My Evening Routine

I’ve become a big fan of routines where they make sense. A good morning routine starts with a good night’s sleep.

For me, a good night’s sleep depends on three things:

1. Bedroom – cool, dark, and quiet
2. Body - Clean and cool
3. Mind - calm, relaxed, and dreamy

Bedroom

• Crack open the bedroom window open
• Turn down the heat in winter
• Wear an eye mask
• Use earplugs

Body

• Take a quick shower, not too hot
• Put on cozy jammies

Mind

This one is trickiest and probably most important. Here’s what I do:

• Dim the lights about 2 hours before bed.
• Do some meditation
• Turn off my devices at 10pm
• Forcibly kick me off my phone and laptop
• Read a book for a while
• Listen to some relaxing music
• Jot down any lingering thoughts in a Journal or just a file or note called “Tomorrow” that I keep on my phone

Step by step

Altogether, my routine looks like this:

• 21:30 Dim the lights & adjust bedroom temp
• 22:00 Devices start kicking me out
• 22:15 Capture any important items in my my “Tomorrow” note
• 22:30 Shower, teeth, pyjamas
• 22:45 Read, meditate, music, etc.
• 23:30 Eye mask, ear-plugs, Lights out!

The science of light, mood, & sleep

This small study appears to confirm the energising effect of bright light before bed, and this longer paper dives deeper into light, mood, and circadian rhythms. I also recommend reading “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker.

With this out of the way, I’m ready for my morning routine.