12 Ideas to Boost Productivity with your Evening Routine

Everyone always thinks that a solid Morning Routine is the key to a productive day. But what if I told you that having a good evening routine can also boost your productivity, just as much, if not more than a morning routine. Waking up early and starting your day right is certainly important, especially for facing the day ahead. But we often overlook how important it is to wind down from that day, and just how much of an impact your nightly routine can make to your productivity and mental wellbeing.

So how exactly can you boost productivity with your evening routine? This is going to differ from person to person, especially as our evenings will all look very different. Maybe your evening starts as soon as you sign off work at 5pm. Maybe you don’t have a chance to stop until the children are in bed at 8pm. Whatever your evening looks like, implementing some of these 12 simple ideas should be quite doable.

I would encourage you to prioritise introducing some of these things into your evening routine as a form of self care as well as providing a boost to your productivity and motivation.

Why an Evening Routine is just as important as a Morning Routine

We have all heard of the benefits of a morning routine. You can get organised for the day, you can fully wake up and not feel rushed, and you can make time for yourself with a workout or perhaps some meditation.

So why does an Evening routine matter?

Prepares you for sleep– By creating a consistent evening ritual, you can encourage your body to relax and after a few weeks your body will automatically know it is time to sleep when you finish your evening routine. This will improve the time it takes for you to get to sleep, as well as decreasing your stress levels at the end of a long day.
Gets you mentally and physically ready for tomorrow– You can use your evening routine to prepare for what the next day will bring. Whether that is preparing tomorrow’s lunch, or making a to do list, this will stand you in good stead for the day, and make your morning routine even easier! By sorting this the evening before, you are also less likely to stress about it overnight, which could affect your sleep quality.
Self care– Although it is the age of self care, it seems like we all have less and less time in which to practice it! When was the last time you spent an hour or two purely focusing on yourself and your needs? Self care is essential in maintaining a happy and healthy lifestyle, and your evening routine is the perfect place to implement it. Taking time for yourself is the perfect way to wind down from your busy day, and should leave you calm and happy, ready to sleep and then face the day ahead.

By creating a solid evening routine, you will be able to improve your life in all of these areas. This will make you less stressed and happier, leaving you as the best version of you. And when you are the best version of yourself, everything else improves too!

You will have the motivation and determination to face and overcome challenges in your day, and your brain will be on top form, potentially tripling your productivity for the day.

By using these 12 ideas to boost productivity with your evening routine, you will be able to lessen your tiredness, improve your sleep, decrease your stress and hopefully set yourself up for a happy and successful day ahead.

Clean for 15 minutes

Taking 15 minutes out of your evening to restore the order to your home that was lost throughout the day can make a massive difference when you come to do “the big clean” of your house. It means clutter does not accumulate and germs are less likely to spread around the house.

I find it really hard to motivate myself to start cleaning so I have created a playlist that is exactly 15 minutes long. This way I can sing around the house and enjoy myself whilst keeping track of my 15 minutes of cleaning.

Now you won’t be faced with having to clear up a messy house tomorrow morning before you have to start work.

Shower and Get Comfy

Showering in the evening means you will have one less thing to do tomorrow morning, giving you more time for your morning routine. I also find that showering or taking a bath in the evening is a great way to destress and relax any tense muscles you have accumulated throughout the day.

Getting out the shower into some cosy pyjamas or loungewear is one of life’s simple pleasures, and will always help you feel more relaxed and ready for sleep.

Check your to do list for today

Once you have finished your day, there is nothing more rewarding than checking the to do list you made for the the day to tick off what you managed to do. By doing this you can keep track of your to do’s and not abandon your to do list half way through the day.

Don’t worry about any items on your list that you didn’t get done today because you can now use the remainder of your list to help write tomorrow’s. Remember that it is more than ok to not get everything done in one day; there is always tomorrow.

Write your to do list for tomorrow

As a self-employed business owner, I have found planning my day to be an invaluable step in improving my productivity. And what better time is there to do it, than when you have just finished your day and the tasks on your previous to do list are still fresh in your mind.

You can write down what you want to do tomorrow based on what you got done today, and what you did not manage to complete. Planning your day the night before, can help you let go of the stress you have accumulated throughout the day. And make sure you don’t go to bed worrying what you have to do tomorrow and wondering if you will forget to do it by the time you wake up in the morning.

Journal

Journaling seems to be the new cool, “in thing” to do. But it’s really been around for centuries, and it has only increased in popularity. Anyone can journal, and there’s so many ways you can journal and reasons why you should.

You could simply write a diary of your life which would help improve your writing skills and memory.

Or you could create a dream journal and take real steps towards what you have always wanted. This will help you keep track of your daily progress and let you see how far you’ve come.

One of the most popular type of journal is the gratitude journal where you can write everything in your life that you are thankful for. I find that this is particularly effective in helping you to “stop and smell the roses”. Life is so hectic and we are always pushing ourselves to be or get the next best thing. This means we rarely stop to be present and be thankful for all that we have and all that we are right now. I believe that you cannot be truly happy until you are truly present.

But whichever journal you use, it could be very beneficial to your mindset, your goals and your productivity.

Put your Clothes out for Tomorrow

I love getting ahead for tomorrow the night before. Mainly because mornings can be rather difficult for me! I have become a morning person and it has changed my life, but that doesn’t mean that I am immediately awake and productive. So if I can get ahead for the morning in the evening before it helps my day immensely.

By putting the clothes you want to wear tomorrow out early, you cut out a lot of the thinking time that you waste in the morning. I know it can sometimes take me HOURS trying to decide what to wear! By deciding the night before you will be ready much sooner in the morning, meaning you can get started on the day or other more productive activities.

I also like to get out the clothes that I work out in so I am more motivated to fit in a morning workout before I start my day.

Meal Prep for Tomorrow

Whilst you are making your evening meal you could get a jump on tomorrow and do some meal prepping! I know, that sounds like an awful lot of work. But meal prepping has so many benefits that if you have the time then it is well worth it!

You are already in the kitchen, so you may as well use your time wisely and double up the amount of work you can get done. Whilst you are waiting for your dinner to cook you can be meal prepping for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch, or you could even prep for the whole week!

I used to hate cooking, which could be easily seen by my university diet of pasta and microwaveable rice! But since becoming a business owner, and taking an interest in health, I find meal prepping to be an invaluable use of my time. Here are just a few benefits of meal prepping that I have found:

Saves you time.
Eliminates the dreaded “what should we cook tonight?” question.
Can save a lot of money over time.
Encourages a Healthier diet.
Eliminates impulsive snacking and “Hanger” issues.
Reduces food waste.

Don’t drink any caffeine!

I know this is an obvious one but did you know studies have shown that consuming caffeine up to 6 HOURS before bed can still disrupt sleep and make it hard to drift off. I would never have thought that caffeine could still affect you 6 hours after drinking it!

This means you should really try to keep coffee to the morning, and it definitely should not appear in your evening routine! By eliminating this, you will be able to get to sleep faster and have a better quality of sleep, meaning you will wake up feeling refreshed for the day ahead and be exceedingly more productive than you would after a caffeine fuelled sleepless night.

Turn off your Screens 2 hours before Bed

Phones, laptops and tablets all emit blue light. This is great for keeping you going through the day but can make you feel wired and not sleepy when bedtime arrives. I would recommend avoiding all blue light sources for a couple of hours before bed.

If you can filter blue light on your device then definitely do so, but I would still recommend avoiding your phone in the lead up to bedtime so you can properly disconnect and wind down, without the stresses of modern life and social media. Getting away from the constant draining force that is social media can do wonders for your mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Spend Time with your Loved Ones

There is no better use of your time than spending it with your loved ones. From boosting your positivity to supporting you through hard times, spending time with people you love and trust really is second to none.

And the upsetting fact is that we don’t do it often enough! You may think you are too busy right now, but ask yourself what are you going to look back on and value in 5 years time? Doing an extra 45 minutes of work every evening or spending that time with the people you love? As someone who has lost people I feel like that is quite an easy question to answer.

It may not seem very productive, but I guarantee you will not regret it in years to come.

Read in Bed

There are so many benefits to reading apart from the obvious entertainment value. Research at the University of Sussex found that just 6 minutes of reading reduces stress by 68%. It can also help boost creativity, increase empathy and help your overall mental capabilities.

Starting to read at the same time each night will condition your brain into thinking it is time for bed. It is because of this that people always say that reading before bed makes them sleepy. Reading will also provide you with some escapism, taking you away from the daily worries of life and towards a more fantasy or dream-like state ready for sleep.

Keep your Routine Consistent

One of the most important parts of creating an effective and productive evening routine is keeping it consistent. Once you have established an evening routine that works for you, you should try to keep it the same each night. Meaning doing the same things in the same order, and preferably at the same time each night.

This will help to condition your brain that once you get to the end of this routine it is time to sleep. I have found that this helps me relax more and I get to sleep much quicker once my head hits the pillow.

How to Create your Perfect Evening Routine

So now you have some ideas to add to your evening routine to help boost your productivity. But implementing them can be easier said than done! Here are my top tips for creating your ideal evening routine in a way that will not impede on your day, or feel too overwhelming to keep up every day.

Don’t put pressure on yourself

As I said earlier, we all have different evenings, meaning implementing a healthy evening routine will be more difficult for some people and easier for others. The important thing is to not put too much pressure on yourself. Building an effective evening routine is supposed to enhance and improve your life, and not feel like a chore or bring you any extra stress.

Take everything at your own pace and if one of these ways does not work for you then take it out! You should adapt your routine to your own personal needs and what you think will help make your life more productive and enjoyable.

Don’t implement everything at once

It is very easy to think that you have to do everything right away. I know when I am inspired and motivated to do something I want to do it all now! (Though this can be quite a problem when I find a new workout video I want to try at 1am!).

The key to building a sustainable evening routine is to implement it gradually. I would recommend adding a new idea in once per week at the most. This way you can get used to the new activity and start making it a habit before moving on to the next one. This will also help you to not become overwhelmed by too many things in one evening, which makes it much less likely that you will quit and abandon the whole idea.

Take it Slow

Finally, you should understand that great things take time. Building a solid evening routine truly does have the power to triple your productivity as well as improving many other aspects of your life. But this is not a race, and if you want to feel the full benefits then you have to be patient and put the work in.

Your life is not going to magically change overnight after you first implement this evening routine. But I promise that by doing these things consistently in my evenings, I feel like my life has truly changed for the better. And every morning I feel ready to be the best and most productive version of myself.