How to Set Effective Morning and Night Routines
Written by Sotonye Alamina
The Importance of a Morning and Night Routine
Having routines for when you go to bed and when you wake up is important because it helps with sleep and productivity.
Morning Routines
Morning routines are important because it is the first thing you do as soon as you wake up. You will feel more alert and awake if you have an efficient routine for your mornings.
Here are Tips to Have Better Mornings:
Have a Fixed Wake-up Time
If you wake up at the same time each day, your body will get used to it and it will get easier waking up at that time.
Plan How Much Time You Need in The Mornings
On school days, you might not wake up more than an hour before you have to leave so setting a routine that you can do in time will help you get everything done in time.
Get Up at the First Alarm
You might notice that you have a bunch of alarms in the morning to wake up and you skip all of them until you are rushing. Instead, try getting up at the first alarm so you have more time to complete your morning tasks. If it is because you still feel tired, then you need to adjust your sleep and wake-up times so you feel better in the mornings.
Don’t Go On Your Phone
You may feel tempted to start looking at your phone and scroll through apps or look at notifications. Social media and news are bad because they can make you feel negative emotions and that sets you up to have a negative day. Instead, you should get up and do the first thing in your routine.
First things can include:
Stretching
Brushing your teeth
Meditation
Making your bed
These should be things that don’t require much energy so that you don’t feel resistance to doing it as soon as you wake up.
Morning Skincare Routine
Setting an effective skincare routine in the morning can help make you feel awake as well as clean your face from an overnight build-up of dirt and oils
A simple skincare routine (in order) includes:
Cleanser
Moisturizer
Sunscreen
You could also include things like toner, serum, and eye cream, but those are not as necessary.
Journal
Doing some morning journal prompts can help you set your intention for each day. You will feel more motivated to take on tasks and reach your goal.
Morning journal prompts include:
What are 5 things I'm grateful for?
What do my mind, body, and soul need today?
How can I make today great?
What are 3 things I want to accomplish today? (for myself)
Say Some Affirmations
Affirmations in the morning can bring positivity and motivate you to get your day started. You will feel more positive
Some affirmations include:
I am smart
I am capable of doing anything I put my mind to
Today I will have a great day
Drink Water
Water is suggested when you first wake up because it helps with food digestion and speeds up your metabolism. You also might feel a little dehydrated when you wake up and drinking water can hydrate you.
Eat Something Healthy
You can speed up your metabolism when you eat something healthy within the first hour or so when you wake up. Eating a full healthy meal can help get your day started and it won’t tire you out.
Night Routines
Having a set night routine can help you get better sleep and cool down so you wake up fresh in the morning.
Here are Some Tips to Have an Effective Night Routine:
Decide When to Stop Doing School Work/Work
When doing work, you’re not resting. You might find that trying to go to sleep right after doing work is hard because your brain is in more of an active state. Set a time for when you will stop doing work so you can cool down and do your night routine. It's also good because going to sleep when your brain is too active will affect how deep you sleep and might cause you to wake up in the middle of the night
No Caffeine After 4:00
Caffeine stays in your system for over 3 hours so if there’s still caffeine in your system when you’re trying to sleep, you won't be able to.
Plan When to Eat Your Last Meal
Try to eat at least 3 hours before your set bedtime so that your food will digest. Eating then going to sleep can cause your food to digest incorrectly and end up interrupting your sleep. However, eating before bed isn’t always the worst thing as long as it’s small and healthy.
You can eat or drink things like
Chamomile tea
Warm milk and honey
Low Fat yogurt with fruits
Almond mix
Stay Hydrated
While sleeping, you won't be able to drink water so drinking water before you sleep will help prevent you from feeling dehydrated when you wake up.
Journal
Reflect on the day and write about what happened. Did you complete your goals? What was your favorite thing about today? Writing about your day can help your mind slow down so you can go to sleep faster and have more quality sleep.
Have a Nighttime Skincare Routine
It is important to have a nighttime skincare routine so you can clean all the dirt and oils from the day. Your skincare at night should at least include a cleanser and moisturizer but not sunscreen. You can also include toner, serum, and eye cream to add on.
Stay Off Your Phone
Looking at your phone can make you feel more awake and prevent you from falling asleep when you want to. Try to set your phone to night mode so the light isn’t too harsh on your eyes when trying to sleep.
Have a Fixed Bedtime
The time you go to sleep is just as important as the time you wake up. Your bedtime should be at least 7-8 hours before your wake-up time or vice versa. Setting a bedtime will make your body more used to sleeping at that time. You will start sleeping faster and stay sleeping the whole night. You will be able to plan your night routine between the time you stop doing work, and your bedtime.