A successful commute begins not at the break of dawn, but the night before, with a well-crafted bedtime routine. In this article, we delve into the profound influence of a purposeful evening ritual on the quality of your sleep and, consequently, the overall trajectory of your day. Beyond the mere act of turning in, a deliberate bedtime routine acts as a gateway to more restful and rejuvenating sleep. We unravel the intricacies of how specific pre-sleep activities and mindful preparations can pave the way for not just adequate but truly quality rest. Join us in uncovering the transformative benefits of a thoughtful bedtime routine, ensuring you awaken not just well-rested, but poised for a day brimming with success and productivity.
Plan Tomorrow
As mentioned, forward planning is essential. Are you even going into the office tomorrow? Read our article here on why you should probably give that question a little more thought.
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Integrating planning and goal-setting into your nightly routine acts as a purposeful roadmap, shaping the path for the next day. Spend a few minutes each evening outlining priorities and setting achievable goals to establish a strong foundation. This moment before sleep is ideal for self-reflection, considering the day which is ending. Embracing a “we go again tomorrow” attitude fosters resilience and positivity. This practice not only brings clarity to your objectives but also helps navigate potential challenges. Efficient planning ensures your energy is directed towards tasks aligning with overarching goals, and goal-setting turns aspirations into tangible targets, motivating action. Embracing this intentional close to your day boosts productivity and nurtures a proactive mindset, empowering you to face challenges with unwavering focus and determination. You can then harness this energy and carry it over to your perfect morning routine.
Sleep Focus
How you sleep is one of the biggest determinants for ensuring that you wake up feeling ready to attack the day. It isn’t just the length of time for which you sleep which you can optimise, so much more can be done than just getting the recommended 7-9 hours of slumber. Quality sleep is crucial for commuters, as it directly influences cognitive functions, concentration, and emotional resilience. Prioritising adequate rest leads to enhanced alertness, better decision-making, and improved stress management—vital for navigating the challenges of daily travel. Well-rested individuals experience increased productivity and efficiency, making quality sleep a foundational strategy for commuter well-being and optimal daily performance.
How to Optimise your Sleep
The need for quality sleep cannot be overstated, and there is so much science behind little decisions you could make to ensure you’re as well rested as possible. It all starts with awareness and what better way to learn how you sleep that having access to some clear data to base decisions off.
For this, we recommend a quality sleep tracker, namely the Whoop 4.0. This wearable health and fitness tracker can help you improve all aspects of your life but in this context it is wonderful for improving sleep. Alongside their app, you will learn which activities most dramatically help and hinder your rest and recovery. The Whoop 4.0 will measure a number of metrics such as your heart rate variability, skin temperature, resting heart rate and so much more to determine overall sleep performance. Not only is this information fascinating, but it is also extremely practical data for taking steps to wake up feeling supercharged!
In enhancing your bedtime routine, a crucial aspect is minimising exposure to artificial blue light, particularly in the evening. Blue light, emitted by electronic devices like smartphones and computers, can suppress melatonin production, disrupting your sleep-wake cycle. To counter this, consider using blue light filters on your devices, wearing blue light-blocking glasses (our recommendation linked here), or simply limiting screen time at least an hour before bedtime. By incorporating these practices, you can support your natural circadian rhythm, improve sleep quality, and establish a more effective bedtime routine. Take further proactive steps by replacing standard light bulbs with red incandescent ones in the rooms where you spend your evenings. These bulbs simulate the natural red spectrum of sunlight, further supporting this beneficial ideology.
When designing a perfect sleep environment, most people could acknowledge that it needs to be dark and quiet, but an often-overlooked factor is sleep security. This is the concept that we sleep better when we feel safe. This is achieved by making your bedroom a sanctuary, akin to a cave our earliest ancestors slept in. You can take steps towards this by breaking all associations with the bed and anything other than sleep. This means no laptop, certainly no phone- more on this in a moment- and not even any thought-provoking non-fiction, opt for fictional books on your nightstand instead.
A recommendation of ours is a Gravity Blanket. By wearing one of these over yourself as you sleep it somehow simulates the feeling of being coddled as a baby, and in doing so, for many, improves the ease with which they glide off into all stages of a healthy sleep cycle. Our recommendation is made of thermoregulating eco-friendly fabrics which ensure you stay a cool and comfortable temperature as you slumber.
Right, we are very passionate about this, so much so we have a whole article about why you must be using an alarm clock- read it here. The humble alarm clock adds to the separation between your bed and the use of your phone as it makes the argument of ‘I use my phone as an alarm’ obsolete. Instead of scrolling social media before bed, try reading a fictional book to relax your mind. Check out some of our recommendations here. A great alarm clock will also help with sleep hygiene and get the next day off to a perfect start when you awaken tomorrow. We recommend a Sunrise alarm clock. It will help you awaken more naturally to a replica of natural sunlight and sounds of nature instead of an intrusive BEEP. End the perfect night routine by setting your alarm clock, just don’t snooze it tomorrow!
Ask Yourself Why
It may be a little deep right before bed but… Why are you getting ready for tomorrow? What is it that is making you set your brand-new shiny alarm clock for 6am? For many, our problems with going to sleep and procrastination etc stems from anxiety surrounding what we are waking up for. If your sleep hygiene is nearing perfection, and you’re still struggling to get to sleep, it could point to a mental stress and worry that need addressing. Many of us work in jobs which don’t align with our purpose, and we struggle to feel fulfilled on a daily basis. It must be understood that it is a privilege to wake up every day excited for work, however everyone can certainly identify what would make them feel more fulfilled and take strides towards it. Simon Sinek wrote a brilliant book called ‘Find Your Why’ which we recommend to all struggling with their purpose.
We must caveat this suggestion by saying it probably isn’t best to put the worlds wrongs to rights before bed. Don’t keep yourself up having an existential crisis, as mentioned, instead engage in some brain calming activities such as reading fiction (Check out book mob) or journaling and set some time aside tomorrow to realign with your purpose.
Conclusion
In the expansive realm of self-improvement counsel, the array of advice can be overwhelming, often adorned with ambitious and seemingly impractical suggestions. The notion of an ideal bedtime routine might conjure images of intricate rituals, serene meditations, and an elaborate skincare regimen that feels more like a spa retreat than a nightly practice. However, genuine transformation is a gradual journey that unfolds over time, resisting the allure of swift, radical changes. Instead, opt for a more measured approach. Focus on introducing one or two manageable adjustments into your evening routine. Experiment, observe the subtle shifts, and let the cumulative benefits weave into your life. Embracing change at a realistic pace allows for authentic progress and enduring well-being, sculpting a bedtime routine that authentically aligns with your needs and preferences. You’ll be unrecognisable in no time!