Dose of Prose
Your nighttime routine is equally as important as your morning routine. How you start and end each day impacts your mood and sets the tone for your level of productivity. Although I consider myself to be a morning person, I was quickly forced to become a night owl because of my school and work schedule. All of my classes are in the evening, I have a fairly long commute to school and the work I do is freelance and remote, so basically…I’m busy. It can be difficult (and still is) for me to distinguish my work space from my living space and my work day from my night. I soon realized that my inability to separate the end of my work/school day and the start of my relaxing night was having a domino effect on my mood and productivity in the morning.
Setting work-life boundaries in your life is key when it comes to living a more balanced, efficient lifestyle. Although I am still personally improving this aspect of my life, over time, I have formed some best practices at night that help to get me into the right headspace for the following morning that I want to share with you. It can be hard to let go at the end of the day, especially when things are busy, but by implementing some of the elements in this blog post, I believe you can elevate your night routine to make your mornings even better.
A Clean Home is a Happy Home
Anyone else enjoy cleaning? It relaxes me knowing that my living space is free of clutter. In fact, it’s difficult for me to work or study at all if my environment is not clean. When I come home from a long day, to be honest, my place is a mess because I’m always in a rush (like I said, there’s still some habits I need to improve). There’s dishes everywhere from me eating/cooking and my clothes are all over my bed and floor because I’m indecisive with my outfits and pull out everything in my closet. It overwhelms me to live in a messy environment, so I like to organize my home (especially at night) so that I can wake up to a clean space.
Sometimes I might be too tired, so I’ll clean in the morning, but the reason I don’t like doing this is because it slows down the start to my day. It’s easier to make my coffee and breakfast when I wake up to a clean kitchen. If I have early meetings or deadlines for projects/assignments, then I can spend my time taking it easy in the morning stretching and getting ready for the day, instead of frantically doing laundry, taking out the trash or other chores that I should have done the night before. My point here is, try to clean up before you go to bed. If you know you have a busy chaotic day ahead of you, don’t make it harder on yourself by adding cleaning to your list. Clean, plan and lay out everything you need the night before, I promise it will make your morning easier.
Get Offline, Say Goodbye to Screen Time
Our bodies are put through stress in many ways, even from something as small as a clock alarm. Have you ever felt annoyed or stressed by the alerts of emails, texts or other notifications? You feel this way because those sounds are subconsciously activating a stress response and overstimulating your mind and body. I’m a research analyst so I’m on my computer a lot. I get an email every 20 minutes and since I create content on the Internet, my social media apps are always buzzing with notifications. For me to maintain my sanity and well-being, I have to block out the noise. In addition to me putting my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb,’ I also turn off my phone apps so I’m not distracted by notifications.
On iPhones specifically, you can limit your screen time. I turn my apps off from 10pm-10am, so that I’m not looking at my phone so much and ensure that I don’t start and end my day thinking about school, work or what someone said to me, asked of me or needs from me. In my eyes, if someone really needs me, they can call me. Unless it’s my immediate family, it’s not important. As blunt as that sounds, it’s the truth. You have to take time for yourself, actually step away from your devices and take a break from scrolling mindlessly staring at screens. Increasing your time offline will signal to your body that you want to wind down and relax, which will not only help you sleep better but also allow you to wake up feeling energized instead of drained.
Create the Right Environment for Sleep
I’m sure you already know the benefits of sleeping and the importance of allowing your body to rest. What I want to emphasize with this healthy nighttime habit is not so much sleeping itself, but how you sleep and the environment you’re creating when it’s time to catch some Z’s. I’ve never had an issue with insomnia/falling asleep until the pandemic began. My body wanted to sleep, but mentally, I had trouble doing so. I kept twisting and turning and for some reason, my brain wouldn’t allow my body to relax. There’s a number of factors that contributed to this, but after developing a more solid night routine and creating a better sleep environment for myself, my sleep has also drastically improved.
Here’s what I do to get a better night’s sleep:
- FOOD – I have a major sweet tooth, so I like eating a dessert after my meals. Since I take night classes and have a long commute home, sometimes I won’t eat dinner until after 10pm. There’s an ongoing debate about whether or not it’s bad to eat late at night, but I’ve found that it’s not so much when you eat, but what you eat. Whenever I would eat heavy meals along with sweets right before I went to bed, I would have weird dreams and also have difficulty falling asleep. If you’re going to consume anything before bed, I suggest a calming tea or maybe some melatonin supplements, but try to avoid sugar in general. I’ll be honest and say that I still eat late, and love my desserts, but I’ve gotten better with eating my dinner and dessert earlier, so that my food can properly digest befor bed.
- TEMPERATURE – One factor that was negatively impacting my sleep was that I was getting too hot at night, which would wake me up. Sleeping in cooler temperatures helps me to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
- SOUND – This varies depending on your preference, but I cannot sleep without any sounds. My whole life I’ve slept with classical music playing and recently, I started using this app called Calm, where I like to listen to the bedtime stores or the white noise sounds (i.e. rain falling or ocean waves). Having the TV on seems to stimulate me, rather than help me fall asleep, so I avoid that. However, certain sounds and music help me to relax into the perfect dream world.
- LIGHT – I recently got a galaxy projector and it’s one of my favorite additions to my bedroom. The blue and red lights make me feel like I’m sleeping under the stars, which creates a relaxing atmosphere that helps me sleep better.
Utilize Aromatherapy
My final nighttime habit that prepares me for a productive morning is honoring my sense of smell. Certain scents promote relaxation which make it easier to fall asleep, resulting in a well-rested feeling the next day. This stress reducing type of spa treatment is called aromatherapy. I prefer to take showers at night, so I’ll use lavender or eucalyptus body wash, and put on soothing rose infused face masks when I wash my face.
Additionally, lighting warm scented candles, burning incense and/or putting essential oils in diffusers makes a difference. Scent, emotion and memory are intertwined, as your body associates certain odors with relaxation. Your sense of smell enriches your experience in the world around you, and I’ve found that aromatherapy plays a positive role in relieving some of my distress, so that I wake up refreshed and ready to take on my day. If you want to know specifics on the type of aromatherapy related brands I like, check out my self-care guide here.
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I hope some of these practices help you improve the end of your day and set the tone for an even better morning. It can be hard to know when to slow down, let go and recharge, but whether you’re a night owl or morning bird, implementing theses habits into your lifestyle can transform your quality of life overall.
