8 Steps to a Healthy Night Routine

Routines: it’s one of the FIRST things I work on with my 1-on-1 clients, because without strong routines, you’ll never stay consistent or make time for all the things that make you feel your best and help you reach your potential. I talk about my morning routine a lot, and plan on making a video on it soon! But until then, I’m sharing my night routine with you all here below.

Now one thing I want to note: I’m not ALWAYS perfect in following my night routine. I’ve always been much better about my morning one. But it was getting to the point of total overwhelm and burn out with my own business because of NOT implementing step ONE below — that I became much more proactive about creating and following a night routine. Most importantly, it’s all about progress and always getting better — not perfection!

Which one will you begin adding to your nightly routine?

1. Create the Next Day’s To-Do List, then SHUT OFF

— As I mentioned before, this step of my night routine was a LIFE SAVER for my own sanity (and my personal relationships). If you’re type-A and a driven, hard worker like myself — maybe you find it hard to shut off too. Let me tell you a little secret I discovered: you are actually MORE productive and MORE ready to kill it again the next day at work … when you make a clear and strict shut off time!

— But that doesn’t make it any easier to do when you feel overwhelmed that there is still so much to do (or if being a business owner like myself, always knowing there IS so much more you could do)! That’s why this is a two-part step. The first part helps the second part, shutting off, easier to do!

— So before shutting off, make a “list” of the top three things you will get done tomorrow, that are of most priority, and then add anything below those top three that would be nice to accomplish, but aren’t a must. This will give you peace of mind to shut off from work, knowing you have a plan of action and a clear direction when waking up the next day! (and it’ll increase the next day’s productivity!)

— Then, SHUT OFF. Make a clear and strict deadline each day for when you will shut off from work, and stick to it no matter how much you still have to do when the time comes up!

2. Unwind through Personal/Friends/Boyfriend/Down Time

— Engaging in an activity either alone or with others is a great way to unwind and relax after a long day — and making time for the people you care about is an important part of healthy living too!

— I’m an intro-extrovert, meaning a lot of times I like to recharge on my own even though I’m super extroverted in social situations or when I need to be. But I have been trying to be better about always making time for those important to me, no matter how much of a hermit crab I want to be!

— Whether it’s getting dinner, drinks or ice cream with a friend like I plan into my weeks sometimes, or something as simple as taking an hour to call and really catch up with a long distance friend or family member — making time for others is important!

3. Get Bed Time Comfy

— This step is simple … get out of those work clothes and into those comfy pajamas! I may wear fitness clothes as “work clothes” since I have my own business (haha!), but that still doesn’t mean I don’t love my jammie time! (Yeah, I just used that word in a sentence!)

4. Hungry? Nighttime Snack

— It’s a HUGE myth (that I continually hear circulating): Eating at night is BAD for you or will make you gain weight. There are SO many studies out there showing that nighttime eating — when in a form of a nutrient-dense snack (and not say, a huge meal lacking nutrition), can be very beneficial to your health!

— I was a part of a few research studies throughout my masters in exercise physiology and sports nutrition involving this exact topic, so please don’t deprive yourself if you’re feeling hungry and it’s “past 7 pm” or whenever you’ve felt it’s bad to eat past.

— Think about it this way, your body doesn’t have an internal clock where it says, “Oh, it’s past 7 pm, now I’m going to store everything as fat!”

“MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT’S ALL ABOUT PROGRESS AND ALWAYS GETTING BETTER — NOT PERFECTION!”

5. Night Skincare

— I recently started using FRÉ’s skincare line and it’s really been helping with my active sweaty life’s breakouts! I also love that it’s 100% vegan and that an Argan Tree of Life is planted for every set sold to empower women’s who harvest Argan in Morocco and to fight deforestation!

6. Pearly Whites Routine

— And of course going along with skincare,  part 2 of this step is to brush and floss my teeth! Have to keep those pearly whites healthy and bright — my boyfriend who is a dentist would be proud to see this in my post  Not only that, but he’s the one that brought to my attention that your mouth holds SO much bacteria, it can actually cause a TON of health issues if you don’t brush and floss regularly

7. Set the Alarm and Go Silent

–This step is allllll about the phone! Set that alarm (or alarms, if you’re like me, and set a few, last one being the time you actually MUST get up), and then turn your phone on SILENT and set it down for the night, so that it doesn’t disrupt your sleep by lighting up or vibrating — or even worse, get you worked up right before bed because of an email/text you get!

 8. Read/Learn/Pray/Journal

— Taking time to read, grow, learn, and relax (whether that’s prayer, meditating, stretching, or journaling), is key right before going to bed!

— There are actually studies both on journaling and on reading, that show them both as effective activities for reducing stress, thus being great for before bed.

— Better yet, it’s so needed to process your day and journaling can be a great way to process through answering a few questions every night of how your day went, what you can celebrate, and what you can do better.

So tell me, which step do you ALREADY do, and which step would you like to begin implementing? Remember, morning and night routines are key!