A Solid Evening Routine Sets You Up For A Productive Tomorrow
I remember when I first started working on my evening routine. It was something that I never gave much thought. We all have an evening routine in place already, believe it or not. We just aren’t really paying much attention to it — or none at all.
Maximizing productivity in today’s age is something many people are looking for. We all want to be more productive, more efficient, we want to learn as much as possible. However, the real power is putting these things into action and feeling how they impact your overall day and spirit.
Being able to articulate your morning and evening routines and know exactly why you put those things in place holds true power. The key is to be intentional. Building a solid morning routine is something that is a lot more popular than evening routines. The evening routines get left in the dark, tossed to the side. But, the true facts are that a great nights sleep is a vital component of productivity. The better we can lay our heads down at the end of the day, and know that we gave it all we had, is very satisfying and liberating.
A solid evening routine can help you manage stress, get a good nights sleep, and get a nice jump on your morning routine. You can’t lose. It requires effort and some work, but the benefits you reap from it make it all worth while.
Here are a few things I like to do in my own evening routine:
Finish Strong
As a mom, my job doesn’t end until my family is fed, my girls are showered, house is cleaned. I like to complete these things first. It is the only way that I can really exhale, and just start to focus on my own self-care. I would suggest to do the same. Go and finish anything that you know you need to get done in order to have a clear mind. If not, these lingering tasks end up on the back of your mind and it will completely take away from the point of an evening routine.
Get Your Morning Routine Stuff Prepared
Once I have completed everything that I need to do, I like to move into getting my things prepared for my morning routine the next day. My morning routine is what creates my momentum for the day. It’s like the propeller and it just gets me moving in the right direction. I have been doing this for a while, and I have learned that certain things need to be in place in order for me to get the most out of my morning routine. Getting my coffee maker prepared, having my workout clothes set aside, bags packed, headphones charged etc. These little things believe it or not make a huge difference in any routine. Preparation.
Meal Prep
There are some meals that I like preparing in the morning just to keep things fresh for lunch. However, there are a lot of little things that I like to set up the night before. This part can be exhausting, especially at the end of your day. I get it. But, I have found that just pushing through and meal prepping for the next day creates ease. You feel it the following day. It’s one of those things where you suffer now, enjoy later. It’s worth putting in the extra effort.
Exercise
Personally, I like to wake up early and workout in the mornings. However, I know a lot of people who prefer to come home and use a workout to decompress after a long day at work. I have also taken this approach, which is very effective as well. Adding a nice exercise session into your evening routine can be that balance that you need. Exercise can give you a great opportunity to burn off all of that unwanted stress that is associated with work. Breaking a sweat in the evening can also put you in that place of relaxation, which is where you want to be in order to get a good nights sleep.
Journal
The Power of Journaling is absolutely underrated. If you are reading this and you do not journal — Jump on it! Journaling has many powerful benefits but I like to piece it into my evening routine just to check in with myself and see what I learned from the day. There are always takeaways from your day. The only way I know how to slow down and find those key points is to journal consistently. Create a 5-10 minute journaling session in your evenings to enforce gratitude and get some plans going for tomorrows day.
Plan Out Your To Do List
Take advantage of your days. Don’t let them go to chance. Take some time and analyze your take aways from journaling. Use those things to create a to-do list for tomorrow. Breaking things down and knocking out one thing at a time is how we get things done. It is how progress is created. Having a list of things you want to accomplish for the next day, is really going to boost your productivity over time.
Organize Your Space
I had a friend who worked from home and in his office, he literally had a tower of papers that he used for work. The tower of documents were stacked on top of one another. It started from his floor and reached the level at which his desktop started. I was in shock! A legit tower of copy paper with edges sticking out everywhere. 😳 The best part was, it worked for him. He knew with accuracy, which papers were which. I asked him if he ever thought of getting a file cabinet and he said — “no that would be a mess” 😂
Everyone has their organization methods. If it works for you, then respects. Keep it. No matter how odd it may seem to someone else. If it brings out productivity within you, then you are on the right track. Just make sure you have things picked up and organized to give yourself a head start the next day.
Revise Tomorrows Calendar / Appointments
Take some time to look at your calendar for the next day. Look over any possible appointments, meetings or engagements that you will be attending. This is a great practice, as it will help you to better prepare for those activities. You don’t want to be in a scenario where you forgot you had an appointment or a meeting. Those times are never fun. 🤦♀️
Turn Off Devices 30 Minutes Prior to Bed
I am not going to lie, this one can be quite difficult to accomplish night in and night out. Regardless of how terrible you can be at this, it is still a great practice to put in place. Our devices, emit blue light and that blue light will interfere with your brains ability to produce key hormones to send you off to sleep. In addition, they are just a distraction that will just keep your mind running. A nice buffer of time without devices before bed, will help you relax.
Bed Time Reading
Many people claim that reading positive information before bed can help you capture that information into your subconscious. I am not exactly sure about all the scientific data behind all of that, but I do know it is a nice relaxing practice to implement in any evening routine. Reading will not only help you bring in positive information, but it can also help you learn new skills and take your mind to a more relaxed state.
Chill
This is probably the one we all want to end up at a lot sooner than later. We just want to get home and use our whole evening to chill out and relax. While that is the end goal, there are some things that should be taken care of before you get to this point.
Working on your evening routine is going to help you boost your productivity for the next day. Like all great practices, there needs to be a disciplined and consistent approach. The true power comes from the consistent implementation. Hopefully one of these can make you a better version of yourself and boost your productivity.
