How to Have an Effective Nighttime Routine
- Jun 17, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 26, 2024
Written by Holly Irwin, CEO
Holly Irwin has been known for her wit, thriving personality, and authenticity in her space of strategic planning and mental organization.
Everyone is always talking about how important morning routines are (and they are), but do you have a nighttime routine as well? Both are essential to set you up for the best future and days ahead. Let me tell you why and what the difference is.
The morning routines are great, they set you up for the days ahead and create a great habit for you with a clear mind, clear goals and clear intentions. However, nighttime routines are just as important.
Nighttime routines typically include washing my face and brushing my teeth, yes, but they should also include some form of productivity. This includes setting intentions for the next day, laying out your clothing (especially if you’re doing morning workouts to keep motivation), meditation and visualizations (for focus and more motivation), drinking at least one glass of water and finally no cell phones and maintaining a distance from it.
Allow me to explain the whole “productivity” at night thing. Productivity doesn’t always have to mean making money, hustlin’, grindin’, or whatever else it could often be misconstrued to be. Productivity can mean self-care to prevent burn out, self-love to fill your own cup and give to others with love, or just communicating with others to gain connection.
When setting your intentions for the following day, you also will have it in your head and written down on paper. You will already be setting yourself up for success the night prior rather than the day of. If you forget anything or wake up late and don’t have time, it is already done, and the plans are put in place.
Laying out clothing is crucial because you think you may know that you put your favorite pair of pumps by the door or in the closet, when really your niece came over and tried them on without your permission and then all the sudden, your favorite heels are missing and you’re going to be 10 minutes late for your meeting now because they were actually in the guest bathroom you never use. Or maybe your shirt needs ironed, your slacks have a broken zipper or button…Moral of the story, lay them out beforehand. I also mentioned gym clothes if you plan to do workouts first thing in the morning. This will help you with your motivation to get up and go and fewer excuses in the morning when you are half-asleep.
Meditations are great for focus, sleep, anxiety, fear, tension, and loads of other things as well. I put this is my nightly routine to slow down my breathing and being mindful of the thoughts coming in. I have also seen this done as a visualization at night too. Whether you are envisioning yourself asleep, envisioning what the following day will look like, or just simply envisioning your future goals. When you envision things, your brain will signal emotions as though it is real because your brain will not be able to tell the difference. Therefore, feeling into what it would be like, creating great thoughts, and literally re-wiring your mind for success.
Drinking water before bed is great for your health and wellness, but I consider it to have multiple purposes. Before going to bed, I will typically chug a glass of water to ensure I use the bathroom up wake-up time. If you are anything like me, I have a hard time waking up, but the wake up is much easier if my bladder forces me out of my cozy, warm bed. It is just simply a master trick forcing yourself to be more disciplined upon wake-up time.
If you’re really struggling with wake up and wish to be more disciplined, I also highly recommend leaving your phone and/or alarm across the room. This will also ensure you are out of bed on time, and if you do all the steps, then you will hear the alarm, get out of bed to shut it off, and head straight to the bathroom. Once you empty your bladder, you can add other things to help you wake up as well, but for now, we’re just discussing night routines.
So FINALLY, you really don’t want to sleep near your phone even if you are a master at awaking already. Your phone not only could overheat if it is under your pillow and possibly radiate damage to your brain, but it can also just be super distracting prior to bedtime and your night routine. I like to set a “bedtime’ under my phone setting to which it automatically goes on "do not disturb" until wake- up time.
Follow this advice and these steps, and I promise you will be a master at life and disciplining yourself for better days ahead. Let me know if this helped you! I would love to hear.
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Holly Irwin, CEO
Holly Irwin has been known for her wit, thriving personality, and authenticity in her space of strategic planning and mental organization. She, just in her first few months of business alone, quit her "safe job" as a pre-school teacher full-time, and a server part-time. created a female support Facebook community, gained clientele right off the bat, got interviewed for multiple podcasts, created a podcast of her own, and hired 3 coaches to help in her and her businesses successes. She has also been the "go-to" girl for speaking at virtual and in-person events and trainings. Holly helps you de-clutter your mind and your environment to ensure the success of your future.
