6 Habits In My Evening Routine That Changed Everything
I used to scroll my phone for hours in the evenings, finding solace in the relatability of Instagram Reels and the sharp humor of a well-timed TikTok.
Then I fell asleep with my headphones on listening to podcasts on self-improvement with the sounds of human voices lulling me to sleep.
My restless mind wasn’t really getting any much-needed rest. But I felt good because I unlocked a new travel journal idea or the art of Chinese tea brewing.
I told myself I was getting inspired and relaxing at the end of a long day. I deserved some mindless fun, after all, to get my mind off all my everyday worries.
But it wasn’t until I put my phone aside in the evenings that I realized how that “relaxing” evening routine was actually just making me more anxious.
Of course it felt great to collapse into bed with hilarious videos of cats opening door knobs.
But was it deeply restful? Existentially satisfying?
So after a few unsuccessful attempts to “limit” my screentime, I finally devised a perfectly restful and indulgent evening routine that really has changed everything.
It’s made me sleep better. And the benefits have spilt over into my days and made me calmer, happier and more productive.
My evenings now feel cozy and refreshing. They make me feel like I’m enjoying life – not just crashing and getting through another day.
My new restful evening routine doesn’t even compare to my old anxiety-inducing, screen-lit marathon that I only thought was restful.
Here are the simple habits in my evening routine that changed everything.
1. Turn off social media, laptop and TV
My evening routine begins right after I finish work for the day (at around 5pm or 6pm) and it goes until my bedtime at 9pm (I sleep early because I’m up at 5am for my morning walk).
So I really maximize those few hours to: completely forget about work, truly rest and feel like I’m enjoying my life and not just surviving the day and crashing.
Firstly, I turn my laptop off and I wrap up all the day’s activity (whether that’s emailing a client or reading Goodreads reviews). This lets my brain know all my unfinished tasks will be completed tomorrow.
And it’s also a signal that work in the outside world is done and it’s time to turn inward. It’s me time.
I also set my phone aside. If I do want to quickly check in, I scroll horizontally (checking my DMs, reading my comments) and not vertically (scrolling the bottomless void of Reels and videos).
I don’t scroll at all in the two hours right before bed. I know screentime has disastrous effects on sleep quality. But I don’t really rely on my willpower to stay off my phone. I’m just too busy doing other far more enjoyable things to even think about my social media feed.
Try this: Switch your phone to greyscale (Settings > Accessibility) to discourage mindless scrolling and make all those candy-colored apps far less appealing.
I don’t watch TV at all during the week. I watch movies for a few hours on the weekends – and I’ve found this actually makes the experience of watching movies more special. It also makes me more selective about what I watch (instead of clicking on whatever looks good) so I end up watching movies I enjoy a lot more.
2. Get physical
After a full day of writing, planning, thinking and emailing, I find it’s essential to give my brain some downtime.
Whether that’s clearing my desk or taking my dog for a walk to the local park, I do something physical at the end of a long day to give my mind a much-needed refresh. I get my body moving doing some chores or repetitive tasks that refresh my living space.
This short burst of activity gets my mind off work, gives me a little shot of dopamine and sets the mood for the rest of the evening.
Getting physical means:
- clearing off my desk
- going for a walk with my dog
- having a cup of tea in the garden
- doing any leftover dishes
3. Set the mood
Since I work from home, I want my evenings to feel really different from my work day – even though I’m still in the same space.
I don’t want to just move from the desk to the couch. I don’t want to just switch from my work screens to my entertainment screens for the evening.
So I set the mood for the evening with some small sensory pleasures that put me in a spa resort set of mind.
Setting the mood includes:
- doing my skincare routine
- lighting some incense or candles
- spraying some perfume or linen spray
- playing some relaxing music
- changing into my pajamas
I love scent to reinvigorate my senses at the end of a stressful day. Even a dab of perfume makes the evening feel very luxurious. I also use lavender oils in my skincare and a green tea scented linen spray on my pillows.
I dim the lights to a soft golden glow, which helps you sleep better by mimicking nature’s natural cycle of day turning into night. I turn my bedside lamp on and dim the overhead lights in the living room. I avoid any bright and cool toned lights before bed – I even shower with the lights turned low.
4. Read or listen to podcasts
I spend the rest of the evening tucked in with a good novel or lounging in the garden with a podcast in my headphones.
I read for at least 30 minutes every night. And I’ve noticed a huge difference when I traded in my social media scrolling for reading in the evenings.
It’s made my life infinitely calmer, more restful and rewarding. Whether it’s a rich Thomas Hardy novel, a bit of chick lit or the latest self-help, I always have a few books to dip into depending on my mood.
And when I’m too exhausted to read, I unwind with a long podcast episode in the evening. I listen to episodes and interviews that are at least around an hour long so I don’t fall into that familiar trap of short form entertainment. A longer podcast engages my attention span and gives some reign to my imagination.
5. Journal
I usually journal in the mornings, but if I’ve had an especially difficult day then I’ll do another journaling session at night to help me process whatever I’m going through.
Journaling offers a much-needed dose of encouragement and perspective at the end of a hard day. And it’s a great tool to thing ahead and plan your day for tomorrow.
If I’m really tired, I do 10 minutes of gratitude journaling. It’s the quickest and most effective way to boost my mood and help me sleep.
6. Lights out
I usually read until it’s bedtime. Then I turn the lights off at the same time every night and I fall asleep almost immediately.
At this point, any worries and stresses have receded into the background thanks to all of the calming rituals that began when I shut off my laptop.
Though life’s not perfect and I get the occasional sleepless night just like anyone else. And sometimes I fall off the bandwagon entirely and I end up gorging on tacos while watching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer all night.
Sometimes, when life gets too much, I only do a few minutes of journaling. Or I only read a few pages of my novel.
But I know the real value of my evening routine – and I know how much I really benefit from a restful and restorative evening.
So I always end up returning to my time-tested habits and they never fail.
Read next:
21 Slow Living Hobbies For A Happier, Less Stressed You
20 Powerful Journal Prompts For Depression
20 Easy Ways To Simplify Your Life
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