A productive night routine is one of the most important routines you can have in your repertoire.
When I worked at my corporate job, I remember how desperately I would want to be productive once I got home. I’d have a list of all the things I wanted/needed to do in my head and think about it as I was packing up and driving home. But as soon as I’d walk through the door, I’d drop all my bags, kick off my shoes, and veg out on the couch. It was a struggle to make dinner, and an even bigger struggle to wash the dishes and do my evening skincare. I’d stay up late scrolling on my phone or watching TV, only to wake up the next morning feeling terrible that I didn’t do anything I had said I would.
Does this sound familiar to you? Are you looking for a productive night routine that actually works? Before we dive in, I’m going to share with you the #1 best tip for success with a productive night routine.
The #1 Tip For Your Productive Night Routine
The absolute best tip I have for you to experience a successful productive night routine is to use a checklist! Remember how I said I had my checklist in my head? While visualization is totally helpful in some situations, it doesn’t track when it comes to being productive at night. A tangible checklist is what helps you to stay accountable.
Here are some specific ways you can make your productive night routine checklist work for you:
- Wait to make your checklist until nighttime is closer. You have to live through the main part of your day first before you make very specific, future plans. Maybe you make a big checklist at the beginning of each day. If your day pretty much went the way you expected it to, that’s great! Your pre-planned night routine will probably work well for you. But if a million things went wrong, you’re very likely going to have to tweak your evening plans. Waiting a little bit until the later hours of the day approach is your best bet.
- Finalize your checklist as you’re wrapping up for the day. Once I finished up my work and updated my planner for the next day, I would jot down my productive night routine on a sticky note or even in my Notes app. The simple act of writing the checklist out mentally prepared me for the tasks ahead.
- Determine is when your night begins. Is it as soon as you’re leaving the office? Is it when it’s time to start making dinner? Is it when you take your child to ballet practice? Defining this timestamp will help you determine when it’s time to shift into productive night routine mode.
How To Make Your Own Productive Night Routine
When it comes to creating a productive routine, I like to divide you checklist up into two parts: the things you need to and the things you want to do.
Let’s say it’s a Tuesday night during a typical workweek — what do you need to do? It might look something like this:
- Get gas in the car
- Unpack lunch box
- Cook and eat dinner
- Pack leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch
- Wash dishes and start the dishwasher
- Take a shower
- Pack gym bag
- Get in bed on time
Once you got all of this stuff done, what other things would you want to include on the list? Maybe there would be some items this:
- Watch a few episodes of your current TV show
- Use a sheet mask
- Play a board game
Now that you have all your needs and wants listed, it’s time to put them in a chronological order that makes sense. It might look something like this:
- Get gas in car (on the way home from the office)
- Unpack lunch box (immediately, so you don’t forget)
- Cook and eat dinner / Watch a few episodes of your current TV show (sometimes it works very well to combine needs and wants like this)
- Pack leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch
- Wash dishes and start the dishwasher
- Take a shower
- Use a sheet mask
- Pack gym bag
- Play a board game
- Get in bed on time
As with any routine or checklist, once you start knocking a few items out, you’ll get a good momentum going. Your productive night routine might look a little different each night, but will probably be predictable for the most part. If there is some aspect that you consistently slack on, don’t be afraid to change it up!
EXAMPLE: MY PRODUCTIVE NIGHT ROUTINE
My nights begin after I am wrapped up with the main part of my day. Right before my productive night routine starts, I’m usually either finishing up work or coming home from the gym. I’m also usually “in” for the night, besides the occasional Target or ice cream run. If I have nighttime plans, I have a completely different routine.
- 5:15-5:30pm | Apply evening skincare routine. Like most of us, once nighttime rolls around, I’m exhausted. One of my very worst habits I ever had was skipping my evening skincare. I’d fall asleep with an unwashed face with my makeup still on. No matter how good my intentions were or how many reminders I’d make for myself, I realized that this came down to be more of a timing issue. After hours of cooking and cleaning, the last thing I wanted to do was go upstairs and do my skincare. So now, applying my evening skincare is the FIRST step in my productive night routine. No matter how the rest of my night looks, I can rest assured that my face is clean! This is also the time I would shower if I needed to.
- 5:30-6:30pm | Make dinner. My husband’s work day ends at 6pm, so we aim to have dinner on the table by 6:30pm. I usually try to clean as I go to make washing the dishes easier later, too.
- Eat dinner and watch TV. Chris and I will watch an episode of whatever show we’re currently watching or catch up on some YouTube videos.
- Clean up the kitchen. This part of night is tough to transition into because there’s a lot to do, even though Chris and I work together. We try to get to it as soon as we’re done eating or watching our show so we don’t succumb to the coziness of our couch. This includes packing up leftovers, wiping the stovetop and counters, washing dishes, starting the dishwasher, and washing the sink. It’s a lengthy process, but having a clean kitchen at the end of the day is a must in our house.
- Complete evening dental hygiene. One of my health goals has been to not eat anything after dinner. Flossing and brushing ASAP after eating dinner has been one of the best ways to ensure I don’t go snacking later in the evening. Plus, doing this earlier in the evening is great insurance in case I fall asleep on the couch (which happens a lot!).
- Get in PJs. Once I’m sure I’m in for the night, it’s in my PJs I go! I usually always put a little dry shampoo in my hair at this point in the evening, too.
- Free time! This is the section of my night that varies a lot. It varies in length and the type of activities I’m up to. I usually try to plan for this, but it’s not always perfect. Sometimes I try to get a little more work done, while other times I might watch more TV. Chris and I might decide to play a game or even just read side by side.
- Go upstairs to bed a little early, around 9:30pm. I’m not the type of person to fall asleep right away. I have a whole bedtime routine that I follow. Getting in bed a little prior to when I actually want to be sleeping often allows me to be the most successful in this area.
Final Thoughts…
Having a productive night routine is one of the best ways you can continually set yourself up for success. Do you currently have a productive night routine? Are there any changes you’re going to make to it? Let me know in the comments below!
This blog post was all about creating a productive night routine.
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