My Nightly Self Care Routine for a Better Tomorrow

Every night, I practice my nightly self care routine for a better tomorrow because “the best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today – H. Jackson Brown Jr”. This is my favourite quote because it speaks so much volume because ‘the secret of getting ahead is getting started‘ which is exactly what I do when I practice my nightly self care routine dreaming of a better tomorrow. It is very important to have a bedtime routine that you can follow easily every single night.

As an insomniac, one thing I did early on was create a bedtime routine that I could follow in order to get a good night’s sleep because being prepared the night before gave me a head start for tomorrow. On most days when I actually managed to enjoy a full night’s sleep was due to the preparation I had made the day prior. Obviously, there were days when even with some preparation insomnia kicked my butt but, I still had a better day after in other areas of my life.

My Nightly Self Care Routine for a Better Tomorrow

Having a night time routine is known to improve your quality of sleep as well as prepare you for a better tomorrow. Everyone leads different lives and your night time self care routine might be different to mine but they all have certain things in common – the need to unwind before bed. Working in a fast passed environment and multiple deadlines every day I often work up in the middle of the night if I do not plan ahead nor prepare in advance. In order for me to have the energy to plan ahead, I need to make room for self-care activities.

Self care means something different for everyone, for some it could mean running a bath, some candles and a nice glass of wine whilst others it could be switching off their devices and tucking themselves into a good book before bed. Whatever self care means to you, make sure it is something that will help you relax and promote good sleep. Over the last few years, I have made a point of adapting my self care routine to match my lifestyle at any given time. Suffering from insomnia means after a meal certain self care activities no longer work and I need to jazz things up a little but there are some constants.

Wind Down

An hour or so before bed, I start shutting down my devices getting ready for bed and most devices these days allow for screen time capping. At 9pm every evening my DND switches on until 7am the next morning and then at 11pm my app restrictions come one which means I can not use the apps until the next morning. I love this feature on my app devices because I just often set one device up and it applies to all. You can make different settings for different devices but I think it makes much more sense linking them all together.

Shower

I don’t know about your evening routine but mine always includes a shower before bed. I always shower twice a day but the one before bed sets the entire mood for the rest of the evening. There is something about stepping into the shower allowing that heated water to wash away the stress of the day and bring some calmness to a crazy day. As much as I enjoy a good soak in the bath, there is nothing like standing under the monsoon shower and allowing the day’s turmoil wash off.

I also use shower time as my meditation time because even though the stress is leaving your body, sometimes your mind runs a checklist through your day. It took me a long time to get into meditation and even I am far from being all zen, I do appreciate the solitude it brings to my life.

Cleansing + Moisturisers

Skincare routines are some of my favourite ever and I have one for every season and one for the morning as well as the evening. I have combination skin and it makes sense fo me to ensure I cleanse my skin and remove any impurities and excess oils from my face. Another important part of my routine is moisturising, even though my face is combination the rest of my body suffers from mild skin irritation and needs moisture. Most evenings I use my aloe Vera sheet masks to give me some relief and moisture to my skin. Also, I use this lash serum to keep my eye lashes looking fuller and thicker.

Hydration

It took a long time for me to get to a position in my life where I drink more water than I drink my favourite moscato. Hydration is so important for you, I often hydrate a couple hours before bed because no one as time to a toilet break when you are enjoying a good night’s sleep. I am someone who used to struggle with drinking water and now I drink almost 3 litres a day and then some. Hydration does wonders for your skin (and your bladder) so I make sure to get hydrated before bed.

Write Down To-Do List

I am a to-do list orientated person and I write lists for almost everything so every evening I spent some time before bed looking over the ending’s to-do list, tracking where I am with the weekly to-do list and updating or creating new ones for the next day. I make a point of tallying up my spending for the day, ticking items off my work to-do list and writing new ones for the next day or the next week. I find it therapeutic writing things down and it helps to make sure my affairs are in order before bed.

And there you have it, my nightly self care routine for a better tomorrow. There are other things I do as well like reading before bed but that depends on the evening, sometimes once I am done with the above activities I just want to relax and sleep and that’s what mostly happens on most days.

What about you? Do you have a nightly self care routine?