There are a lot of things you can do to help yourself become successful; thousands of little tips and tricks that can help ingrain it into your life and a lot of these come in the form of routines. So take a look at these 10 nightly rituals of successful women, mix and match and find something that works for you.
De-clutter Before Bed
Stuff just accumulates over the course of the day, that’s just the way it goes. If you make sure to clean, or at least tidy your house before you go to bed, you’ll find that your mind follows suit. It can be a very calming exercise and should help you get some quality rest.
Brain Dump
Another way to quiet a busy mind before bed is to write down all the things that have been going through your head all day. It could be things that you need to remember to get from the shop, it could be silly thoughts and funny things that have happened to you. Whatever it is, better out than in.
Spend an Hour on a Hobby
Often when you read about successful women, you’ll see that balance is the key thing they have in common. After polishing off another hyper-busy day, make sure that you take a little time to do something relaxing, something that you really love. Oprah Winfrey loves to read for a period of time before she hits the hay and even something as simple as this will help you relax for a better night’s sleep.
Plan Your Next Day
There’s that saying; “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Guess what? It’s true! Planning out the next day before you go to bed will lead to a decrease in distractions and an increase in productivity. These two opposing metrics have a great sway over how successful the day ahead is going to be. If you know what you’re plan of action is then you’re already well on your way towards your goals.
Enjoy a Good Evening Meal
Nourish the body, nourish the soul! A good home cooked meal at a regular time can be a cornerstone on which to build your nightly routine. Few things are as important as sitting down as a family and enjoying a nice meal together. If you live on your own then this may require a little more discipline but try and stick with it; it’s definitely worthwhile!
…But Not Too Late
Make sure to leave a period of at least two hours between eating and going to bed. This will ensure that your food has time to digest and that you get some top quality shuteye. Avoid snacks like ice cream, as tempting as they may be, the sugar content won’t help your body to rest.
Turn Off Your Phone
Something that can have a real effect on the quality of your sleep and consequently the productivity of your morning, is having your phone nearby you when you are trying to sleep. Not only is the temptation there to get locked into a cycle of endless social media scrolling and internet surfing, but the very light that it emits fools you brain into thinking its daytime. Stash it in another room or switch it off.
Keep it Consistent
It may take a little trial and error to lockdown a routine that works for you but if you have found one, stick to it. Your mind and body will quickly come to appreciate this as the norm and breaking from it won’t help you to be the optimum you.
Write a List of Smart Goals
The very act of writing something down means that it is more likely to stick. In a similar way to the mind dump hack that we talked about earlier, if you write down a series of smart targets for the following day, you are much more likely to achieve them. Make sure they are realistic and that you’re not overdoing it and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve.
Soak off the Day in a Hot Bath
A nice long soak in a deep hot bath can set you up perfectly for an awesome night of rest. Gwyneth Paltrow swears by a nightly Epsom salt bath and she’s doing pretty well. Epsom salts are not actually salt but a natural compound that contains among other things, magnesium. Magnesium is useful for regulating over 300 enzymes in the body and is very good stuff to help you unwind and feel great.
Getting into a good rhythm might not seem easy at first, but thankfully, finding the best ideas for nightly routines isn’t so hard. So give these a try and let us know what you think!
Chasing Foxes was started in 2016 as a way for Grace and her husband, Silas, to start traveling. However, they started to realize that they had a passion for improving themselves, and wanted to help others level up their lives as well. So whether it's with cooking, travel, or staying healthy, they want to help you better your life bit by bit, as they do the same.