Starting your day off with success begins the night before. As you’re well aware, having a good night’s rest is the difference between becoming an extra on The Walking Dead and a Wonder Woman in the office.
If you’re out and about until three a.m., there’s no morning routine out there that can restore your day back to full productivity.
That’s why successful people rely on nighttime rituals to kick-start their days off right, while ensuring some much-needed time for fun and relaxation.
Here are 3 of their nighttime rituals you should adopt tonight:
Disconnect from work
Michael Woodward, Ph.D., organizational psychologist and author of “The YOU Plan,” says, “The last thing you need is to be lying in bed thinking about an email you just read from that overzealous boss who spends all their waking hours coming up with random requests driven by little more than a momentary impulse.”
As tempting as it is to burn the midnight oil at work, let’s face it; after a full day, you’re about as productive as a sloth come nighttime. That’s not to mention that opening an email will set off a chain reaction of work-related worries; which is not what the doctor ordered for relaxing into a deep sleep.
Instead, consider shutting down your phone/tablet/laptop as one of your must-have nighttime rituals. If you absolutely need your phone, consider putting it on airplane mode or fooling with the settings until all work-related notifications are banished.
Reflect
Do you ever crawl into bed and start worrying about a slip-up or the bad things that might happen tomorrow?
It happens to everyone, but there is a solution to shift your thinking away from worrying towards what’s going right in life.
Michael Kerr, author of “The Happiness Advantage” and international speaker, says using a gratitude journal “reminds people of the progress they made that day in any aspect of their life, which in turn serves as a key way to stay motivated, especially when going through a challenging period.”
By jotting down three things you’re grateful for that day, you’ll avoid the pessimistic whirlwind of worried thoughts, while also becoming more grateful and motivated.
Read before bed
As magnetic as Netflix is, reading before bed is one of the nighttime rituals that will have far greater and longer-lasting benefits.
Aside from becoming a constant learner, and gaining new knowledge, reading for just six minutes has been proven to reduce your stress levels by 68%. So even if you absolutely need to watch Game of Thrones, set aside a few minutes before bed to incorporate reading into your nighttime routine.
Get some more nighttime tips
Reach out to the LTH Tribe to get some tips of your own, and share any nighttime rituals that have improved your life!
