Good Morning!
Earlier this week we talked about Daily Duties and the way forming habits can help us fulfill them. On Wednesday we discussed one of the best ways to develop healthy habits: a Good Morning Routine. Today we are going to talk about another way to build Healthy Habits: an Evening Routine.
Why Have an Evening Routine?
An Evening Routine allows you to do three main things:
- Wrap up your day
- Prepare for the Morning
- Prepare for sleep
Before I get into a little more detail about what I mean I wanted to take a second to recommend the Fabulous App again. If you’re trying to build new habits and are struggling to do it on your own- you need to try this app. It has helped me so so much. But enough about that… time to get into the making of an Evening Routine.
Wrap Up Your Day
Based on your Daily Duties list, there are probably a couple of tasks that you can do in the evening after the day’s work is done. For me those things include stretching, taking a shower, and doing a “self check-in”. Incorporating Daily Duties into your Evening Routine will make you more likely to be able to check them off consistently 🙂
Wrapping up your day doesn’t just mean finishing up those last few tasks… it also means taking a moment to reflect and be mindful. It’s good to start with recognizing where I succeeded in the day and where I could have done better. Then, just like my Morning Routine, I use the Divine Office app to listen to my “Night Prayer”. Allowing me to release all that the day held -good and bad- before going to sleep and to recenter myself.
Prepare for the Morning
Visualizing the next day and what it will look like has been super helpful for me. Not only in my productivity but also in having peace of mind before going to sleep. As part of my Evening Routine I make my To-Do list for the morning and (if time allows) make a plan for accomplishing them.
Preparing for the morning can also include things like picking your outfit, preparing breakfast, or packing a bag for school/work.
My personal favorite thing to prepare myself for the next day is to write myself a “Good Morning” note. It’s a sticky note with a little bit of motivation for the morning as well as an outline of my Morning Routine. Sometimes I’ll leave notes about the day ahead as well as any reminders I may need. It is a form of self love: giving my future self something to wake up to ♡
Prepare for Sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is soooo important, but most of us (including myself) really struggle with it. Your Evening Routine should include things that allow youtube sleep well and feel rested in the morning. Finding these things might take time and a bit of trial and error, so be willing to try new things! My personal favorite things to help with falling asleep and staying asleep have been stretching and the Divine Office Night Prayer (which I mentioned earlier). I also use a breathing exercise [which I might write a future blog post about] that calms me to the point of peaceful sleep within minutes.
Everyone is different so your Evening Routine will probably look different than mine and that’s totally okay! By developing and maintaining an Evening Routine you are building healthy habits and helping YOU grow 🙂
As always, keep moving forward and feel free to reach out in the comments. You can also subscribe to my email list on the connect page, or connect with me on instagram! I look forward to hearing from you!
-me
[elijah jane]
