Bedtime Routines

Yesterday I wrote about morning routines, and afterward, I received a few questions about my personal morning routine, so I wanted to clarify a few things. First, the timing of the routine is not as important as having a routine. The only challenge with having a morning routine later in the morning is that you will have more people and things to guard that time against. Secondly, if you are wanting to get up earlier you have to think about when you go to bed. So today I want to touch on the importance of a bedtime routine.

Sleep is a very important part of maintaining a healthy body and mind. Deep sleep allows your body to recover from your physical training, and it commits the things you learn during the day to memory. Therefore the first step in setting up your bedtime routine is to determine how much sleep you need, and then do the math in order to get the appropriate amount of sleep before you awake for your morning routine. From there I would add 30 minutes to that time. Next, you need to determine the activities that will cause your mind and body to relax.

Here is what that looks like for me. My goal is to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Since I get up at 4:30 that means I need to be in bed by 9:30 at the latest. Which means I start my bedtime routine at 9. My bedtime routine is less intense than my morning routine. If the goal of my morning routine is to jump start my mind and day, then the goal of my bedtime routine is to wind those things down. 

I begin my bedtime routine by flossing and brushing my teeth. I then wash my face and use a night time moisturizer (gotta take care of your skin!). Afterward, I set out my gym clothes and pack up the clothing I will wear for the next day. This is key to jump-starting your morning so you don't have to think about what you are going to wear when you first wake up. After that, I crawl into bed. I use to do something mindless with the remaining time, like checking Instagram, but I am slowly replacing that bad habit with reading some sort of fiction book or something that isn't going to engage my mind and prevent me from sleeping. At 9:30 the light goes off and within minutes I'm asleep.

I believe that by creating this routine it has conditioned my body. It puts it in a state where it is ready to sleep as soon as I'm ready. In short, my bedtime routine and morning routine are just a series of processes to automate those times of the day. It takes the thinking and decision making out of doing the things I want to do. I know that doesn't sound sexy, but it allows me to save my mental capacity for other things throughout the day.

If you don't yet have a bedtime routine I highly recommend that you create one. It will benefit your life more than that next Netflix show ever will. Or maybe that is just my temptation. :)