A bedtime routine is exactly what you need to relax and unwind for the evening. Keep on reading to find out how to create your own!
The Benefits of a Bedtime Routine
I love my bedtime routine. It’s a sacred part of my day. If I don’t complete it, I usually don’t have the best night of sleep. When I do follow my plan, everything just seems to fall into place and I go to dreamland with ease.
So what is the main benefit of a bedtime routine? It sends signals to your body that it is almost time to go to sleep. Over time, falling asleep when you want to will become much easier. You need to be consistent with this for it to work, of course. Like any other routine, I recommend that you test your bedtime routine out a few times so that you know exactly what works for you to be as relaxed as possible.
How To Create Your Own Bedtime Routine
- Decide what time you hope to be asleep by. I recommend that you give yourself at least an hour to get yourself into sleep mode. If you want to be asleep by 10:30pm, then you should start your bedtime routine at 9:30pm.
- Make a separate evening routine. My evening routine consists of making and eating dinner, cleaning up from dinner, showering, dental hygiene, applying skincare and having some downtime in front of the TV or doing some blog work. While you might view some of these items as a part of winding down, they shouldn’t be included in your bedtime routine. Whatever you can do to prepare for sleep are the only elements that belong in a bedtime routine. Learn more about evening routines in this blog post.
- Decide where you want to spend the last hour of your day. Maybe you prefer lounging in your living room or enjoy relaxing in your man cave. I personally prefer being in my bed for the majority of my bedtime routine. It’s one of the biggest signals to my brain that it’s almost time to sleep since I’m in my bedroom, the place in my home most used for sleeping.
- Ensure you have everything you need for a good night’s sleep. Picture this: You’ve hopped into bed for the night, getting all comfy and ready for a reading session when you realize you didn’t bring a glass of water with you. That’s the worst feeling ever, isn’t it?! Before you even get in bed, make sure you have everything you need for a successful night of sleep. Set up your nightstand the way you like it, adjust the thermostat, turn your ceiling fan on and visit the bathroom one last time!
- Really try to limit your use of electronics. The biggest piece of advice out there is to stop using screens at least an hour before bed. How many of us actually can stick to that, though? I’m SO guilty of late night screen time — usually in bed scrolling through Instagram while having the TV on on the background. Unfortunately, I can see the direct correlation with my poor quality of sleep on those nights. We’re overstimulated all day long — we deserve to have a quiet, peaceful bedtime routine.
- Engage in relaxing activities only. Don’t overdo it either — you don’t want to stress yourself out with too many of these activities. Some ideas include:
- Reading
- Journaling (using a Five Minute Journal is the perfect solution if the idea of journaling overwhelms you)
- Listening to an audiobook (relaxing, peaceful content only — no murder mysteries at this time!)
- Meditating
- Practicing bedtime yoga or stretches
- Enjoying a cup of herbal tea
- Applying products such as hand lotion, cuticle oil, lip balm, etc.
- Lights out by your bedtime. Even if you don’t feel super sleepy yet, it’s important that you give yourself the opportunity to rest at the time you previously designated.
- Can’t sleep? Don’t stress about it. Falling asleep isn’t something we have control over. It’s an involuntary action. The only thing you can do is try to prepare your body for sleep as much as possible and just provide yourself rest. Sleep will eventually come. ❤️
As always, I’ll share my own routine to provide a bit of insight and inspiration. Below is what my bedtime routine currently looks like. It’s important to note that I follow this most nights, but not every single night. I tend to get to bed later on the weekends and might end up skipping my reading session. As long as you stick to some semblance of a bedtime routine, you’ll be good to go.
My Bedtime Routine
- My bedtime routine starts at 9:00pm. I’ll wrap up whatever I was doing, whether it was watching TV or doing some laptop work.
- Get ready to go upstairs. I fill up my water bottle for night and make sure I have everything I need with me, like my glasses and phone.
- Set the bedroom up for the night. I can only sleep in frigidly cold conditions. I set our air conditioner to 65 degrees and turn our ceiling fan on high. I also like to turn my bedside lamp on since it uses a warm, amber lightbulb.
- Snuggle up! The actual act of climbing into bed and getting under the covers is my favorite thing ever.
- Use my bedtime bag. I have the cutest little bag that was gifted to me by my best friend and I’ve since filled it with all the products I like to use before bed. Here’s what’s currently inside:
- Cuticle oil — This is a must for me since I do at-home manicures and never clip my cuticles. The one I’m currently using also smells so good!
- Hand lotion — The best time to moisturize your hands (and feet!) is at night so they can fully absorb all the product you apply! My current hand lotion has such a delicious, sweet scent.
- Lip balm — This is an absolute must and guarantees soft lips in the morning! I love trying new lip balms all the time but the mega Aquaphor stick is my ultimate go-to.
- Migraine stick — I love this stuff! I don’t get migraines often, but this applying this product feels like having a mini spa session.
- Facial spray — I love to use this facial spray to feel instantly refreshed and renewed. It’s perfect for the morning time, but I also like to use it right before bed to lock in my skincare products for the night.
- Read, read, read. I cherish the reading portion of my bedtime routine. I usually have two books going at once — one in the non-fiction or self-help realm and the other one being fiction. I love reading my fiction book at night because it’s usually my favorite and feels like a reward. The only caveat is that if it’s getting really good, I might stay up past my bedtime to get to a certain point or even finish it 🙈 Oops! (I really try not to, though!)
- Lights out by 10:00pm. Sometimes I’m so exhausted I fall asleep reading with my light still on, but most of the time I’m able to bookmark my spot and turn the lamp off.
Final Thoughts…
Will you create a bedtime routine? What will it look like? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!
This blog post was all about creating a bedtime routine.
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