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Since the dawn of time, humans have been cued for sleep with the setting of the sun.
Then came Mr. Edison and the little old lightbulb. Thanks to these miraculous tiny globes, our entire existence from sunset on has changed the way we work and sleep (or don’t sleep).
THEN came the world wide web–the last nail in the coffin of being naturally subject to any patterns of actually turning off work at the end of the workday.
And for many entrepreneurs, these late nights hours have been a godsend–these are the hours in which they’ve initially built their empires (often while working a 9-5).
In fact, over a quarter of all Americans work past 10pm at night. (Hamermesh and Stancanelli), and I’d wager that percentage skyrockets north among entrepreneurs.
But scrolling through your news feeds and editing blog images until you fall asleep with your laptop in bed is one of the most surefire ways to kill your health, productivity, and joy (not to mention, your sex life).
Computer work, in particular, interferes with your body’s regulation of melatonin, due to blue light emissions. This, in turn, disrupts your body’s sleep cycles–resulting in a cascade of hormonal imbalances that can include moodiness, fatigue, indecision, lack of creativity, and even insulin resistance (i.e., sluggish metabolism and excess body fat).
Perhaps equally important, being in work mode until you drop from exhaustion messes with your mental well-being.
To not have any pockets of the day where you can identify with being rather than doing will only set you up for perfectionism– a belief that your worth and significance lie solely in how many items you check off your to-do list.
Reclaim your evening wind-down routine with the following ideas–I promise you won’t even miss that extra hour of work!
(Note: This is where you get to be creative. You won’t have time to do all these things on a given night, and some of them may resonate more than others. Try different combinations of these routine “ingredients” to experiment with your perfect bedtime recipe.)
BEDTIME ROUTINE ELEMENTS:
Prep for Next Day
Pick Out Next Day’s Clothes
Do Food Prep
Prepare and Program Coffee Maker
Tidy Up House
Organize Gym Bag
Write Tomorrow’s To-Do List
Environment
Dim light
Electronics off
Signature scent
Clean space
Bed turn-down
Leisure
Reading
Podcast/Audio Book
Art (Coloring, crafting, etc.)
Relationship Care
Conversation
Play with pets
Write cards/letters
Sex
Mindfulness
Meditation
Journaling
Prayer
Visualization
Physical Relaxation/Biohacks
Bodywork–Stretching/yoga, partner massage, reflexology, trigger point therapy
Bath
Magnesium (either in Epsom Salts or Ease Magnesium topical spray)
Moonlit stroll
Temperature adjustment (69 degrees or cooler)
With the right mixture of wind-down activities that resonate with you, you’ll be drifting off to la-la land with a calm mind and a relaxed body–you SO won’t even miss the glow of your devices.
Ready to get started? Download my free 15-minute gentle yoga video to transition into your bedtime ritual before shutting down your screens.
