Building an Evening Routine

So this morning, you woke up 5 minutes earlier and did a quick little meditation session before you hopped out of bed, right? You’re rocking your morning routine already? (No? Pop back to “building a morning routine” and start there first.) Amazing! Now that we’re rocking new habits and building positive rituals into our morning, let’s consider an evening routine as well. 

Bookending our days with a little R&R helps us sleep better, stay more productive throughout the day, and does wonders for our mental and physical health.

As with a morning routine, an evening routine is a little sacred time to unwind from the day and calm your mind before sleep. There’s tons of research out there about the benefits of an evening routine and sleep hygiene, and this is especially important to consider if you’ve found that you have trouble falling or staying asleep in your new alcohol-free life.

So what is sleep hygiene? Sleep hygiene is a mix of habits and environment that promote a better nights’ rest: things like blackout curtains, turning off screens well before bedtime, calming aromatherapy, and so forth. You’ll see that habits are part of sleep hygiene, meaning an evening routine is a scientifically proven way to sleep better. We love science, don’t we?

Your evening routine may look similar to, or vastly different than, your morning routine. What works for someone else may be a terrible fit for you, so take your time to identify the practices and habits that help you quiet your mind before bed. You may find that while you enjoy a two hour morning routine, a 15 minute evening routine is all you need at the end of the day. Or perhaps the reverse is true for you, and you thrive off of a long evening routine.