Are you a Christian who wants to have a good night’s rest? Do you want to wake up feeling rested, refreshed and ready to start your day?
And do you want to spend more quiet time with God? Well, if you said yes, then you need to create an effective and personalized Christian night routine.
What is a Nighttime Routine?
A nighttime routine is a set of activities that you do in the same order every night before you go to bed.
Why is a Nighttime Routine Important for Adults?
Did you have a nighttime or bedtime routine when you were a child?
Parents tend to set a bedtime for their children and some even create a nighttime routine for them. But as the children get older, they get to decide what time they go to bed and what activities they do before they sleep.
So as an adult, you probably don’t have a routine that you follow each night. If that’s the case, then you may find it difficult to fall asleep.
You may also feel tired in the morning and struggle to get up on time. This can affect the effectiveness and success of your morning routine as well as your productivity for that day.
Here’s the thing, your body likes routines. So creating and sticking to a nighttime routine will help your body to start winding down at the same time every night. That means it will be much easier to fall asleep so you can get more rest each night.
Creating a nighttime routine will help you de-stress, relax and prioritize self-care. It can also help to increase your quantity and quality of sleep so you can be more productive.
Why is Sleep So Important for Productivity?
Have you realized that it’s difficult to focus and remember when you’re tired or sleepy?
That’s because sleep deprivation affects your body’s ability to carry out its various brain functions and necessary repairs. A lack of sleep can affect your concentration which may affect your ability to solve problems and make good decisions.
Poor sleep can also affect your memory and ability to learn which can lengthen the time it takes to get activities done.
You may have noticed that when you get a good night’s rest, you wake up feeling refreshed and energized. Your brain tends to be more alert and it’s easier to do tasks that require a considerable amount of mental effort.
That’s because your body had the time to rest, repair and recharge so it’s ready to deal with the challenges and demands of that day.
How to Create a Christian Night Routine for Success and Relaxation
1) Identify your why
The first step to creating a nighttime routine is to determine why you want to create it.
This will help you to know what activities you should prioritize and how to design your routine. It will also help you to stick to the routine even when you don’t want to.
If you have a hard time falling asleep then you may want to include more activities that help you to wind down and relax.
And if you tend to spend a lot of time rushing in the morning, then you may want to allocate more time in your routine for preparation.
2) Choose your physical self-care activities
A nighttime routine should allow you to engage in physical self-care. You will use this time to take care of your body.
So choose the activities that are essential for you and place them in the order that you like.
Here are some physical self-care activities that you can include in your routine.
- Take a shower or bath
- Brush and floss your teeth
- Skin-care routine
- Moisturize your hair
- Eat a healthy snack
3) Set yourself up for success
Nighttime is one of the best times to prepare for the next day so you can start your day with ease and confidence.
This is one of the best times to plan the next day so you know exactly what to do. This will help you to use your precious morning hours wisely. And it can reduce the amount of time you spend getting ready so you will be early for work.
Here are some things you can do during this preparation time:
- Plan the next day with God’s help
- Prepare your clothes for the next day
- Pack your bag
- Decide what’s for breakfast
- Set your alarm
- Read your Bible
- Memorize Bible Verses
- Repeat Biblical Affirmations
- Play the audio Bible
- Prayer journal
- Pray
- Put your phone on silent
Related Article: What Should You Write in Your Prayer Journal (+Prompts)
4) Identify which activities help you to relax
Now that you have taken care of your physical self-care needs and set yourself up for success, it’s time to wind down and get into sleep mode.
Choose to do things that will help you to clear your mind and signal to your brain that it’s time to sleep.
If you feel stressed and anxious, you can try having a cup of calming herbal tea like chamomile. Chamomile has been proven to help with relaxation and sleep.
You can choose to practice slow, deep breathing which will help to calm your nerves and lower your blood pressure which help you to relax.
This is also a good time to put away your phone and give your eyes a break from all screens. And during this time you can journal or read a book or the Bible or you can just turn off/dim the lights.
Here is a summary of the activities that you can do to relax.
- Drink a cup of calming herbal tea
- Practice deep breathing
- Turn on your aromatherapy diffuser
- Put away all screens
- Journal
- Prayer journal
- Read a book
- Read the Bible
- Play the Audio Bible
- Listen to God
- Meditate on Scriptures
- Turn off/Dim the lights
Related Article: 7 Self-Care Items To Help You Relax
5) Start following your routine
Now that you know the activities that will be a part of your nighttime routine, it’s time to start putting them into action.
Make sure you follow the routine every day so you can have relaxing nights and successful days.
Christian Night Routine
Here is an example of a night routine that you can use as a model.
- Take a shower
- Eat a healthy snack
- Brush and floss teeth
- Plan the next day with God’s help
- Set alarm
- Prayer Journal
- Turn on your aromatherapy diffuser
Here is a second example that you can follow.
- Play worship music
- Take a shower
- Have a meal
- Brush and floss teeth
- Repeat Biblical affirmations
- Prayer Journal
- Set alarm
Tips to Help You Have a Successful Christian Night Routine
1) Keep your routine simple
Keep your night routine simple. I know I shared a lot of activities that you can include in your routine but you should only choose the ones that you need.
You will be more likely to stick to your routine if it is short and easy to follow. Even though I shared about 18 activities in this article, I only included 7 activities in the example above.
2) Be consistent
Your body likes patterns so if you follow your routine every night, your body will naturally start to wind down around the same time each night.
Your routine will also be more effective so you will have more restful nights and you will be more refreshed in the mornings.
Takeaway
Sleep is important and it is absolutely necessary for your health and your productivity. If you want to have more restful nights, energizing mornings and productive days then you need a nighttime routine.
Make sure you design your routine based on your needs and lifestyle. So take some time to decide which activities are most important for you at this point in your life.
Do you need to spend more time on physical self-care, quiet time with God, preparation for the next day or relaxing? Use your answer to that question to design the night routine that’s just right for you.
And if you need help with waking up early then make sure to check out this YouTube video for tips that are effective and science-based.