Crisp night air. Clear, star-filled skies. A fire in the hearth and hot chocolate in my mug. Mmmm – what night routine dreams are made of. Mine anyway. And I don’t normally get to experience the Summer to Fall and Fall to Winter transitions. Living in LA it just goes from pretty dang hot, to holy crap hot, to some rain. But this year, thanks to Covid, I’m in Colorado getting to experience my favorite season in my favorite place: home.

But with the changing weather and completely different WFH situation, I came up with a whole new routine to wind down, transition from work to home, and get cozy for a good night’s sleep. So without further ado, grab your cup of tea and get cozy. Hopefully you’ll get a couple of ideas for what you can incorporate into your crisp, cozy nights.

 

 

 

Fall to Winter Night Routine

 

7PM-ish – Done with work (I’m working on California time in Colorado)

• Shut down computer and reset office space for the next day including the to do list to tackle in the morning
  • Writing stuff down helps my brain feel like it’s taken care of and stop thinking about work for the night
  • Having a designated work space has helped tremendously. At my parent’s house, I have my own office (so blessed!) but even in my 700 sq ft apartment, working at my desk and then transitioning into other parts of my house was the only way I could separate out my work and home life
• Put the dang phone down
  • This isn’t possible for everyone’s jobs  – I get it. But unless I’m getting paid to work over time, I put my phone down. Usually I stick it on the charger and only pick it up again once I need to log my food. But no gchats, no e-mails. Cellphones makes everyone so readily available and it has only gotten worse working from home. Put the dang phone down.

7:30-8:30 – Dinner with my parents

• Help prepared, eat, and help clean up
  • I usually get Home Chef for myself but have continued to get it a couple times a month since I’ve been home and it’s been so fun to try new recipes with the family
• Log in my Fit Bit app

8:30-9:30 – Watch TV with my parents + work on any blog/personal project work

• Having my 9-6 job means that any time I spend on the blog, instagram, etc is the weekends and after work
• Usually, this is to dos I can do while watching tv so…
  • editing pictures
  • making graphics
  • planning
• And sometimes, I just watch tv and play a game on my phone or do nothing at all. There are some days I’m too fried to get right back on the computer. Grace. It’s all about having grace for yourself. It’s best for me to build in a couple days cushion for to dos to accommodate for the days where it’s just not going to happen.

9:30-10:00 – Get ready for bed

• Give Scout his dinner (he has kibble out during the day because of my parent’s dogs but this is when he gets his Farmer’s Dog food)
• Change into pjs
• Brush my teeth
  • Floss
  • Mouthwash
• Face routine
  • Remove makeup
  • Cleanser
  • Toning Mist
  • Spot Treatment
  • Night time eye cream
  • Moisturizer
• Take out my contacts
• Brush out my hair
• It’s easy to get lazy about this but I realized I felt so much better to just give myself a little TLC at the end of the day. Most of our days are in service to something or someone else. Take this time for YOU!

10-10:30 – Wind Down

• Set out work out clothes
• Practice French with Duolingo app
• Read a chapter of my book
• Take medication
• Watch a couple instastories
• Find an episode to watch (lately has been Schitt’s Creek or The Good Witch)

11 – Lights Out

• I try to be pretty strict with the 11pm cut off time. I’ve been getting up to do my bible study and workouts in the morning and in order to keep doing that and feeling good about it, I have to get my sleep in. If I don’t, I instantly get sick and my brain will prioritize sleep over any routines I want every time.

Changes to My Night Routine Because of WFH

I used to:

• Get my outfit picked out
• Ready my work bag
• Walk Scout right after work if I hadn’t in the morning (but I can do it during the day now)
• Get my coffee maker ready

 

 

 

The thing about routines is they change. They have to. I used to think I had to rigidly stick to it no matter what. But that’s not realistic. Our lives change so our routines have to too. Let’s start with a good night routine. Begin with what absolutely has to get done like dinner, skin care, feeding the dog, etc and then see if there’s space to add anything else. I practice French every day while I brush my teeth. It’s slowly working towards another goal and an easy way to fit it into my routine.

 

We’re nearing the end of the year. The thing to ask yourself is what can I do now that will put me in a better position tomorrow? What goals do I have and what can I do every day to chip away at them. What helps me wind down at night? How can I transition my day from work to personal? Be aware of what you need and make it happen for yourself. With a routine, your day doesn’t happen to you, you are able to steer it the way you want it to go.

 

I hope this helps and inspires you to see what you can add or how you can structure your night routine so that it works for you and you end the day on a good note, making sure you’re taken care of. Have any to add? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Sweet Dreams,