Your Bedtime Routine Will Determine The Success Of Your Morning Ritual

Adopt these bedtime habits and change your life

If you’ve been following me at all, then you should already know and understand the importance of sustaining a successful morning ritual, but are you aware of the benefits that come from having a consistent bedtime routine?

Morning routines are designed to prepare us for the day ahead, focus on our priorities, and — hopefully — spend some time working on self-improvement.

Your evening routine should be designed to benefit your morning routine and rewind and blow off steam. If you spend the whole evening watching TV and binge eating, you’ll likely wake up the following morning feeling sluggish and lazy.

The way you spend your evening prepares you for the following morning, in more ways than one, which is why I’ve provided a list of the best possible things to include in your bedtime routine.

Start By Putting Aside Your Outfit For Tomorrow

I recently took up an idea from Bill Gates to minimize my outfits and to set aside an outfit each evening for the following morning. It doesn’t sound like a big deal. Except it is.

Before adopting this habit, I’d spend around fifteen minutes a day looking for a pair of matching socks, attempting to find a clean shirt, and freaking out whenever I couldn’t find my belt. Now, I have plain white and black t-shirts, three pairs of pants, and my belt is always there for me, ready to go.

If we do the math — which I hate doing math — setting aside my outfit each morning has saved me approximately two hours a week in time, time now spent focusing on my morning routine.

Shut Off Your Phone At Least An Hour Before Bed

Smartphones (and all other screens) produce a blue light that restrains your body's melatonin production, which is a necessary hormone when it comes to sleep.

Besides that, your phone is also a distraction from the things that matter most. I mean, what do you really need to be doing that involves using your phone past nine PM? Nothing? Great, put it away.

I started shutting my phone off before dinner, and it changed my life — no joke. My wife seems happier because we get more time to spend together. I’m happier because I’m less focused on all the social media drama, and my mornings seem to go smoother too.

Read For Twenty Minutes.

I choose to read for at least twenty minutes every evening. Reading teaches me the essentials for becoming a better writer. Not only this, but reading a good book for at least twenty minutes a day improves my mood, bolsters my creativity, and provides me with a fresh perspective necessary for accomplishing many great things.

Here are a few of my favorite bedtime books.

• The Richest Man In Babylon by George Samuel Clason
• The Go-Giver by Bob Burg
• Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Everyday Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Why Not Try Some Meditation?

Because, why not? The benefits that you’ll gain from a simple twenty minutes of seated meditation are limitless. Just two ten-minute sessions, or one twenty-minute session, has enough power to change your life.

However, meditation, or building the art of mindful awareness, doesn’t actually require you to sit in a seated position to experience some tremendous, life-changing benefits.

Reading, writing, drawing (unless you’re terrible at it like me), and even cold showers all have similar benefits to a five-minute mindfulness session. Anything that gets you “into the zone” can cause the brain to produce natural hormones, including serotonin, melatonin, and epinephrine.

What are the key benefits of mindfulness meditation, you ask?

• Reduced blood pressure
• Improved mood
• Enhanced critical thinking skills
• Reduces stress
• Promotes self-awareness
• Reduces anxiety
• Lengthens attention span

There are other ways to benefit from mindfulness meditation without sitting cross-legged in a dark room while following the breath, such as painting, drawing, reading, writing, and long-distance walking, to name a few.

Brush Your Teeth

I went almost two years without brushing my teeth. Gross, right? Looking back, I don’t even know how I managed it. Now I can’t go more than a day, maybe, without feeling gross.

My family talked me into going to the dentist, where I found out that I had 23 cavities and five teeth in desperate need of pulling. Fantastic. Safe to say that since then, I’ve brushed my teeth every single day. It’s been proven that diseases like dementia can start in the mouth, can cause an increased risk of heart attacks or heart failure; plus, nobody likes ugly teeth. Brush your teeth.

Write-In Your Journal

Having a journal is like writing an autobiography in real-time. It’s your book, about your life. Your journal(s) will be the only thing around to tell your story when you die.

When I die, my goal is to possess a collection of journals telling my story — the ultimate autobiography.

I’ve been writing in my journal(s) since I was about nine. Now I can comb through a catalog of journals, literally describing my life. I want to create a bookshelf of journals for my children and wife to read when I get old.

Using a journal forces you to dig deep, reflect, and ask those big questions. It lets you view your thoughts and emotions subjectively to gain a better understanding. Writing in my journal has also made me a better writer.

For more on journaling, check out my three reasons why you should have a daily self-reflection ritual.

Plan The Next Day In Advance

Please don’t start your day until it’s written on paper. It’ll save you time, curb procrastination, and help you identify your priorities. It only takes five minutes each night to complete, and if you’re writing in a journal, it makes it that much easier to do. After journaling about my day, I’ll write down my plan for the following morning and my top three priorities to complete.

If you can, schedule any possible priorities into your morning routine. This way, you’ll have more time to focus on the things you love throughout the day. Just remember, if it’s not scheduled in, it won’t get done.

Spend Some Quality Time With Family And Friends

My favorite thing to do is spend some quality time with my wife, family, and closest friends. Watch a movie with your significant other. Go out with your friends and blow off some steam. Have a family night. Go on a late-night walk with your loved one. Do something that gets you around others who care for you.

When you spend time with loved ones, people you genuinely like to be around, your body produces a chemical called oxytocin, which improves positive social-interaction and acts as a natural stress negator, and lack of stress means better sleep.

Evening routines are essential for sustaining a consistent morning ritual. If you don’t yet have a morning routine, or even if you just enjoyed this post, then check out My Ultimate Morning Routine here, and follow me for more!