Night Routines: Better Sleep Made Simple

Night time routines also commonly factor into sleep quality, regardless of anything else happening in the world. Your activities during the evening hours can have a big impact on your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep each night.

Poor sleep can have plenty of health consequences, many of which you might worry about while lying awake. If you have trouble getting enough restful sleep on a regular basis, try exploring your pre-bedtime habits to identify potential problem areas and create a new routine that promotes better sleep.

Set yourself up for success tomorrow

A bedtime routine that includes a few steps toward preparing for the next day can have several advantages. First, getting a head start on tomorrow’s to-do list gives you one (or two or three) fewer things to stress over as you try to fall asleep. Having less to do in the morning can help you feel less rushed, making it easier to set aside a few minutes for morning meditation or a mindful breakfast that’ll start your day off right.

Take care of morning chores

If you struggle to get started in the morning, ask yourself what usually holds you up. Maybe you spend a lot of time deciding on an outfit or never know where to find your keys. Perhaps you need a hearty breakfast to begin your morning but have to clear the sink of last night’s dishes first.Setting aside 15 to 30 minutes every evening to prepare for the next day can help prevent hectic mornings and promote peace of mind as you get into bed.

To reduce bedtime stress and feel more relaxed in the morning, try taking care of these chores in the evening: Set out your clothes for tomorrow.

• Make your lunch for work or school.
• Gather your essentials — think keys, wallet, sunglasses — in one spot.
• Wash the dishes.
• Set out your clothes for tomorrow.

Create a family bedtime ritual

Connecting with loved ones — whether that’s your partner, children, or (good) roommates — can increase feelings of love, trust, and happiness. Generating these positive emotions just before bed can put you in a better mood, helping you feel more at ease when it’s time for bed. Regardless of any other benefits, spending quality time with people you love can strengthen your bond and help lower stress.

Try:

• reading aloud to each other
• trading massages with your partner
• sharing highlights from your day
• cuddling or playing with pets

Make time for sex

Experts continue to explore the connection between sleep and sex, but evidence does suggest a potential link between sex before bed and improved sleep. In one 2017 research survey, over 60 percent of the 282 adults who replied to the survey said their sleep improved after having an orgasm with a partner.

Oxytocin release during sex may be one explanation. The release of this “love hormone” can promote relaxation and a sense of well-being. Kissing and cuddling can also trigger oxytocin release, so any type of intimate contact before bed has benefits.You don’t need a partner to add sex to your nighttime routine. Solo orgasms are a perfectly natural way to relax and get off to sleep more easily.

Make hygiene a ritual

It’s pretty normal for basic bedtime hygiene to happen on autopilot. But performing cleansing routines with more mindfulness than absentmindedness can help your brain and body tune in to your approaching bedtime.

Example Night Routine Schedule

Time	Activity
9:00 PM	Turn off screens
9:10 PM	Meditation or journaling
9:30 PM	Skincare routine
9:40 PM	Read a book
10:00 PM	Lights out

Washing your face and showering can feel like boring chores you’d rather skip, but it’s possible to make these mundane tasks more pleasant and relaxing.

Build your morning routine:

The goal of your morning routine is to set up your day for success, but you also want to include something worth getting out of bed for. Maybe that 5 a.m. alarm clock, HIIT workout, and green juice on TikTok look nice, but wouldn’t actually feel good to you. Below are six ideas, but the important part is to tailor them to whatever feels best for you. Do all of them every morning, try out one each day, or pick and choose what calls to you.

Prep your skin for the day

As simple as it is, splashing water on your face helps wake you up and improves your focus. If you have time to go through a longer skincare routine in the morning, it’s a great way to follow a set routine every day with serum, moisturizer, and an SPF. Have an extra 10 minutes? Indulge in a face mask or some lymphatic drainage massage to pamper yourself and have a moment of calm before the craziness of the day. Whether you’ve just splashed cold water or you have a 10-step routine, don’t forget to top it all off with SPF before you head out the door. 

Indulge in a morning beverage (and hydrate)

Between bulletproof coffee, matcha lattes, fancy water, or kombucha, the options are endless. Whether or not you’re the type of person who relies on caffeine to get going, find a drink you love and perfect that drink (i.e. learn the art of matcha, invest in nicer coffee beans, etc.). Also, you already know that hydrating first thing in the morning is important so might as well romanticize your morning water too. Add lemon, cucumber, and berries, or a little Himalayan salt for electrolytes.

Give yourself some buffer time

Take some extra time in the morning to wake up with the sole purpose of finding some peace and calmness before the day starts. Whether you have an extra 60 seconds or 30 minutes, allow yourself the time to write out your tasks for the day, read a couple of pages from a book, unload the dishwasher, or take a few breaths to calm yourself down.

That’s what I needed and that’s what I got when I developed the following morning routine for myself. I have been practicing every morning (with a handful of exceptions) for 16 years.

1. A great alarm

With my phone on airplane mode, a motion-sensing alarm gently wakes me up about 20 minutes before my alarm time. I get up, start the coffee, get back in bed and snooze until alarm time.

2. Gratitude

I will take about one minute right before I lift my head off the pillow to be grateful. Big things, little things and even obvious simple things. You can’t be unhappy if you’re being grateful and if you can’t be grateful now, you never will be. Start your day happy and grateful.

3. No screen time

I don’t go online (with one exception I’ll bring up in a moment). I don’t look at social media, emails or news. Which means I’m not dealing with the lives or agendas of others or getting scared, fearful or angry. This is ME time.

4. Hydration

We lose about 33 ounces of fluids (one liter) overnight. As a diuretic, coffer further saps our fluids. When I chug down about 12oz to 18oz of water first thing along with my coffee, the positive impact on my brain and clarity is tremendous and noticeable.

5. Journaling

Addressing what’s on your mind before any external forces assaults you will give you the best insights and realizations of the day, the week or even your life. Your mind is clearer. Even if it’s for five minutes I will write about whatever is on my mind. Tim Ferriss calls it his “Monkey Brain Time”.

6. Mediation

Whether it’s just being quiet and breathing or a focused intentional meditation as to what I intend to do or achieve, my morning meditations have had a direct and tremendous impact on my life and accomplishments. The vast number of studies showing the mental, physical and emotional benefits (spiritual too if you swing that way) prove it.

7. Yoga/stretching

I have a routine that limbers me up and gets my blood and joint lubricants flowing. The results are tremendous. I still move and have the posture I did when I was 30 except now, I can bend at the waist, keep my legs straight and put my palms on the floor.

8. Learning

This is the one exception for screen time. During my yoga, I am listening to podcasts and YouTube learning what I need to learn from people worthy of learning from. Health, business, change, success or life from presentations and interviews. Over 16 years that’s added up to over 6000 hours of learning.

9. Exercise

This really gets your metabolism optimized whether it’s a short brisk walk or a trip to the gym. I found a great 13-minute Full Body Primal Workout, a lot of which just focuses on getting your butt in gear and your joints and muscles limbered and lubed.

10. Super-duper bonus: Leave the lights off

The whole point of this morning routine is to be focused on yourself and not the harshness of the day right away. Yet if you start hitting light switches, BAM! It’s “wake up and get going!!!”. Kim and I each have small pocket flashlights with both red and regular lights that give us all we need. It’s amazing. Try it.

Pretty good, huh? I’ve just spent between one to two hours focused on myself to optimize in just about every way to have a great day.