My Current Workday EVENING ROUTINE 19-12-2020

Like having a strong Morning Routine that you can rely on, I think it’s equally important to take care of your evenings too.

Before I had a solid evening routine in place, my evenings would look like this:

I would watch youtube video’s until I got tired around 23:30-24:00.
After I got off the couch, I would brush my teeth while watching more youtube videos and stumble to my bed. Finally, I would lay still for 45 minutes plus and worry before I eventually fell asleep.

This non-routine would reck my sleep quality. Some days it was so bad that I couldn’t get out of bed. I would stay in bed and watch more youtube video’s.

I was a braindead content junky.

At that moment in time, I had no idea that I could change my mental state of mind by quitting certain habits and building strong routines.

And so I started crafting an evening routine that I could maintain without too much effort. Let me tell you; It paid off.

These days, my mornings are great. My mornings are a time of high energy and focus. I wake up fresh, energized and mentally sharp. And all of that while my workload and stress levels have increased tremendously.

In general, I feel energized, happy and focussed in the morning.

All because I chose to implement an evening routine that would set me up for success.

Why you need a Solid Evening Routine too

A guru once said:

A good day starts with a good night sleep and equally so a good night of sleep starts with a robust evening routine.

What you should learn from this quote: your current mental and physical state (how you feel and act at this moment in time) is the direct result of the previous steps and choices you made earlier. In short, how you feel right now is the result of the choices you made earlier.

Once you nail the previous step, for instance, a routine, a habit or a method, this will increase your chances of success in the current step.

Logically, if you want a good day, you should focus on good sleep quality, and if you want good sleep quality, you should implement a good evening routine that sets you up for high-quality sleep. It’s that simple.

Your evening routine assists your brain and body to get into the right mental and physical state during the end of the workday: the state of being relaxed without worries or anxieties.

A solid evening Routine helps you to achieve at least four things before you go to bed:

• Your evening routine should help you to relax and to wind down.
• Your evening routine should help you to reflect on the current day.
• Your evening routine should help you to reflect on an upcoming day.
• Your evening routine should help you collect/save important thoughts that you might need to reference in the future.

Below I’m sharing my most current Workday Evening Routine with you guys.
This routine was written down using the Notion App in October of the year 2019. I haven’t changed it since that version from 2019.

Let me know what you think of the routine and how it compares or differs from your Evening Routine.

What my Actual Workday Evening Routine looks like

My workday evening routine starts at 21:30

That feels early right, and it’s true. It still feels early for me too.

But I did not come up with this exact time myself. My Oura Ring has helped me to come up with this time.

My Oura Ring has tracked and analysed my sleep for over a year now, and it has come up with some interesting insights based on my sleep patterns and behaviour. The Ring’s sleep algorithms (don’t ask me how they work) have pinpointed a window between 21:45 – 23:15 that is the optimal window for me to wind down and go to bed.

So that’s what I’m aiming for. I trust in the technology and start my evening routine at 21:30. This gives me enough time to go through my routine and be in bed at the right time and have some time left to chat with Nathalie.

1. at 21:30 } I run cold water on my wrists for 1 minute
   • I run cold water on my wrists first because multiple studies have shown that running cold water on your wrists can bring down your heart rate, release endorphins and reduce cortisol levels. Try it out for yourself! (It does wonders during the day too!)
2. at 21:32 } I pour myself a cup of green tea while I’m still at the sink
   • I drink boatloads of green tea since “researchers have found, for instance, that drinking tea lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol. And evidence of long-term health benefits is emerging, too: drinking at least 100 millilitres (about half a cup) of green tea a day seems to lower the risk of developing depression and dementia” – From Nature.com.
3. at 21:35 } I Meditate for at least 10 mins
   • For meditation in the evening, I’m using the Inside Timer App (the same app I use during the morning). The app has more than 100.000 guided meditations. It even has a dedicated section for sleep and relieving anxiety. I highly recommend using the FREE inside timer app.
4. at 22:00 } I write in my Evening Journal
   • I have a Notion Template specifically designed to help me reflect on my current day, save important thoughts, and reflect on tomorrow finally. It’s a question-based template that asks me to think of an answer to a specific question and then write it down. I like the question and answer format a lot.
     I use it for My Weekly Reflections too.
5. at 22:15 } I read my Evening Affirmation
   • My Evening Journal links to another notion page at the bottom where I’ve written down my current evening affirmations.
     Like my morning affirmation, I like to read it out in my head to prime myself for good sleep that night and for focus the next day.
6. at 22:20 } I do my hygiene stuff and go to bed
   • It’s important to note that I forbid myself to use my phone in bed for non-essential things. I only use the Sleep Cycle App and the Kindle App; that’s it. Using your phone in bed for non-essentials like social media or checking Messanger is a recipe for disaster. Be strong and resist the phone. It will do wonders for you!
7. (Optional step) at 22:35 } I read fiction when I’m not tired enough
   • IMPORTANT: Never read self-help or non-fiction books before you go to bed! Those books might spark idea nuggets which you don’t want at this moment of your day. Getting new idea nuggets should be avoided at night since they’ll fire up your brains synapses and give you a boost of energy. Just read a good fiction book. It’s better for the night.
8. 22:45 } I talk with my partner and tend to fall asleep before 23:15

How to start making a morning routine your own

Take your time
I get your feeling that the list looks long and intimidating. Trust me; I get it.
It takes so long because of many steps; it’s because you shouldn’t rush your evening routine ever. You could theoretically speed it up 4x, but that would actually ruin the routine’s whole purpose, which is to wind you down for the night. Take your time; don’t rush. It’s even better to not do the routine at all then to rush through. Rush is equal to more stress, and that’s what we’re trying to avoid.

Be patient
It will take time to get to a solid evening routine that feels natural to you. Take your time and make time to get there. See it as a skill that needs to be developed. It took me more than 6 months to get to a version of my evening routine that felt natural to me. Again, no rush here. Small steps.

Beginnings are the hardest.
In the beginning, doing your evening routine will feel like a lot of effort.
That is totally normal because before you were a lazy couch potato (like I was). The feeling of effort will go away over time. The more you stick with your routine, the more it will become a habit. Eventually, your evening routine will become a part of who you are. It will feel effortless because you won’t even have to think about it. When you stick to it long enough, it will become part of your system.

What works for me might not work for you.
Try the routine out and mix and match thing that you like and don’t like. Nothing I advice is set in stone, it’s a guideline to inspire you to make it your own.

Don’t stress about it.
It’s ultra-important that you don’t get more anxious when implementing a new routine in your life. A little stress is to be expected since you’re doing something that’s novel to you. It’s normal. But the moment you start to get seriously anxious because you missed a step or because you feel like you have to do a routine ‘or else’. That’s the moment when you need to take a step back and evaluate your process. Maybe you should shrink the routine down a bit, or maybe you should take some more time to get used to it. But don’t give up. Everyone can implement a morning routine.

Have fun
I know it feels like I take life extremely serious (obviously), but it’s important to have fun while doing all of this. It’s probably the most important advice I can give. If you can’t enjoy the process you’re doing it wrong, trust me, I know from experience.

At the end of the day, you should be able to look back at your routine and think something like: “that was nice, and I feel good while doing it.”.

Finally, I would recommend you start with one or two things to implement in your first version of your evening routine.

Start with the simple step of pouring water on your wrists. Take a sticky note and write the following on it and stick it on your wall near the sink:

Tonight I will drip cold water on my wrists before I go to bed. And then do it.

Once that feels effortless, add another habit and keep going until you’ve constructed an evening routine that sets you up for success the next day.

I had fun while writing this article; I hope you did while reading it.

Have a good one and remember to have a great evening.

More Stuff You’ll Love:
My Current Workday Morning Routine
Weekly reflecting: A Notion Template to reflect on your week
My Notion Cockpit: A new Notion Template – A Life Wiki on steroids
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