miss this unless I’m staying somewhere there is no bathtub and then I will try to take a shower. This is the beginning of the relaxing part of the evening routine.
- Brush my Teeth: I’ve pretty much got this one down.
- Put Water in the Humidifier. This is important because I have two guitars in this room and one of them is already damaged from the dry air. Also it just feels better in here when the air has been humidified.
- Brief Yoga Routine. I just do a few poses before bed I always sleep better.
- Set the alarm. I use my alarm on my phone which I know you’re not supposed to do. They say for good sleep, you’re really supposed to put the phone in another room. I put the phone on the floor on the other side of the room. That way it’s not right by my head, and also, that way I have to get up to turn it off.
- Read: I try to read a little bit each evening. In a paper book that is. Right now I’m reading Mussolini’s Daughter by Caroline Moorehead. This is a good book, engaging and interesting. The experience of reading helps my mind focus. My perception is of building knowledge. Clicking through the internet simply doesn’t do that. And whenever I begin to feel my eyelids grow heavy, I mark the spot and get in bed.
This work on my evening routine has really helped. Using the checklist, I get to sleep more easily and I stay asleep better. I wake up more often to a clean kitchen and with a better attitude. And I feel more optimistic which is huge. What about you? Do you have an evening routine, or are you thinking about starting one?
Other Blog posts on Building an Evening Routine:
Jennifer Tatroe explains her slow and meditative evening routine, undertaken to improve health and sleep.
Sustainable Bliss shares Jasmine Tevin’s Ideal nighttime routine for sleep.
