Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to get back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my out-of-office has a forever setter.
An IG private wealth advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center. Find your advisor at IGprivatewealth.com. This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 2297, Evening Routines, How to Master Every Evening, and Why It Matters, by Arthur Worsley of theartofliving.com, and I'm just a molecular-very-owned personal narrator today, and every day, me narrating means there are no interviews, just a short podcast where we can both improve our lives one day at a time.
So that'll get right to today's post, and start optimizing your life. Evening Routines, How to Master Every Evening, and Why It Matters, by Arthur Worsley of theartofliving.com. If there's one productivity topic people often fixate on, it's the idea of a morning routine, and with good reason. If you want to get big things done, if you want better balance, if you want to live life more on purpose, then setting your days up for success every morning with solid morning rituals is an absolute must.
But here's the thing, a lot of people really struggle to wake up each morning on purpose, and even if it happens two or three days a week, they struggle to do it consistently. It's frustrating. And you know why it happens? It's not because these people are lazy or unproductive or don't realize how much mornings matter, it's because they're missing a piece of the puzzle.
They don't have an evening routine. They haven't fully realized that how they spend the last few hours of today is even more important than how they spend the first few hours of tomorrow. And by doing so, they're not just setting themselves up for frustration and failure, they're cheating themselves of a win. So what does a good evening routine look like?
Good question, I'm glad you asked. A good evening routine does two things effectively. It optimizes for sleep and maximizes quality and quality of shut-eye, and it eliminates friction. It makes your morning routine as simple and easy as possible.
That's it. What's the best way to do that? Number one, how to optimize for sleep. If you're not rested, your mornings will suffer.
And if your mornings suffer, you'll sabotage the rest of your day. That's why every morning routine starts with a good night of sleep. And one of the main things every good night of sleep depends on is a reliable evening routine. To set yours up for success, forget for a moment how busy you are and ask, how many hours of sleep do I need to feel happy and rested?
For example, seven and a half hours. Next, add 30 minutes for fall sleep friction. So seven and a half hours plus 30 minutes equals eight hours and subtract the total from your ideal wake-up time. For example, 5 a.m.
minus eight hours equals 9 p.m. Aim to turn your lights off by then, be in bed 30 minutes earlier, like a 30 p.m. and avoid all the following for at least 60 minutes before that after 7 30 p.m. Nicotine or caffeine ideally eliminated entirely, light emitting screens, intense physical or mental activity, ideally not within 180 minutes.
Heavy alcohol use, heavy eating or drinking, and sugary foods or medications that disrupt sleep. Don't hit the finish line at 200 miles per hour, then wonder why you struggle to wind down. Do lay out your stuff for tomorrow, meditate, read light fiction, take a hot shower or bath, or spend time with, but not video calling, your loved ones. Whatever you do, your overall objective is simple.
Manage the last 90 minutes of your day to optimize quantity and quality of sleep. Look after your evenings and your mornings will look after themselves. Number two, how to eliminate friction. Imagine your morning is a runway.
The goal of eliminating friction is to make take-off effortless. It's to maximize momentum by removing as many small obstacles from your morning as possible. How? The answer is by pre-deciding and pre-preparing as much as we possibly can.
It's by doing things like choosing and neatly laying out your clothes for tomorrow, pre-packing your bag and leaving it by the front door, pre-preparing and packing your breakfast and or lunch, and pre-booking and buying tickets for transport. Every decision you make, every step you take that minimizes your need to make even the smallest morning decision is a win. It's energy you can put towards something else. How to eliminate friction from your morning?
First, make a list of all your morning activities. Run through a mental video of the first hour of your day. If you're at home, take a few minutes to actually follow this process on Fast Forward. Go through the motions of getting out the door or preparing for your first hour of meaningful work.
Next, ask, which of these activities can I get rid of? Eliminate things like read the news or browse social media entirely. You have better things to do, like more sleeping than wasting good energy on distractions. Finally, ask, what could I do in advance to make each activity as easy as possible?
Write your ideas, including the ones previously mentioned, on a checklist and make them a 15-minute part of your evening routine. It's not rocket science, but taking the time to think through and master your evenings will change your life. It'll take you from inconsistent and frustrated and exhausted to ready and rested and reliable. It'll maximize the odds of setting every day up for a win.
So what are you waiting for? Take action on these simple steps. Plan your evening routine. And as you mean to begin.
And otherwise, until next time, be awesome, be productive, and go well. You just listen to the post titled Evening Routines, Not a Master Every Evening and Why Matters by Arthur Worsley of theartofliving.com. They get Arthur for the reminder, I'm not the best with evening routines because I'm a night owl that likes to work late and have been for as long as I can remember. I guess people can change, but I always end up feeling charged and ready to tackle something when the house becomes totally silent.
It's just how I operate. That said, I'm very sure that a wind down would benefit my life. We do know that some blue light in screens will mess up our sleep, so just doing some kind of self-care can have a big impact. Arthur said 90 minutes before bed, but don't feel like you'll fail if you missed a mark.
Shoot for 10 minutes before bed if you have to. One baby step out of time. And the next thing you know, you'll have a helpful, evening, wind down routine that works well for you. I'll be trying it out, let me know how it goes for you.
Have a great weekend if you're listening in real time, and I'll catch you tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.