03/12/2019
Want to Be More Productive? Do These 8 Things Before Going to Sleep
Do you want to be more productive in the morning when you wake up?
Are you looking for some practical tips that can help you get a head start on tomorrow?
As unusual as this may seem on the surface, being more productive isn’t about doing things faster or in a hurry.
It’s also not about cutting back on your sleep hours so you can get more done.
It’s about thoughtfully planning ahead and giving your body the rest it needs.
In fact, by taking a few targeted actions in the evening before going to sleep, you can set yourself up for success the next morning, and for the day to come.
In this post, I offer eight tips to help you be more productive before going to sleep.
You’ll find some practical tips to help you streamline your morning routine and have a more productive day.
Create a bedtime routine for yourself.
You may no longer be a child, but you can still benefit from creating a bedtime routine for yourself.
Having a regular bedtime routine in place at home is a great way to address practical household matters, as well as take care of your physical, mental, and spiritual health and wellbeing.
What’s more, creating a bedtime routine is more conducive to relaxing, sleeping, and waking up refreshed in the morning.
What type of bedtime routine would you like to create for yourself? If you’ve never give this much thought, now is the time to get creative!
Grab a sheet of paper and a pen, and jot down a few items for your bedtime routine.
Here’s a collection of some bedtime routine ideas to get you started:
Household Matters
• Put out the trash and recycling
• Lock the front, rear, and side doors to your home or apartment
• Properly secure windows, latches, and gates
• Check or adjust the thermostat
• Set your security system
• Unplug or turn off unnecessary electrical tools or appliances
• Turn down or turn off lights
Physical Health
• Shower or take a bath
• Floss and brush your teeth
• Brush or comb your hair and/or set your hairstyle
• Trim and file nails
• Wash your face
• Take prescribed medication
• Do stretching exercises
• Perform breathing exercises
Mental Health
• Say goodnight to family members or roommates
• Journal in a notebook or diary
• Read a physical book or magazine
• Meditate
Spiritual Health
• Pray or recite prayers
• Write a gratitude list
• Listen to soft and relaxing music
• Work on a relaxing hobby
Have your bedtime routine written down and planned out? Great!
You’ll also want to consider adding the following key tips to your list in some form or another:
Charge your digital devices.
Do your digital devices always seem to have a low or zero charge in the morning? A simple habit to adopt is to plug-in your digital devices at night before heading off to sleep.
You’ll have one less thing to worry about in the morning and will be able to leave your home as soon as you’re ready…and not when your devices are finished charging.
Which of your digital devices could do with an overnight charge? You may want to charge your cell phone, laptop, tablet, fitness tracker, or any other portable device that’s used on a daily or on a frequent basis.
If you’re concerned about leaving your devices plugged in unattended overnight, you can simply shift charging your digital devices to an earlier time in the evening.
Get in the habit of charging your devices as soon as you return home, before eating dinner, or at least four hours before your bedtime.
Setup your bathroom counter or vanity.
Want to speed up your bathroom and vanity routines in the morning? It’s as easy as setting up your health and beauty tools, products, and materials the night before.
This seems like an incredibly simple task (and it is) but you will be amazed at how much time you can save in the morning when everything you need to get ready in the morning is carefully laid out for you in advance.
What items can you set up in advance? You can pull out any body, face, hair, and nail products that you use on a daily basis. This covers everything from personal bathing items, to haircare, to makeup, to shaving tools.
Of course, having your bathroom decluttered and organized can make the whole process go much more smoother. For tips on bathroom organization, be sure to take a look at my post here.
Round up your keys, wallet, and ID.
Make sure you’re prepared for the brand-new day to come by having your most important personal items rounded up and accounted for.
You don’t want to waste precious time in your morning routine searching high and low for your car keys or tracking down your work building pass. In addition, you’ll be able to fall asleep in peace knowing that everything is properly in it’s place.
Before heading off to bed, make sure you can account for the following items in your bag, purse, briefcase, or backpack: house keys, car keys, work keys, wallet, ID, cell phone, commuter pass, reading glasses, sunglasses, medication, and any other personal items you’ll need to have with you during the day.
Remove clutter from the immediate area of your bed.
Waking up to a small pile of clutter staring back at you is never a good way to start the day. You want to be able to wake up calmly and serenely after a good night’s sleep. Besides, cleaning up clutter in the bedroom isn’t just a good idea for comfort’s sake, but for safety’s sake.
Before going to sleep, make a point to remove any non-essential items from the immediate area surrounding your bed. Remove empty drinking glasses or mugs from your nightstand and bring them to the kitchen, place dirty clothes in the hamper, store freshly laundered clothes in the closet or dresser, and move papers or files to your desk, office, table top, or other room or area of the home.
And what if your nightstand is looking hopelessly overcrowded and the contents of your clothes closet is spilling out onto the bedroom floor? You may want to schedule a decluttering session or two so you can tidy up your bedroom.
Assemble your entire outfit for the next day.
You’ve probably heard this tip time and time again, but how often do you actually prepare your outfit in advance?
Taking the time to prepare your outfit in the evening can save you a huge amount of time in the morning as you’re not wasting time figuring out which items of clothing you’ll wear.
It really couldn’t be simpler: after bathing, you simply walk over to your outfit and dress yourself!
When assembling your outfit for the following day be sure to pull out everything, and I mean everything, you’re going to wear for the day. This includes undergarments, individual articles of clothing, any accessories, hosiery, jewelry, and of course, shoes.
You can layout your outfit on top of a dresser, valet, or vanity, or assemble items in a single area or section of your closet for safekeeping.
Prepare your lunchtime arrangements in advance.
Tomorrow’s lunchtime hours will roll around before you know it; so why not take a few moments to prepare your lunchtime arrangements?
Doing so will help save you a chunk of time in the morning when you’re getting ready for work or school. Plus, you’ll free up space in your mind so you can attend to more pressing tasks in the A.M.
So, are you going to bring your lunch to work or school, purchase your lunch at a cafeteria or take out spot, or have a formal sit down lunch with a colleague or a friend?
If you’re going to bring your lunch with you, take a few minutes after dinner to prepare your meal. Be sure to store your lunch in an easy to access area of the refrigerator so you can just grab it and go in the morning.
If you’re going to buy lunch, think about where you’re going to purchase your lunch. You should also make sure you have a sufficient amount of cash on hand, or tuck your credit, debit, and/or ATM card in your wallet.
If you’re meeting someone for lunch, confirm the restaurant location using a search engine or restaurant app, and consider taking a look at the online lunch menu of the restaurant, if available.
Do an evening brain dump.
Is your mind full of ideas, to-dos, and tasks before going to sleep? Do find it difficult to fall asleep as you try to hang onto an idea you want to remember in the morning? If so, you may want to do an evening brain dump.
An evening brain dump isn’t anything fancy or complicated: it’s simply transferring all those ideas, to-dos, and tasks from your mind to a sheet of paper before you fall asleep. The idea behind this is to let your mind rest, unwind, and relax before you hit the hay.
To do a brain dump, you’ll need to have a notepad or notebook and a pen on hand. Then, using bullet points, you simply jot down each of the items or concerns that are on your mind. The list doesn’t have to be perfect or precise, nor does it need to be in alphabetic or chronological order.
You just need to pour all those ideas out of your head so you can rest at night. Place your list in a prominent or easy to find location so you’ll see it in the morning. You can leave the list on your kitchen table, desk, nightstand, or tuck it away in your purse or bag.
How about you? Which of these tips are you going to use to make your mornings and days more productive? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!
Posted in: PRODUCTIVITY
