Sleep Better to Live Better: 3 Tips for Your Evening Routine
Evening routines are a great secret to having a better life. Many people completely forget about this aspect of life, but it is essential to have an evening routine that helps you sleep well. Sleeping is the number 1 best way to get healthier and unfortunately so many people neglect it. What is even worse, is many in my industry actually encourage people to get up early which commonly exhausts them. I really believe that getting a good night's rest is paramount to good health. Below I talk about my 3 tips to getting better sleep and really enjoying your evening's rest.
1. Go to bed earlier, to get up earlier
Many coaches advise getting up and having a really kick-ass morning routine but if you don't go to bed earlier this doesn't work. You have to still get the number of hours necessary for you. If you want to start getting up earlier, you must go to bed earlier. There is no way around this. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours, so you have to do the math if you want to get up earlier. For example, I start my morning routine at 6 AM so for me to get enough sleep I have to go to bed by 10 PM to get at least 8 hours.
If you are not a morning person, then I actually recommend having a more intense evening routine and sleeping in more. Remember these routines are meant to enhance your life so it has to work for you! Here are my tips for morning routines if you struggle with that as well.
I am a morning person, so I have an intense morning routine with yoga, journaling, walks, meditation, etc., and a very tiny evening routine. You can switch that if you like or have a 50/50 balance. Try it out and see what works best for you.
2. Get rid of your phones and screens
This isn’t easy but for better sleep, you need to put your phone down at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Some experts actually recommend up to 2 hours before you are going to bed. I try to plug my phone in and put it on airplane mode at the beginning of my evening routine. That way it is not going off or in my space. Never ever put it on your nightstand, it should go across the room to be plugged in, or in another room is even better.
Invest in an alarm clock if you use your phone for your wake-up alarm. This one tip can totally change your life. Also, you shouldn’t have TVs in your bedroom either, this is actually a feng shui hack, you can learn more here.
3. Have a routine that indicates to your body that it’s time to sleep
My routine is really simple, and it goes like this:
Plug phone in and put-on airplane mode
Wash my face and teeth [sometimes I take a shower]
Journal [Only if my mind is racing over the day]
Read
Switch off the light and sleep
It takes me tops 35 minutes. You notice my phone is the first thing. This indicates to my mind and body that it’s time to wind down. I highly recommend that you start with just 10 minutes and do the same order every night. This will help your body know when to start winding down and getting ready for sleep.
Evening routines are such a great way to end the day. They can really be the cherry on top of the cake of a great day. This time with yourself can be a really great way to center yourself, sleep well and wake up to a bright day! If you are interested in going deeper into your routines and how it can make you a great leader, book a free chat here.
