The evening routine and the morning routine: the ideal duo!

A strong morning routine goes hand in hand with a good evening routine. What’s a good evening routine? And what should your evening routine look like in order to sleep better and be as productive as possible the next day?

The day well begun is half won. But don’t forget that the night before is just as important. Do you have a perfect morning routine yet? Then you’ll come a long way with a good evening routine. Conversely, if you have a fixed evening routine, you will make even more progress with a strong morning routine. The two complement each other perfectly and are the ideal duo for a successful and productive life.

This is what the perfect morning routine looks like

A good evening and morning routine go hand in hand. Read all about what the perfect morning routine looks like.

The importance of a good evening routine

There are three main reasons to introduce an evening routine into your life:

It helps you relax:
An evening routine helps you relax and finish your day more calmly. By repeating this evening ritual every night, you prepare yourself for the night. After a while, this becomes such an automatism that your body knows it’s time to go to sleep and you will fall asleep more easily.
You’ll sleep better:
A good night’s sleep is indispensable for a productive day. A consistent evening routine trains your body to sleep more easily and will also improve the quality of your sleep. This in turn gives you a strong energy boost in the morning!
A carefree morning:
Get rid of a few to do’s in the evening so you don’t have to do them in the morning. For example, get your clothes ready, prepare your lunch, make your bag or backpack already, … This has a positive impact on the flow of your morning and saves you a lot of stress and worries so you can put your energy into other things.

An evening routine is different for everyone but should always keep two important questions in mind:

How do you finish your day so that you can crawl into bed with a peace of mind?
How to put yourself in the best position to get the deep and restorative night’s sleep we all need.

There are many things that can stand in the way of a good night’s sleep, ranging from stress to screen use in bed. There are a number of tips to help you sleep better that you can add to your evening routine to get the most out of your sleep and your morning.

Evening routine tips: 9 things to do after 9 o’clock in the evening!

1. Turn off your screens

It’s wise to avoid all those screens an hour before you go to sleep. After all, your laptop, tablet or smartphone emits so-called blue light. This blue light inhibits the production of melatonin in your body, which makes your body think it’s still daytime. This not only makes it more difficult for you to fall asleep, it also affects the quality of your sleep.

2. Read a real book

Research shows that reading a book reduces your stress levels by as much as 68%! Moreover, people who read a real, paper book before bedtime sleep remarkably better than those who read an E-book. So turn off your screens and read a nice relaxing book before you go to dreamland.

3. Reflect on your day

Take a moment to reflect. How was your day? Write about this. You’ll learn a lot about yourself. Research also shows that people who reflect on how their day was and write this down are up to 20% more productive than others.

4. Plan your next day

Make a plan for your next day! What really needs to be done? In what time frame? Making your plan for the next day helps clear your mind so you can sleep more relaxed and start the morning without stress.

5. Prepare your breakfast

A healthy breakfast is the key to a productive day. However, eating healthy can take some time. A few simple preparations can save you a lot of time and effort. Decide what you want for breakfast, put all the ingredients and supplies in place ready, put the bowls out on the table etc. This way you can have breakfast in no time. Or go for a Goodmorning.

6. Prepare your outfit for the next day

Save yourself the stress of needing to choose your outfit in the morning. Something as simple as this will make your morning much quieter.

7. Make sure your room is cool (or even a bit chilly)

You sleep worse when it’s (too) hot in your room. Make sure your room is pleasant and fresh. Turn off the heating, open a window and take a refreshing shower before you go to sleep. You will undoubtedly sleep better.

8. Relax for a while

Avoid too many stimuli before you go to sleep. Spending a few minutes in silence is a good way to lower your stress levels. You will fall asleep more easily and sleep better if you calm your thoughts before going to sleep.

9. Go to sleep on time

This goes without saying. If you want to get up early in the morning and perform well, make sure you get enough sleep at night. Some people need half an hour to an hour to fall asleep. Keep this in mind. Do you want 7-8h sleep? Then calculate around what time you should sleep and crawl into bed half an hour earlier.

Tip: apps like Sleep Cycle or Headspace are easy-to-use tools to make falling asleep less frustrating.

So a productive day starts the evening before. A few small adjustments already make a world of difference. It’ll help you to master your morning routine and start the day with less stress.

Productivity