Although this is kind of a given, I have really noticed how important what I am doing before bed is. My parents were always nagging me to go to bed and saying I would be cranky in the morning. Practicing a healthy night routine has helped me greatly with things I had never associated with sleep. Here are a few tips and habits that I have been trying to adapt into my own nightly routine. Of course, breaking old habits and developing new ones takes time. I am not close to being there yet, but once you start making little efforts, overtime it becomes easier.
My Long-Time Night Routine
This is something that I have been doing for as long as I can remember. Reading before I go to bed. I need to clear my mind and wind down before I just turn off the lights. Most people hear that being on your phone before going to bed is not healthy. I completely agree. Hopefully, hearing it from someone your own age might make it less annoying.
There are many health benefits to avoiding your phone. Reading is a great alternative way for me to relax and rewind. Since I rarely get to read throughout the day, it is nice to get in my bed and just read. For those who do not regularly read, just try it out! It is always good to try new things. Maybe it will lead to different bedtime habits away from your phone.
Doing something relaxing makes you want to go to bed so much more. It sounds so simple, but it is actually so much more motivating than you think. Once I get home from school, I make sure to leave myself enough time to read. Little things like this are exciting. I realize how much better it is to complete your work versus staying up too late.
Trying Something New
This school year, I started taking showers before I go to bed. This definitely has its pros and cons. Listening to music while you shower, ensures that you’re using the same timeframe you would without your phone. I get distracted which leads me to going to bed later. Then I end up getting the same amount of sleep that I am trying to avoid. As ancient as it sounds, I have found that I’m in better spirits getting into bed after listening to things like classical music.
As anyone would expect, these types of music/sounds make me more tired; therefore, I am already in the mindset to help me fall asleep once I make my way to bed. Don’t get me wrong, Taylor is in full blast during the shower, but afterwards I have been working on sticking to my routine with the music in the background only. Of course, my phone isn’t needed to shower in the first place, but I’m trying to break one habit at a time here!
Prepare the Night Before
Another thing I do everyday and have been doing for a couple of years now is picking out my outfit before I go to bed. A lot of you probably already do this, but it really makes such a difference when I wake up in the morning. Things go so much smoother when I already have all my clothes laid out and ready to be worn the next day instead of building up my anxiety that morning before school trying to decide what to wear. It is the simple things like this that take no time at night that can turn into a stressful, dreaded event in the morning that can easily be altered.
I am starting to realize how easily small habits can change my mood, but also how easily I am able to fix these things. Hopefully, my little pieces of advice can help you find your own steady night routine/healthy habits development. Remember to never give up on trying new practices like these, even if you miss a day, because they are never going to completely fit for the hectic teenagers’ lifestyle. If you are able to just try one night to set thirty minutes before bed to do something without being on electronics for example, it proves to you how easy it is to let go of these former daily practices, and the good that can come without them.
