Creating A Relaxing Bedtime Routine For Better Sleep

Long Story Short

• A bedtime routine is a way of practicing self-care. It consists of tasks you engage in within the hour leading up to bed, which can include meditation, reading a book, and preparing for the day ahead.
• Following a regular night routine is an effective habit that helps your mind and body recognize the cues to unwind and get ready for a good night’s sleep.
• A recent Sleepopolis Survey shows that 76 percent of adults who follow a regular nightly routine report getting high-quality sleep at night (1)
• Stretching, meditating, journaling, or putting away electronics are a few activities that you could incorporate into your nightly routine.

If you really dig into your bedtime routine, you might find your wind-down habits are doing more harm than good to your sleep schedule. Binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix, for example, typically causes us to stay up far later than we should (just one more episode, right?), while scrolling through social media can stir up emotions and do anything but relax us. And let’s not forget the fact that our entertainment often comes to us with a side of blue light (courtesy of our TVs and smartphones), which plays its own role in mucking up our sleep. 

If you’re feeling seen right now, it might be time to give your nightly routine an overhaul — one that primes you for a good night’s sleep instead of putting up roadblocks at every turn. 

Note: The content on Sleepopolis is meant to be informative in nature, but it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice, and it shouldn’t take the place of medical advice and supervision from a trained professional. If you feel you may be suffering from any sleep disorder or medical condition, please see your healthcare provider immediately. 

What Is a Night Routine or Bedtime Routine?

A night routine or bedtime routine is a series of activities performed before bed. Bedtime routines are typically performed in the same (or similar) order each night and include relaxing activities that help you wind down and prepare for sleep. It might seem simple, but if your nightly routine is filled with the right relaxing habits, it can actually have a positive impact on your sleep quality. 

Why Is a Bedtime Routine Important for Adults?  

Noting that nighttime routines are often (and only) associated with children, Maristella Luccini, sleep consultant and senior clinical researcher at the Nanit Lab, says the same principles apply to a bedtime routine for adults. “Establishing a consistent night routine can help ease the transition from the stress and stimulation of the day to a calm, restful state, making it easier to fall asleep and experience deeper, more restful sleep,” she says. 

And while bedtime routines may be the missing puzzle piece for many, Luccini tells us consistency is key. Comparing it to how the smell of a delicious meal triggers hunger, she explains, “A consistent bedtime routine serves as a powerful signal to the brain that it’s time to unwind. When this cue is predictable, it helps regulate our circadian rhythm — the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule every day.” (2, 3)

Incidentally, Luccini notes that a solid night routine could also be an excellent balm for a society that’s always “ON.” With all that we have to do from day to day, she says it can be hard to switch “OFF” at night, but diving into a good book or relishing in your self-care routine before bed can make the transition to sleep more inviting. 

How to Establish a Bedtime Routine

Everyone is different, so bedtime routines are not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. At the end of the day, your list of “things to do before bed” shouldn’t be someone else’s idea of relaxation. If we had to narrow down the criteria for what makes the cut, it’s this: your wind-down routine should be relaxing and enjoyable. 

Keep in mind that if this is your first go around with a nightly routine, it’s okay to take it slow. Trying to do too much at one time might make you feel overwhelmed in your zeal to check off your boxes each night and cause you to quit before you see any real results. Rookies may want to start with one nighttime routine activity and incorporate it for several weeks before adding on.

When implementing an evening routine, it’s important to keep at it. The idea is that over time and with repetition night after night, these activities and actions will eventually cue your brain that it’s time to sleep.

If an evening routine sounds like just another thing added to your never-ending to-do list, remember that you can always add activities to your nighttime routine that help with your daily to-do list (i.e., choosing tomorrow’s outfit, meal prep, and skin care routines, etc.) 

Ideas For Creating Your Nightly Routine 

If you’re not sure what to do before bed, here are some thought starters for a relaxing bedtime routine.   

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene is the behaviors, practices, and environmental tweaks we make (or should make) to optimize our sleep. (4) When done right, sleep hygiene can have a profound effect on your overall sleep quality and duration. It includes maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, managing your screen time before bed, and fine-tuning your sleep environment. More on these tips below. 

Establish a Consistent Bedtime 

Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (including weekends and holidays) is a critical aspect of sleep hygiene. Research shows that irregular sleep schedules can interfere with your ability to fall asleep and reduce its quality and duration. (5) Meanwhile, maintaining a consistent sleep-wake schedule trains your circadian rhythm to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule. (6)

Avoid Blue Light and Limit Screen Time

While watching TV and scrolling through Instagram ranks high in terms of wind-down routines for most of us, the truth is these activities aren’t the best for our sleep. The use of electronic devices before bed not only stimulates our minds, but the blue light emitted from these devices can suppress our melatonin (the sleep hormone) production, making us more alert than we should be at bedtime and putting up unnecessary roadblocks to sleep. (7) 

To keep blue light from meddling with your sleep, consider a moratorium on devices 30 minutes to one hour before hitting the hay. (8) Instead, opt for activities that skip screens, like listening to calming music, audiobooks, puzzles, or journaling. This digital time-out gives your mind (and body) some downtime to transition from active and alert to relaxed and primed for sleep. 

Optimize Your Sleep Environment 

Your sleep space plays an important role in the overall quality and duration of your forty winks — the trifecta here is keeping it cool, dark, and quiet. (9) To optimize your sleep environment, consider sleep masks and blackout curtains to help with managing light and colored sound machines to help drown out ambient noise. Additionally, you might consider updating and refreshing your mattress, pillows, and sheets to better meet your needs.

Prepare Your to-do List for the Next Day

If ruminating over a seemingly endless to-do list creates some anxiety and keeps you up at night, you might try writing out a to-do list for the next day as part of your wind-down routine. Getting things down on paper is a good way to ensure you don’t forget anything come morning and as a result, it may ease some of your anxiety before bed.  

Do Your Skincare Routine 

Keeping in mind that your wind-down routine can also be used to check some things off your to-do list, consider incorporating your skincare routine into your night routine. Ultimately, you’re killing two birds with one stone — practicing some self-care by taking care of your skin and promoting relaxation. 

Practice Mindfulness or Meditation

While meditation can be a great way to unwind and calm the mind, it can also improve sleep by reducing stress and decreasing alertness and arousal. (10) As a matter of fact, research shows that meditation sessions can not only improve sleep quality in the immediate aftermath, but its effects on sleep can also last over a period of several weeks. (11) 

If meditation feels a bit out of your wheelhouse, you could also try journaling as a mindfulness practice. Much like writing a to-do list the night before, journaling is a way to get your thoughts and worries out of your head and down on paper. (12) The net effect of this may be an ease of anxiety and a calm mind that’s ready for sleep. 

Do Yoga, Stretch, or Practice Breathing Exercises

Like meditation, yoga and light stretching can calm the mind, reduce stress, and promote relaxation and sleep. (13) 

Some promising sleep-promoting yoga poses are:

• Child’s Pose (Balasana)
• Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)
• Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Similarly, focused breathing can be another worthwhile addition to your nightly routine as it, too, can slow the heart rate, quiet the mind, and promote a sense of calm. (13) 

How to Try 4-7-8 Breathing for Sleep

1. Lie down on your bed or sit comfortably in a chair with your back straight
2. Place the tip of your tongue against the back of your upper front teeth
3. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
4. With your lips closed, inhale through your nose for a count of 4
5. Hold your breath for a count of 7
6. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound for a count of 8
7. Repeat this 4-7-8 cycle three more times

Take a Warm Bath or Shower

While warm baths have a good rep for helping with sore muscles and relaxation, studies show they may serve another valuable purpose relating to sleep — dropping your core body temperature, which in turn may help you sleep longer and better. (14, 15)

Make Your Bedroom Cozy with Sleep Sounds and Aromatherapy

Some research has shown that aromatherapy may help to reduce stress, pain, and anxiety — and improve sleep quality. (16,17) As such, they may be worthy additions to your bedtime routine. You can use delivery methods like candles, scent warmers, sprays or body creams, and essential oils that promote relaxation and help with sleep, like:

• Lavender (17)
• Valerian oil (18)
• Chamomile (18)

If you, for example, spray your pillow with lavender spray every night before bed, your brain may begin to associate the scent with bedtime, too — another way to cue to your body and mind that it’s time to go to sleep. 

Colored noise

Some research has shown that colored noise may be beneficial to sleep, with their effects varying based on color. 

• White noise contains all frequencies in the sound spectrum, and research has shown that it effectively blocks ambient noise and significantly improves sleep. (19) 

• Pink noise is deeper and lower than white noise, and a Sleepopolis survey found that pink noise reduced the time it takes to fall asleep and lowered participant heart rates by as much as three beats per minute compared to no sound. (20)

• Brown noise is still deeper than white or pink noise with more rumbling bass- comparable to heavy rainfall or a strong shower head. Our Sounds of Sleep survey found that brown noise increased sleep duration by 43 minutes and decreased participants’ sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep). (20)

FAQs

The Last Word From Sleepopolis 

If sleep doesn’t come easy night after night and erratic sleep schedules feel par for the course, a solid nightly routine may be the missing link to your sleep. Ideally, bedtime routines should be tailored to your needs and interests. And while there are no hard and fast rules for the specific activities you choose, just remember consistency and tranquility are the only non-negotiables. 

Sources

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Luccini, Maristella. Author Interview. September 24, 2024.