Establish an Evening Routine to Reduce Morning Stress
When we think of routine or checklists, many of us think: "boring!!" But what if you changed your attitude towards this? What if a small evening routine at the end of your day could make your life less stressful and your days go more smoothly? Might this be worth considering?
Also, you don't have to call them routines. You could call it your "evening flight plan" or your "freedom formula" or your "blissful habits". It doesn't matter what you call it, the important thing is that you do it.
Here are five ideas you can incorporate into your new evening routine and what they can do for you the next day.
5 ideas for an evening routine
Lay out your clothes (and your children's) for the next day. This will reduce the time you need to get ready in the morning and take one decision off your plate for the next day.
Check your calendar. Is there anything you need to take to an early appointment or maybe you need to leave the house earlier? Plan the night before.
Get important items ready. Do you know where your keys and your wallet are? Get them ready so you don't have a last minute rush in the morning.
Put things away/load the dishwasher. It adds to your stress in the morning to wake up to a cluttered house. Spend a few minutes putting things away in the evening to improve your mood first thing.
Pack your (and your children's) lunch. By doing these little jobs in the evening, you're saving yourself a lot of time in the morning and feel a lot less rushed getting out the door.
Pick a couple of ideas that make sense for you. Try them out for a few days and see what difference they make to your stress levels the next day. If they improve your life, keep doing them. If not, try out different ones. Only you know what works for you. Over time you can create a set of 3 to 5 activities that become like second nature to you to do before bedtime.
Creating certain habits before bedtime will also add to improved sleep quality as it signals to your body that it is time to wind down.
What can you do before bedtime to improve your sleep?
If going to sleep is generally a problem for you, you could also:
Remove any electronic devices from your bedroom (yes, that includes your phone). The blue light they emit messes with your ability to go to sleep, so make sure any reading is done either on a device that doesn't emit blue light or opt for real books.
Remove any clutter from your bedroom. Having a cluttered bedroom can induce overwhelm and anxiety; neither of which is going to help you go to sleep easily. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary where you can relax.
Keep your bedroom cooler than the rest of the house (ca. 18 degrees Celsius). A cooler room can help you to go to sleep faster and stay asleep for longer.
Get thick curtains or black out blinds. Darkness helps to trigger the sleep hormone melatonin. So, it's also important to start dimming the lights in the hours leading up to going to bed.
Use light meditation and breathing techniques. These can be very useful to quieten the mind and help your body to relax.
How the Live Well Practice can help
If you'd like more ideas on how to reduce your stress, especially in the workplace, why not pop over to our sister site the Work Well Practice and download my "10 Killer SOS Stress Management Strategies (not only) for middle and senior leaders". You will receive an infographic, an mp3 as well as an eBook, all complementary and you can unsubscribe at any time.
You can also sign up for a free consultation with me, Samantha Culshaw-Robinson. Together we will work through a stress analysis and come up with suitable stress management tactics for you. If you would like to book in for a chat to see if we are a good fit, please fill in your contact details on my consultation form.