The Best Self Care Night Routine to De-Stress After Work
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Making self care part of your daily routines will help you build healthy and positive habits in your life. Learn how to build a self care night routine to de-stress after work in this post.
Getting enough sleep is a key part of your health that often gets overlooked or is not prioritized. In order to achieve healthy sleep patterns, it’s important to establish the right night routine.
And as a busy professional, you are using your mind all day long to make decisions so it’s important to recover mentally and physically after work.
Follow these 12 steps to achieve a daily self care night routine that will help you de-stress after work!
1. Prepare for tomorrow
Yes – you read that right. The first step in your daily night routine is to prepare for the next day.
This first step will allow you to put worries about work, your to-do list, and all of your other concerns about the following day that will inevitably enter your mind throughout the night at ease.
Lay out your outfit for the next day, prep a lunch, and pack your bag. Write out a to-do list for the next day and review appointments and meetings in your calendar so you feel prepared.
Fill out the form below to download your free daily planner printable that will allow you to prep for the day ahead!
As a bonus, you will also get three other life-changing self care resources: A weekly self care schedule, monthly journal prompts, and a stress management checklist.
Lastly, before you settle in to relaxation for the night, set your alarm. Doing this early will mean you can truly focus on relaxing for the rest of the night and will mean you won’t forget to set it later.
2. Set an early bedtime
Before doing anything else, mentally set a bedtime for yourself and stick to it.
By doing this, if you get caught up in a good book or writing out your journal, you’ll know when it’s time to put it down, shut off the light, and go to bed.
Choose a bed time that will allow you to get a healthy amount of sleep. This ideal amount can vary for everyone, but generally falls between 7-9 hours of sleep.
3. Make some tea
Now that you are prepared for tomorrow, you can put all of your worries out of your mind and focus on relaxing. Start by making a cup of sleepy time tea to ease your mind and prepare for bed. If you haven’t heard of sleepy time tea, it’s an herbal tea designed to help you wind down from the day.
The warmth of a fresh brewed cup of tea is so comforting and will make relaxing a breeze.
I recommend the Celestial sleepy time tea. They use a combination of chamomile, lemon grass, and spearmint to create a tea that is not only very relaxing but also smells delicious.
4. Journal
Pull out your notebook and journal while you enjoy your tea. Writing down your thoughts and reflecting through journaling can help ease anxiety and help you decompress from your day.
Journaling also provides a safe space to reflect on your experiences and explore your feelings.
There are different ways to journal, so it’s best to choose the style that fits your personality and goals. For more information on how to choose the right journal style for you, read my post linked below.
5. Care for your skin
Caring for your skin is an important part of a self care night routine. Not taking care of your skin properly can lead to issues like acne, dryness, redness, etc.
Here are the essential steps to care for your skin:
- Remove makeup – If you only do one step of a skin care routine every night it should be removing your makeup from the day. Leaving makeup on your face overnight can cause acne or skin irritation. I recommend the Josie Maran Bare Naked Wipes because they do a great job removing makeup and don’t leave your face feeling oily like some other makeup wipes.
- Cleanse your skin – Cleansing your skin is another important part of your skin care routine. I recommend using an exfoliating face wash a couple of times a week to remove dead skin and allow you skin to soak up all of the good ingredients in the other products in your skin care routine. The St. Ive’s avocado exfoliating face wash is great because it removes dead skin gently without irritating it.
- Eye cream – Even in your 20’s, a good eye cream is an essential part of your skin care routine. I recommend the Biossance eye cream linked below to help reduce dark circles under the eyes and prevent aging.
- Moisturize – Lastly, moisturizing your skin will be the final step in your nightly skin care routine. The First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream is a top notch moisturizer that will leave skin looking smooth and healthy.
You can add more steps and products to your skin care routine like essences and serums, but keeping it simple to four steps will help you stick with it in the beginning.
For a full nighttime skin care routine for hydrated skin, click here.
6. Care for your teeth
Just like your skin, a healthy self care night routine will also include caring for your teeth.
Brushing is easy, but to really achieve good dental hygiene use mouth wash and floss daily, too.
I know flossing can be a hassle, but with these floss holders, it makes flossing easy and eliminates waste from using the disposable floss sticks.
I used to floss every now and then, but after purchasing these I floss every day!
7. Keep water close
Be sure to put some water next to your bed before settling in for the night.
Not only will this help remind you to stay hydrated, but it will also eliminate any late night trips out of bed to the kitchen if you get thirsty in the middle of the night.
I love this water bottle from Simple Modern because it’s big so you don’t have to refill as often, and with the flip up straw it’s easy to drink out of.
It also keeps water cold for 28 hours so if you wake up during the night you are still guaranteed to have cold water next to you.
8. Use a diffuser
Making your room smell and feel calming is an important part of a successful night routine, but lighting candles can be risky when you might fall asleep.
Using a diffuser will make the room smell peaceful without the risks associated with candles.
Choose a scent like lavender or vanilla that will be calming to your senses. This LOVSPA diffuser will leave you feeling calm and relaxed.
9. Get comfy
Get comfortable in cozy pajamas and a soft blanket.
Feeling comfortable will help you relax and enjoy your night. It will also help you fall asleep easier. This fleece throw blanket is super soft and soothing to the touch!
10. Read a book
It can be tempting to jump into bed and scroll through social media on our phone or binge The Office on TV until we fall asleep, but looking at a screen right before bed can disrupt your sleep patterns.
Instead, plug in your phone next to your bed and opt to read a book instead. If you are an avid reader, you might also want to think about getting a Kindle because you can get access to TONS of books at your fingertips. And best of all the screen is easy on your eyes unlike the blue light on your phone and TV.
11. Give yourself some white noise
Instead of falling asleep to the TV or lying awake to silence, use a sound machine to give yourself some relaxing white noise.
This sound machine has been life changing for me. I used to need Netflix to fall asleep, and now I fall asleep so much faster. It has different settings like the ocean, summer night, rain, etc. so you can change up the sounds each night.
It also has a timer so you can set it to shut off after you fall asleep, or if you’d rather keep it on all night you can do that, too.
12. Use an eye mask
If you have trouble falling asleep, try using an eye mask that will block out light and distraction while trying to fall asleep or when the sun starts coming through your shades in the morning.
Be sure to pick something like the one below that will be comfortable to wear throughout the whole night.
Alternatively, if you don’t like sleeping with a mask on, you can also get black out curtains for your windows to prevent sunlight from coming in.
After following this self care night routine to de-stress after work you are now ready to sleep in peace.
If you follow this self care night routine you will develop healthy habits and sleep patterns. You will also help yourself recover from a long, busy day of balancing your responsibilities.
Comment below if you try any of these suggestions or what your favorite step in your night routine is.
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