It seems like everyone is talking about routines, but friends, they make all the difference. In today’s episode, I’m going to walk you through my own nighttime routine and how I believe it can completely change your sleep and next day!

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7 Steps to the Best Nighttime Routine

According to National Sleep Foundation, adults who have a regular bedtime have better sleep quality than those with irregular sleep patterns. Let’s get into my 7 easy steps to creating the best nighttime routine.

Set a bedtime

You really do want a specific bedtime. I personally need 8 hours of sleep, so I base my 9 or 10 o’clock bedtime on knowing that and keep it consistent even on the weekends. Consistent sleep schedules can really help regulate your body’s internal clock and it can improve the quality of your sleep.

Do a digital detox

I personally have to do a digital detox starting one hour before bedtime. I keep all of my devices in the laundry room next to our bedroom, keeping them away and off while I’m sleeping. I actually like to read before bed instead—using my Kindle.

Create a bath time routine

Along with my digital detox at night, I love to take a bath with Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt with Lavender and Melatonin and Magnesium Bath Soak. I fill my Stanley with water and sometimes I’ll drink an Ollipop! If you’re really ready to take your bath time routine to the next level, you can invest in a bath towel warmer, a bath tray, aesthetically pleasing salt jars, and bamboo pajamas. Top it off with the reading adventure spotify playlist!

Develop a skincare routine

I have really been prioritizing my skincare lately—I’m working with an injector who has developed a routine with Zio for me. Additionally, I work with Skin Luxe Aesthetics and love their products.

Plan Your Next Day

I love to plan my next day before I go to bed. This includes:

• Laying out clothes for the next day
• Preparing lunch & snacks

Create a sleep friendly environment

One of the most important parts of getting great sleep is to have a sleep friendly environment. Here are a few tips for creating the best environment for sleep:

• Make sure it’s dark, quiet, and cool
• Play relaxing music or a noise machine
• Have a comfortable bed or mattress topper and pillows

Other nighttime routine tips

Lastly, I wanted to share some rapid-fire tips to help you create the best nighttime routine:

• Drink water before bed
• Limit your caffeine intake before bed
• Stay consistent in your routine

Remember, that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Your bedtime routine can set you up for success and refuel you at the end of the day—find ways to make it enjoyable for you.

Mentioned in this Episode

Kindle

Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt with Lavender and Melatonin

Magnesium Bath Soak

Bamboo pajamas

Reading adventure spotify playlist!

Zio

Skin Luxe Aesthetics

Review the Transcript:

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to a confident blonde podcast. Today’s episode is going to be really, really good. It’s about. Your nighttime routine. So, I know you’ve seen so many nighttime routines out there. You’ve probably seen some crazy ones that are like super intense and they take a long time, and then you’ve probably seen more simple ones.

I’m just going to go over what mine looks like and how it’s been. So helpful for me. And I know it’s going to help you too. but first let’s, let’s get into some stats about nighttime routine. And these are some statistics that I didn’t even know if you’re wondering why you should even think about it or start one.

So according to the national sleep foundation, adults who have a regular bedtime and wake up have better. sleep quality than those with irregular sleep patterns. So setting up a bedtime routine is so important so you can get that sleep so that you can feel super relaxed. And your nighttime routine really predicts the next day.

So if you want the next day to go smooth, if you want to be less stressed, then it’s all about how you treat the night before. And that’s something I always try to remember of like, Making sure my future self is always looked out for. I have a nighttime routine that’s not too complicated that I want to share with you that has truly been a game changer for me and my family.

So let’s, let’s dive right into it. Okay. So the first step with setting up your routine is that you really do want a specific bedtime. I try to make sure that I’m getting at least eight hours, sometimes nine hours of sleep a night. It’s kind of crazy. Even my husband makes fun of me. But. You do need to have a specific bedtime.

So if it’s nine o’clock, if it’s 10 o’clock, you need to go ahead and set that. And you even want to do that on the weekends as well. Which is hard because it’s the weekend. You want to have fun. You want to party or do whatever. I mean, I’m a busy mom of two. I’m not doing any partying or going out at this point in my life, but I get it.

Like, sometimes I just want to stay up. and eat Thai food and watch movies, but your consistent sleep schedules can really help regulate your body’s internal clock and it can improve the quality of your sleep. So you want to go ahead and set that specific bedtime. For me, that is nine or 10 depending on the day.

Okay. This is so important, especially for me as a full time social media content creator. I have to do a digital detox and I recommend that you do the same. So you want to shut off your phone, your devices, all those things at least one hour before bedtime. So what I do that works really well for me is I put my phone in a drawer in the laundry, the laundry room is close to our room.

And it has like, it kind of houses like Everything I need for my job. My iPad, it charges my laptop, it charges my phone, and my Apple Watch, and my AirPods are all charged there in that station. I really do love putting my phone in there and then just shutting it, shutting the drawer. So then it’s really out of sight, out of mind.

So you want to find a place to put your electronics that are portable. Not in your bedroom. You don’t want to put your phone next to your bed. I haven’t been doing that in years. For sure. That was like my first step. Um, and when you set your alarm, you want to have to get up to go get your alarm. Yes. I’m not perfect.

So sometimes I will still get up, go to the laundry room, get my alarm and then turn it off. And then go back to bed, but I’m trying to get better, but you definitely want to just put away all those electronic devices. And I heard in a podcast once too, like whatever you look at before you go to bed. So if you’re scrolling specifically Tik TOK, Tik TOK can like show all these like kind of random things.

And that’s the last thought your mind’s going to have before you go to bed. So you don’t want that to be the last thing. but engage in more relaxing activities. So reading books, I do have a Kindle. I do feel like that light is different than a blue light though. And I love that I can access basically any book I want.

So getting a book, taking a warm bath. Okay. I have to tell you guys about bath routine because it is literally top notch. My husband knows like, Kelly’s got to get her bath. So I’ve been using this Dr. Teal’s. It’s like an Epsom salt mixed with, lavender and I think melatonin is it’s a bath soak.

Dr. Teal’s there’s all different kinds, but I love the one that has the lavender and melatonin in it. Oh buddy. Like it is like my little ritual. So after I put the kids to bed, that’s when I start my bath and I have this like really pretty glass jar next to my bath. With a scoop and it’s got Dr. Teal’s in it.

And then here recently I’ve mixed it with magnesium. It’s a magnesium bath soak. Oh, and it is so good. I actually got that advice to put magnesium in there from a podcast that I was listening to. Again, I am not a medical professional. I’m just telling you guys what I use and what, what I absolutely love.

But magnesium has. So many great benefits. And so I have to mix the two together because the magnesium has no Smell or anything like that. So I mix the two together in this jar and I have a really really nice scoop This pretty glass jar and so I fill it up I also have this bath tray from Amazon and on this bath tray.

I can put my soap You can put your book on there. It’s like a little tray that goes across your bathtub. I’m sure you’ve seen it, but I put my candle. Big, big Stanley field of water because I like to chug a lot of water, especially when I’m taking a bath. Sometimes I will do an Ollie pop in a really pretty glass.

I need to like find a good, Magnesium, Ollipop recipe, like kind of mix the two. I was doing moon juice there for a while, and I absolutely love it. It is, it is just a little bit, a tad bit expensive. But I need to, I need to do the double with the, with the bathtub and then the magnesium drink. But it really is a ritual for me, and then I also have a bath towel warmer.

I know, how ridiculous this sounds, but it really does like set the tone. I’m just kidding. Because when I get out of that bath, my towel and my pajamas are warm. I only wear bamboo pajamas and my bed sheets are only bamboo. They’re, it’s called Cozy Earth. I do have a code for them too, I believe. Send me a DM on Instagram if you need it.

But, It is a little bit more expensive to have the bamboo pajamas, but this is my ritual and this, I’ve worked hard all day being a mom, serving so many people, serving others, buy luxury pajamas. If you can afford it, if you can ask for it for Christmas or your birthday, it is worth the investment because they last longer, they feel good, and like, And like I said, it’s just a treat.

Like I will go affordable as far as like clothes go for the most part. You guys know, I love shopping, like anything affordable fashion, but when it comes to my bed sheets and my pajamas. Always go like a little bit more above and beyond just to treat yourself. And also when I wear cozy earth, like it lasts so long.

So I’ve got some cozy earth pajamas from three years ago that I still put on. , but I put that in the bath warmer. I also play, It’s a reading adventure. Spotify playlist. I know this is like intense, bath time situation, but this is truly my ritual and it has helped me so much. Just like, get in the mood for bed.

You can also do some, like, you can practice stretching or yoga. Sometimes I color, like I said, sometimes I read, and I read fun books. I, I take, kind of take turns. I love reading self development, but here recently I’ve been reading fun books. So I’ve been reading the Hobbit, which is so funny. I was telling my best friends, I was like, yeah, I’m reading the Hobbit.

They’re like, what is the Hobbit? I like did not expect that coming out of your mouth because I’m an Enneagram three. It’s all about self development. And now I’m starting to read fun books and books for hobbies. So, That is my bath time routine, but I really, I really strongly suggest you start practicing something like that.

It will really help you like get in the mood for bed. Um, the next thing is skincare routine. So if you don’t know, I, um, create content for an aesthetic company. It’s Skin Luxe Aesthetics. And my best friend, Shannon owns it, and she’s big on skincare. So I do use, Like I work with an injector and she has like a prescription.

She has like a whole routine for me that I use it’s Zio. And again, it is a little bit more expensive, but it has completely changed the confidence of my skincare in my face. I can’t wait to have her on the podcast and she’ll kind of go into like skincare and why it’s so important. I have really, really oily face.

Um, so it’s really important. For you to remove makeup and dirt before you go to bed. And so I also, before bed, I use a little control serum. I put all my serums on and moisturizers. And that’s even a great time to use like your eye patches to help with, the dark circles or any type of eye cream. it’s really important.

I, sometimes if I’m really lazy, which is not good, I’ll just use a makeup remover wipe. But I try to at least get the makeup off. Like, even if I’m super tired, I’d never go to bed with makeup on. I just can’t even fathom. Even when I’m like super tired, I try to at least get that makeup off. This is a good one that can really help you.

With a really busy schedule, you can get so overwhelmed. So I love to prepare the next day. So you can even take like 15 20 minutes before. I like to do this and kind of look at my calendar, see what I got going on the next day. But you want to do this 15 20 minutes before bed, just Plan your next day.

Like what are your three things that you need to get done for the next day? What’s like the must do that you need to do? And it kind of gives your mind like an ease of like, okay, this is what’s on the plate tomorrow. I know what the day is going to look like. I know what time I have to get up to go to that appointment.

And here’s some other things you can do. Lay out plans. Clothes for yourself and your kids. I do this with my kids. We lay out all our clothes for the next day there. There is definitely some statistics. You should look it up about laying out clothes to go to the gym. So if you lay out your gym clothes the night before, you’re more likely to actually get up and go to the gym, preparing your lunch and snacks for the next day.

So. I meal prep all of our lunch and snacks on Sunday for the whole family, but if you don’t love doing meal preps on Sunday, this is a great option. Making sure you have your lunch ready for the next day. That is like, brilliant. Especially if you’re working, but all of this helps with the morning stress.

And it helps you stay more organized. So make sure you are prepping for the next day. And going into some more bedtime rituals, you can drink some tea. I love the Teavana tea. I don’t know if y’all. Um, seeing that one, but it’s like my favorite. They have the best flavors. I’m actually out. So I need to do that.

You can also practice some deep breathing and meditation for mindfulness exercises just to help calm your mind. I’m terrible at meditation. I want to get better. It definitely can help. All these studies can show you that it can help with so many things. Things, but having an ADHD brain, I just can’t wrap my head around meditating.

I’ve tried so many times. I do feel like if I’m ever going to meditate, probably like while I’m in the bathtub, I would, I don’t even know if you could do that, but, or just like when I’m laying in the bath, I try not to think about other things at least. But it, it helps signal your body to wind down. It helps prepares you for sleep.

For going to sleep. So the sixth really important thing about this is you want to create a sleep friendly environment. So you want to make sure your bedroom’s dark, quiet, and cool. I remember one night I had, my iPad next to me. I don’t know why, but it kept going off and I got the worst sleep. Another reason why you want to make sure that, your stuff is not in there, but you want to make sure your bedroom’s.

Dark and quiet and cool and you want to use blackout curtains or noise machines. We play really relaxing Music on Alexa. I cannot go without music playing You can also do like a noise machine, but I just can’t imagine not having music playing.

Like the few times that I’ve not had it played, I’m like, Chris, we’ve got to put it on. Like, I can’t do it. Chris loves to put the fan on my husband. He loves to turn the fan on at night. I guess that’s because he has to be cool to go to bed, but the fan literally. Freezes me out. So one thing that I do, that’s so funny.

And a lot of people do this is that I use a, I sleep with a heating pad. Like usually I’m like freezing cold and I’ll put this heating pad, like. Which I don’t suggest using, because I wake up in the night super hot, but you definitely want to unplug that, but, I told him, I was like, I might need like a heating blanket.

I absolutely love it. So, the next thing is just making sure you’ve got a great mattress. Your pillows are comfortable and supportive. We use Tempur Pedic pillows, and then

We have a memory foam topper, and it’s so amazing, but there’s so many benefits to this. It helps restore your energy, it improves your mood, and it enhances your overall well being. So here are some other important tips that can just help with your nighttime routine. Drinking water before bed. Like I said, I always fill up a Stanley of water and I try to chug as much as I can.

You don’t want to drink too much, obviously, because you don’t have to go up. Get up and go to the bathroom a ton of times, but I really do try to get some water in before bed. Typically, Chris makes my water for me, and I absolutely love it. The other 1 is just, you know, you want to try to limit your caffeine intake before bed and.

I’m not the best at this. I need to get way better at it. But I love having an afternoon cup of coffee. Typically, it doesn’t even phase me. But here recently I’ve noticed it has been so a lot of people say, don’t drink that caffeine before bed. It’s not the best for you. And you really just need to stay consistent, like as consistent as possible.

With this routine. As a mom, I know like sports can, can’t. Can come up or your days can just get different, but these are such easy things you can start implementing. And like I said, it literally sets up your next day. So a study published in the journal sleep medicine review found that improving sleep quality through a regular bedtime routine can lead to a better quality of life and overall wellbeing, your little rituals and your little things that you do.

Every morning, when you get up every night before you go to bed, these are just like little glimmers of like happiness that you can implement into your life. Also being a busy mom of two, I’m serving so many people, you know, I’m serving people in my business. I’m serving my husband. I’m serving my kids.

We’ve got activities. We’ve got things for school. We’re just running all over the place. And so, I’ve got to fit some time in for me. And you need to fit time in for you because you cannot pour from an empty cup. And you know that. So, Like another really cool thing that I’ve been learning recently, you guys know, I love travel and really fun experiences, but here lately, we can’t travel just a little life update.

My husband just had major knee surgery, and we’re not able to travel for a while. he had an accident, a basketball accident, and so they had to replace his. Existing knee with a cadaver knee, and it’s been tough, like, really tough, especially on him, just the healing process, like, he’s been in a lot of pain, but it’s been really hard on the whole family because me and my husband work inside the home and outside the home, and we really share and work like a team as far as, like, the hand, The family tasks, like the home managing tasks, feeding the dogs, taking the dogs out, you know, cooking and cleaning and all the things we really do help each other.

So him not being able to help me has really like, rocked my nighttime routine in there for a while. Wasn’t able to really get to do these things. And I was just because I had to like, keep up the home and I had extra things on my plate and I could really, really tell as a mom, just like my level of patience goes down.

I just get kind of like irritated and not as happy. And I love to travel, but I don’t want to build a life that I have to run away from. Like I want my dream life to be every single day. These little rituals, reading a good book, enjoying a good cup of coffee, enjoying tea, taking a bath, listening to music, These little tiny rituals, like I don’t want to be one of those moms.

It’s like, I need a hotel room. Like I need a day off. Like I just need to get away. And I get there’s moments that that happens, but I don’t want that. I want every day to be a very good ebb and flow. Of work and relaxation and creativity and fun and stretching myself outside my comfort zone and taking care of myself and taking care of the kids.

Like, I want everything to just ebb and flow. I don’t want to be hustling so hard and working so much that I’ve built this life that I can’t even enjoy because then it’s like, what’s the point? Because I’ve gotten to a point where I work so, so much and I’m, and I’m like, I get it. Like I was in my hustle, my hustle.

Years, right? Like there’s years of hustle, hustle, hustle. And now I’m in this stage of like, I want my dream life. And therapy’s helped me a lot with that. It’s like being able to like have another person’s opinion. Tell me like, okay, if this is the life that you want, these are the choices you have to make.

And. I don’t want a life I have to run away from. I want a life that I enjoy, and this nighttime routine is something I enjoy. Don’t, I don’t like meditating, I’m gonna be honest. I keep trying it, I don’t love it. Don’t, it’s the same with working out. Don’t do something you don’t enjoy. If you want to be your most confident self, then you need to have a nighttime routine that you like.

If you don’t like reading self development books, then don’t read them before bed. This time is for you. This time isn’t for anyone else. And You know, I believe that you can set up something that works for you, that’s not too much, you know, that’s easy to maintain. Maybe, maybe the first thing you do, I’ve gave you, I’ve given you a ton of tips, but maybe the first thing you do is like, I am going to try to get seven to eight hours of sleep.

Right there, like off the bat, you know, then you implement, I’m going to put my phone, I’m going to try putting my phone in the other room. I’m going to set my alarm and I’m going to put my phone in the other room so I have to get up to go get the alarm so I can quit hitting the snooze button. All these little steps.

We’ll help you build this routine. So you don’t have to build it all at once. Just try a few things, but I guarantee this will help you relax, unwind and prepare, and it will just help you live a happier, healthier, more confident life. I just know it. So if you try any of these tips, please, please, please post them on your Instagram story and tag me.

I would love to see them. Um, and if you. Just absolutely love this podcast. If it’s helped you, if it’s motivated you, please share it with a friend. I would love to help as many people as I can on this podcast. If you’re new here, I publish a podcast just about every other week. And typically if it’s just me kind of giving you guys some tips.

It’s under 30 minutes if it’s with a guest speaker, I try to keep it under 45. So I give, I keep them short and sweet for the mom. That’s like on the way to pick up one or whatever, but I absolutely love getting to chat with you. I love, I love this journey of life where you get to come here and see.

Everything that I’ve tried and that I’ve gone through and then how I’ve overcame them and became more confident and I feel like every day I’m building my dream life and every day I just absolutely love helping you and helping you Build your dream life as well. So until next time on a confident blonde podcast