We’re sharing our tips for how to make a night routine to help you fall asleep. This checklist will leave you feeling rested and ready to go in the morning!
Sleep is one of the most important things for our health, yet still many of us aren't getting enough of it. In fact, only 21% of Americans are getting the recommended 7 – 8 hours per night. Some of you reading this might say, “I'm fine functioning on 5 hours per night”, but the truth of the matter is that while you might feel fine, your body needs more rest.
So today I wanted to share some tips for how you can create your own nightly routine that supports your sleep.
What we do before bed has a huge impact on not only how deeply we sleep, but also how we fall asleep. By creating a nightly routine, you're able to form habits that help you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go.
Health Benefits of Sleep
There are so many benefits of sleep, that it's hard to list them all, but for me, the most important is how sleep affects your health. Getting an adequate amount of sleep per night can help with:
- Appetite and hunger levels
- Stress levels
- Breakouts
- Energy levels
- Balancing hormones
And so much more!
How to Make a Night Routine
For me, I aim for 7 – 8 hours of sleep every night. Since I'm an early riser (6 am!), that means I need to be in bed no later than 10 pm. And in order to get that done, I've created a super simple night routine that really helps me get in the zone of sleep.
I want to share these strategies with you in hopes that if you are someone who struggles to either fall asleep or get enough sleep, that it helps you. You will find that you wake up feeling so much more rested and ready for the day!
1. Turn Off The TV
The goal here is to limit blue light and stimulation at least 30 minutes before you are ready to sleep. Blue light (mostly from our devices and screens) can disrupt our circadian rhythm which ends up disrupting our sleep. This also means no TV in bed! If you have a TV in your bedroom (which I don't recommend!), click it off and pick up a book instead.
2. Put Your Devices Away
Again, we're trying to avoid blue light and stimulation. Try to avoid your phone in that 30-minute window before bed as well. That means no scrolling on social media, no texting, no emails, etc. We really want our brain to be shut off before bed and if we're bombarding it with things on our phone, it stimulates our brain and it can be hard to fall asleep.
If you have an iPhone, I recommend setting up your nighttime mode. That switches the device color to omit an orange light (instead of blue) and also puts it into do not disturb mode. I love this because if someone texts me after 9:30 pm, I'm not hearing it dinging.
One final trick here is to put your phone physically away. There has been a trend of people sleeping with their phones outside the bedroom, but since I use mine as my alarm, that's not really possible. My solution? I put it inside my nightstand drawer. It's completely put away, there's no risk for it lighting up in the middle of the night because of a notification.
3. Make a Cup of Tea
Tea is one of those things that just instantly relaxes me. It's calming, it's nourishing, it's warm, it's cozy and it's perfect before bed. The other great thing about tea is that there are specific blends out there designed for sleep! I recommend drinking something like Chamomile, a sleep blend, or my own personal favorite, Egyptian Licorice Mint!
4. Set the Temperature
It's been shown that sleeping in a cool room promotes more restful sleep. Our apartment is usually fairly toasty, so we actually sleep with the window open most nights. We also have a ceiling fan that we always have on. If the temperature outside drops below 35ºF, we'll probably shut our window, but I always am much more restless those nights. If you can control the temperature in your room via a thermostat, set it to around 58 – 64ºF. That seems to be the sweet spot for sleeping weather!
5. Use Your Skincare Routine
I love my skincare routine so much because it's not only signaling to my brain that it's bedtime, but it's also very relaxing. I wrote a post about my Nightly Skincare Routine if you want to check it out, but one of my favorite parts of my routine is my jade roller. Jade rollers are an incredible tool for reducing puffiness and fine lines, but they're also incredibly soothing. They're cool on your skin, they're great for stress relief and they're also going to help you wake up with glowing skin!
6. Pick Up a Book
And lastly, pick up a book! If you have trouble falling asleep reading can totally help. I recommend reading something light before bed so it's not stimulating your mind too much. Even for just 5 – 10 minutes. As soon as I pick up my book, I almost instantly start getting sleepy. It's calming, it's relaxing and it's a great way to ease your way into sleep. I personally like getting in bed and spending a little time before lights out as it again, helps me ease into the night.
Your Tips for Creating a Night Routine
And that pretty much does it for my tips! How about you? Do you have any tricks that you use at night to help you fall asleep more effortlessly? If so, let us know in the comments! And if you have any additional questions for us on sleep or anything sleep-related, let us know and we'll create more content around it ????