Winding Down for the Evening
A short evening routine for closing the day instead of letting it trail off into midnight. Each line is one small signal to your body and mind that nothing more is being asked of them tonight.
Sleep · Sleep · Self-Care · 8 items · once a day
The checklist
- Set a stop time for work — Pick the hour the day ends and let the unfinished things stay unfinished.
- Write down tomorrow’s first three things — On paper, so your mind can stop holding the list for you.
- Lower the lights an hour before bed — Dim light is the oldest signal there is that the day is closing.
- Put the phone in another room — Distance works where willpower does not.
- Do one slow thing — A shower, a stretch, a few pages, a cup of tea; something with no goal attached.
- Let the room get cool and dark — A cooler, darker room makes falling asleep easier than trying harder does.
- Park the worries on paper — When your head starts up, write the thought down and tell it you will look tomorrow.
- Go to bed at about the same time — A steady hour does more for your sleep than one perfect night.
Use this checklist Free account: tick items off and keep each day's record.
How to use it
Run through it once a day, honestly and without scoring yourself. A checklist is a way of noticing, not a test: an item you cannot tick is information about the day, not a verdict on you. Over a few weeks the pattern of what gets ticked and what does not says more than any single pass.
With a free Theraglee account the checklist remembers each pass, so you can look back. Without one, you can still read it here and keep your own copy.