8 Easy Ways to Improve Your Evening Routine

Want a better morning? The key might actually lie in the evenings before. Before we dive into some easy ways to improve your evening routine it’s important to understand what a routine is. A routine is a sequence of actions that you do repeatedly. We sometimes forget that part, and often, it’s the biggest challenge. Let’s be honest, nowadays we want instant gratification, we just want things to be easy, to just… .work.

Building a new habit or routine is far from easy! We don’t immediately see the benefit until it’s practiced for a time and who wants to wait right? But, the benefit is worth it because enhancing the quality of life is something most of us crave.

Whether you’re a morning person or an evening person, the following tips will be beneficial and worth a try.  Let’s break the domino effect of lackluster evening rituals and stressful mornings that lead to bad mood days!

8 Easy Ways to Improve Your Evening Routine:

1.  Avoid Randomness

The brain gets fired up when scrolling through social media or binge-watching your favorite show. It is not necessarily helping you wind down and prepare for sleep.

2.  Do One Thing You Love

This may be losing yourself in a book before bed (beware: educational reading may tend to wake up the brain instead of relaxing it), writing in a journal, practicing gratitude, listening to your favorite music, knitting, or anything else that brings you pleasure as long as it relaxes you.

3.  Plan Out the Next Day

Here is where your planner (if you use one) can come in handy! Reviewing and planning out the next day can create some calm and order. This also gives you clear intentions or goals for the next day and steers you toward accomplishing.

4.  Set Aside a Moment for Gratitude or Reflection

One of my favorite questions to ask loved ones is “What was the best part of today?”.  Some opt to list a few things they are grateful for, it depends on what feels right for you. This has a way of putting us into a calm and thankful mood to help settle us into the comfort of sleep.

5.  Prepare the Night Before

I realize this may be a challenge. But something as simple as setting out your outfit for the next morning takes minutes the night before and allows you to find out that those cute pants you thought were available are actually in the laundry!  Some prepare breakfasts ahead (my current favorite make-ahead breakfast is Baked Omelet Muffins and using silicon muffin trays makes it even easier to clean up!) to just heat in the morning and some prepare their lunch. Enjoy coffee? Set your coffee maker on automatic so that you can wake up to the aroma of a freshly brewed pot!

6.  Plug in your Phone Away from Your NightStand

I realize this is a challenge but why not try it for a week and see what happens? You may just gain more sleep, be more relaxed (because your brain won’t be staring at a screen), AND gain more time in the morning!

7.  Straighten Up

Waking up to a messy home does not necessarily prepare you for the best day. Spending 10-20 minutes every evening straightening up lessens the time looking for things in the morning.

8.  Practice Proper Sleep Hygiene

Try to stick to the same sleep and wake schedule, minimize blue light from screens, set temperature in your room to 60-65F, and if needed make your room as dark as you need.

As you have read through these 8 easy ways to improve your evening routine above you may gravitate toward some and not others. This list isn’t meant to be tried all at once, but to allow you to experiment and see what works for you. The right evening routine or ritual, helps us wind down, relax, and get into deep and restorative sleep. Thus making us ready for the day ahead. Improving your evening routine means you will have a bit more energy and focus allowing for productive, positive, and meaningful mornings!

What is your favorite part of your evening routine? I would love to read about it!