Most people focus on developing strong morning routines, but most don’t think about also creating a strong evening routine as well. While a morning routine is essential to get the day started on the right track to ensure you complete all of your desired tasks of the day, the perfect evening routine is just as necessary to develop.
Build your own perfect evening routine
It’s important to make sure you give yourself time to reflect on the day you had to make any necessary adjustments to your routine, destress and take time to disconnect and genuinely allow the body and mind to relax, and then prepare for the next day to ensure it’s another successful one.
Below dive deeper into these three keys to a perfect evening routine and how you can begin to implement them into your routine as well.
Disconnect and Relax
It’s safe to say we are driven by technology and live in a world of information overload.
Everyone has a never-ending list of to-do items because there is just too much out there that we want to partake in or accomplish. Coming home and jumping right into another work task, project or side hustle is only going to lead to burnout, fatigue, and shoddy work.
No matter how much we want to accomplish, it’s important we take time out of our day to disconnect from technology and relax. This can be done a few ways. Some people find exercise accomplishes this nicely, whether through short, high-intensity training or going on a long run or walk.
For those who workout in the morning, evening disconnecting can be done by taking a long bath or shower, reading a physical book or spending time in the sauna at the gym or home for those lucky sauna owners. One of the best ways to disconnect is through meditation.
You don’t need a fancy app to help you meditate, sit in a comfortable position and try to focus your mind on the present moment.
It’s challenging and can feel boring for our racing thoughts, but over time you’ll come to build the skill and notice substantial positive changes in your life.
Whatever method you decide to follow, make sure it doesn’t involve technology or a screen of any kind.
Reflect On the Day
Reflecting is something that many people do not do enough of, given our current culture of checking items off the list and moving on.
When athletes compete in sports, they always view video footage of the game to understand what they did well and what they need to improve on both for themselves and as a team.
This reflection is essential for ensuring a continuous path forwards, and so you don’t make the same mistake twice or multiple times. Some people keep journals for this reason, so they can follow trends and patterns in their behavior and learn more about themselves and their habits.
Maybe you discovered that when you spend five minutes packing lunch, it led to productive afternoon meetings. Or perhaps you learned that the day you wore compression wear is improving your workouts. If journaling is too much of a stretch, some people write a few lines of gratitude, stating what they were grateful for that occurred during that day.
Be careful to avoid repeating the same line too often. It’s important to focus on what you accomplished and celebrate that, and what you didn’t get to, why and how you can improve.
It might be that you planned too much and need to scale back, or that you are more productive if you allocate specific tasks for certain times of the day.
Either way, make sure you think about how the day went, what you accomplished and how you can improve if needed the next day.
Prep for Tomorrow
The best morning routine begins the night before. A common saying nowadays, it cannot be more accurate.
To ensure you have the most productive day possible, take some time the night before to set yourself up for success. This could include prepping some healthy food to bring to work, so you don’t forget lunch, run out the door and end up at the same pizza place down the block.
The same could be said for workout clothing. Make sure to pack that bag as well, so all you need to do is grab it and go. Mornings can be hectic, especially for those night owls.
A lousy morning can ruin your otherwise perfect day, so make sure everything is put together and ready to go the night before. It will only take around 30 minutes and can be the difference between achieving your goals or experiencing a failure.
Wrap-Up
Though the thought of developing a new morning and evening routine can seem daunting, you only need to establish the habits before they become ingrained and second nature.
Start slow, incorporating one new practice at a time, until you don’t think about it anymore, and then move on.
It will take time, but you will establish lasting habits that stick as opposed to habits that only last a few weeks at the most.