5 Ways To Create A Realistic Evening Routine You’ll ACTUALLY Stick To

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You need to create a realistic evening routine if you want to be productive on a daily basis without stress.

Luckily, I have compiled a list of simple steps you can take to create a routine that you’ll ACTUALLY stick to and not give up after one week.

The secret to a good nightly ritual is to choose activities that you genuinely enjoy while also limiting the amount of blue light you are exposed to. It’s all about winding down and relaxing before bed.

As a Mindset and Productivity Coach for perfectionists, creating realistic routines, systems and habits is something I do on a daily basis for my clients because ‘realistic’ seems to be a word perfectionists are allergic to!

So if you struggle with creating realistic routines, you’ve come to the right place.

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closeup of a woman's face holding on to a white duvet as part of a realistic evening routine

Table of Contents

What makes a good nighttime routine?

A good nighttime routine contains steps that are easy to do consistently even when you’re tired and also calms you down so that you can have a restful sleep.

So you want to keep things simple and relaxing.

That means limiting bright screens and activities that cause you to overthink and overconsume.

You want to slow down as much as possible so that as soon as your head hits the pillow you fall asleep.

This is why I highly recommend you go to bed at the same time every night because it will help regulate your body’s internal clock (aka circadian rhythm) and reinforce your routine into your daily habit.

A good nighttime routine also helps you prepare for the next day so that you can start your morning routine on the right foot e.g. setting out your clothes for the next day and arranging your breakfast items.

Key elements of a good routine

Regular bedtime
Consistent routine
Relaxing activities
Limited screen time
Comfortable bed/sleeping environment
Preparation for the next day
Skincare routine

Why is it important?

There are many benefits to having a structured evening routine such as improvements in your mental and physical wellbeing.

Most of my clients are perfectionists who have been disillusioned with hustle culture so part of their coaching involves creating simple routines that help them detach and unwind from the pressure they feel from work.

An evening routine is a great way to signal to your brain that is time to slow down and let go of activities of the day, good and bad.

Physical health benefits

Improved sleep quality
Reduced stress and anxiety

Mental health benefits

Management of overthinking
Enhanced productivity
Mental factory reset
Self-care practice

When should you start – after work or before bed?

Honestly, there is no right or wrong time to start your evening routine and it depends on your schedule and personal preferences.

You can start your evening routine from the moment you get home from work and plan out your activities until you’re going to bed.

For example:

Commute home (5-6 pm)
Dinner and family time (6-7 pm)
Personal time for hobbies or relaxation (7-8 pm)
Wind-down activities (8-9 pm)
Bedtime routine (9-10 pm)

Or you can start your evening routine 1 to 2 hours before bedtime to help you wind down before going to sleep.

If you need help trying to figure out your bedtime I recommend you think about how many hours of sleep you need and what time you need to wake up. Then work backwards from there.

For example, I need a minimum of eight hours of sleep each day which means if I want to wake up at 6 am I need to go to bed at 10 pm. So my evening wind-down routine would start between 8 and 9 pm.

Step-by-step process for designing your perfect evening routine

1. Audit your current routine

You need to take a good long hard look at your current routine and take note of how you actually spend your time in the evenings.

Be honest with yourself and don’t try to hide the truth if you spend hours of evening doom scrolling on social media.

Many people fall into the bad habit of staring at their phone screen before bed and I don’t blame them because social media is literally designed to be addictive.

You might even be doing some activities in the evening that are helpful and make you feel good so you want to keep track of the things that are working and the things that aren’t.

The first step is about being non-judgmental and just observing what you currently do.

How to do it:

Log every activity you do from the moment you get home from work until you go to bed
Keep note of how long you spend on each activity
Rate each activity on a scale of 1-5 on how it made you feel e.g 1 = restless/agitated and 5 = relaxed and sleepy
In the morning rate your sleep on a scale of 1-5 1= very bad, 5 = very good

2. Identify your changes

Now you are fully aware of the activities that you currently do in your evening routine and how it makes you feel so this next task should be quite easy.

You need to go through your list and identify the habits you would like to change in your routine. It’s important to also make a note explaining why you would like to make that particular change because it’s so easy to fall into old habits.

This acts as a reminder when you feel yourself slipping back.

How to do it:

Go through your evening routine audit and pick out the activities that you like and dislike
Try to think about how these activities impact your sleep stress levels and overall wellbeing. Are they good or bad?
Then write down the changes you want to make and include your reasons for making changes e.g. I want to reduce my screen time because it gives me brain fog the next morning and I find it hard to sleep

3. Design your routine

So now you should have a list of activities that you currently do and want to continue doing in your routine as well as changes you would like to make.

Designing your evening routine involves planning activities that align with your ideal self and promote good sleep hygiene.

For example, if you want to be someone who reads more then you could include reading one page of a book in your new evening routine.

Or if you want to start jogging in the morning then part of your evening routine involves putting out your running clothes and preparing your water bottle.

If you’re feeling stuck about activities you can include in your evening routine check out the list further down in this blog post.

How to do it:

List the activities you want to include in your new routine
Organise these activities in an order that makes the most amount of sense
Add rough time estimates to these activities
Review this first draft of your schedule and evaluate if it’s achievable in the time that you have available
Make your changes and then write your evening routine somewhere that you can easily see

4. List and collect resources

You need to identify any tools or resources that help you implement and stick to your evening routine.

They can be physical things such as a water bottle and a yoga mat to more digital tools such as app limits and meditation apps.

I’ve even heard of people buying phone lock boxes so that they’re not distracted by it in the evening. This is definitely something I’m going to invest in in the winter months because my self-control goes down the drain due to seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Examples of resources

Yoga mat
Journal
Meditation app
Sleep tracking apps
Habit trackers
Water bottle
App blockers (e.g. Stay Focusd)
Essential oils
Blue screen glasses

5. Start small and habit stack

It’s so easy to get excited once you’ve created your evening routine and think that it’s going to change your life forever instantly.

When the reality is that you need to start small and slowly build it into your routine so that becomes part of your lifestyle.

Manageable changes are much more likely to stick in comparison to just going in all guns blazing. That’s why I recommend you start by habit stacking which involves linking a new habit to an existing one so that is easier for you to remember and implement.

For example, add a new activity right after brushing your teeth.

How to do it:

Pick one or two new activities to add to your new routine
Set really small and achievable goals for each of these activities (e.g. meditate for 5 minutes or read 3 pages of a book). You can always increase the time or complexity later on
Identify a habit that you already do consistently in the evening (e.g brushing your teeth)
Attach your chosen new habit to this existing one (e.g. after brushing your teeth spend 5 minutes meditating)
Over time new habits are added to your established ones to create a new chain of positive activities in your evening

Evening routine ideas

Meditation
Bed yoga
Sudoku/crossword/wordsearch
Phone free hours
Warm bath or shower
Journal writing
Bullet Journal
Skincare routine
Evening yoga
Gratitude
Pack your bag
Prepare breakfast for the next day e.g. overnight oats
Lay out your clothes
App limits on phone
Face mask
Technology ban

Journal prompts to help you create your evening routine

What activities do I currently do in the evening that help me relax and unwind?
What are the biggest obstacles that prevent me from sticking to an evening routine?
What do I want to achieve with my evening routine (e.g., better sleep, relaxation, productivity)?
Which activities are most important for me to include in my evening routine?
How much time can I realistically dedicate to my evening routine each night?
What relaxation techniques can I include to help me wind down before bed?
What is one thing I accomplished today that I am proud of?
What are the top three tasks I need to focus on tomorrow?
How can I incorporate mindfulness or meditation into my evening routine?
What worked well in my evening routine this week, and what can I improve for next week?

Affirmations to say before you go to bed

I am calm, peaceful, and ready for a restful night’s sleep
I let go of all worries and embrace a night of deep, restorative sleep
I am grateful for the positive experiences I had today
I am kind to myself and acknowledge that I did my best today
I am filled with positive thoughts and look forward to the opportunities tomorrow will bring
My body and mind are healing and rejuvenating as I sleep
I am proud of my achievements today and trust in my ability to succeed tomorrow
I release all negative thoughts and welcome peace and tranquillity
I am confident in my abilities and trust the process of life
I am thankful for this time to rest, recharge, and restore my energy

What are you going to put in your evening routine?

I hope you found this blog post helpful when it comes to creating a realistic evening routine. You can even turn this into a simple checklist to use as a guide for creating routines in the future if this is something that you struggle with.

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5 Ways To Create A Realistic Evening Routine You’ll ACTUALLY Stick To

What makes a good nighttime routine?

Why is it important?

When should you start – after work or before bed?

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