I can honestly say that some days I really love bedtime. Maybe it’s a Taurus trait in me. I don’t know. But there is something so wonderful about slipping into some nice sheets at the end of the day, watching a little tv, and drifting off to sleep. Now if I get a good night’s sleep is a whole different story, but the intention is always set. I am a very routine person. I think that it helps bring a sense of calm in a world that can feel pretty chaotic sometimes. My bedtime routine has quite a few steps, not any that anyone at all would ever be interested in, but I think there are 3 things I am always sure to do in order to set my next day off on the right foot.

To me, these three things help me to calm down, decompress, relax, and close out my day. After years of hearing all the benefits and such about self-care, it can almost feel cliche sometimes. But I think what I love about making these three things a central part of my routine is that they can be adapted by anyone and can contain a multitude of different things since the world looks different to everyone. Even my own nightly routine differs from night to night, but it still revolves around the same central ideas.

UNWIND

The hustle and bustle of daily life can be overwhelming. By the end of the day it’s almost like being on the highest level of sensory overload and just hard to shut down. But in order to get a good night’s sleep, it’s important to start powering down from the day. I personally do this a couple of ways. First, I completely put away my work computer and everything that goes along with it. I put it completely out of my sight so I don’t feel tempted to “just finish that one last thing real quick.” Second, I take stock of the wheels turning inside my mind. Those spinning wheels that are trying to balance a to-do lists, ideas, etc. I sit down, sometimes with a nice glass of wine, and write out a to-list and whatever else is on my mind (i.e. anything I need to get at the store, a blog idea, etc). I get it all out on paper so not only am I better prepared for the next day, but I’m also not struggling to remember things down the line. Lastly, right before I get into bed I do one thing that is going to set me up for a better day. Sometimes that could be doing a face mask, enjoying a dessert, or enjoying an episode of my current streaming favorite. Whatever the case may be for you, the goal here is to just come down from the chaos of the day.

CLEAN UP

I don’t know about anyone else, but in the span of my day my desk, bed, and kitchen counters collect more objects than one would ever think possible. So it’s not really a surprise that one of my main priorities before bedtime is cleaning up. There are a couple of positives to cleaning up other than just sanity. Decluttering and putting things away at the end of the day helps to bring clarity. There is a complete difference between waking up to papers, pens, mugs, cups, and tons of stuff all over the place and waking up to a neat and tidy space—another reason I like cleaning up before bed is that it feels like a bookend to the day. Since most of my random objects, dishes, etc pile up throughout the day rather than a longer span of time, putting them away is like, for lack of a better term, putting the day away. The chaos, stress and the like are put to rest. One of the most obvious reasons for cleaning up at the end of the day is preventing larger messes. The longer you let a mess sit around, the bigger it can become creating a bigger project in the end. If you can put something away in less than a minute, you might as well get it done.

UNPLUG

Unplugging can mean different things to different people, and I think that’s great. For me, unplugging doesn’t necessarily mean from my devices. What it does mean, however, is turning my phone on do not disturb, and just existing. This is the time when it’s important to refill the cup and recharge for the next day. Sometimes I take some extra time to jot down ideas, update content logs, read a book, or do a crossword puzzle. It is not the time to get into the group chat for hot gossip, swipe endlessly on dating apps, or do “just one more thing” for work. This bit of time before bed has made a world of difference for me. Enjoying bedtime tea and a book is calming and helps me zone out. Doing a difficult crossword puzzle keeps my brain turning. Whatever your unplug and turn down routine, it should just be time to yourself for recharging in a way that satisfies you and feeds your soul.