Eight things that everyone should do after 8pm

Scheduling for the morning is very common these days. Almost everyone has some kind of schedule, good or bad. However, few people consider it necessary to adhere to the routine in the evenings. If you do not have a schedule for the evening, then the most useful and significant part of the day is wasted . How to change all this?

If you are like most people, in the evenings you procrastinate and kill time on social networks , watch Netflix, drink and have a bite.

From a scientific point of view, this behavior is not surprising. According to psychologist Roy Baumeister, each person has a limited amount of willpower that he can spend in one day - psychic energy is depleted after each decision we make, both large and small. The Baumeister calls this decision fatigue.
That is, by the end of the day many decisions have already been made, will power has been depleted. Is it any wonder that at the most precious time we try to be close to close people, while ignoring all decisions made in the morning?
That's a very difficult question.

Fortunately, routine is an excellent remedy against decision fatigue. If some action is scheduled, it requires very little mental energy. After all, the decision has already been made. Willpower is no longer needed. Life goes on automatically. You stop harming yourself. Unfortunately, making a schedule for the evening is much more difficult than for the morning.

Darren Hardy, in his book The Compound Effect ^★, claims that morning and evening routines are essential elements of prosperity. Without these elements, there will always be chaos in your life. A properly drawn up routine is an impulse that will lead you to the life you dream of.

If you slept badly at night, then torment all day

As you already know, the morning routine is extremely important. However, its observance will be in question if you do not learn to control yourself in the evening. How you spent your evening hours greatly affects the quality of your sleep. And the quality of sleep, in turn, can either completely ruin the whole next day, or, conversely, make it very productive .

In addition, the way you use bedtime indicates the value that the most important things in life represent for you. Of course, work is of the utmost importance. But it is only a means for a much more important thing - to help people dear to your heart.

Our loved ones deserve a better relationship from us. And you deserve more too. Taking control of the evening hours, you will quickly change your whole life. You will feel the joy and restoration of strength that evening rest should give.

Are you ready to change your usual evening pastime? Are you ready to completely change your life?
Let's start:

1. Free 1-2 hours before bedtime

Journalist and writer Carl Honore says:

In this multitasking era filled with information, we are always in touch, so many of us have lost the ability to disconnect from the outside world and give ourselves completely to the current moment. We forgot how to stop. No wonder this fast-moving culture has an impact on everything from our diet and health to work and the environment.

The border between work and home is becoming increasingly uncertain. It is very difficult to disconnect when phone calls are constantly ringing in your home, emails, text messages and notifications from social networks are received.
Returning home, we increasingly take work with us. Therefore, we very rarely give all our attention to those we love.

We have forgotten how to live today, and, as various studies say, the abundance of electronic devices is harmful to normal sleep. Dr. Verma advises turning off all devices at least 1–2 hours before bedtime (even e-books, such as Kindle or Nook). Two hours is the best time, although inconvenient for many people.

Mariana Figueiro and her colleagues at the Optical Research Center of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute proved that using the iPad for two hours with maximum screen brightness can suppress the nighttime production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for the circadian rhythm system (human biological clock).

Melatonin gives the body a signal that night has come and helps you fall asleep. Delaying sleep, you delay this signal. If you do this regularly for a long period, the circadian rhythm system may break, which often entails serious health consequences.

2. Eat the right foods in small quantities.

You heard that eating at bedtime makes a person fat. This is not entirely true. On the contrary, a light snack before bedtime will help you sleep more calmly and will not lead to weight gain - if you eat the right foods. Of course, you will definitely get fat if you regularly eat junk food at bedtime, such as chips, cookies or other sweets.

Stephanie Maxson, Senior Clinical Nutritionist at the Cancer Center M.D. Anderson at the University of Texas at Texas University explains that a physically active person who has had dinner a few hours before bedtime, having a light snack just before bedtime helps maintain a stable level of blood sugar. Blood sugar and related hormones can either increase or decrease appetite and energy level. Also, because of them, confusion can arise in the body associated with the processes of accumulation or burning of fat. If sugar is low in the morning after rising, your condition will be lethargic. Moreover, low sugar levels can interfere with your sleep in the middle of the night: you will often wake up and fall asleep again.

Cassie Björk, a certified nutritionist and founder of HealthySimpleLife.com, considers it false that the body does not need fuel before bedtime. Having a good snack before you go to bed, you will provide your body with the fuel necessary for burning calories during sleep, and also release the hormones associated with hunger and causing the body to accumulate fat.

The following foods are suitable for consumption before bedtime:

• Complex carbohydrates such as whole grain bread.
• Starch-free vegetables.
• Popcorn.
• Fruit.

Maxson explains that these products break up slowly, preventing sudden changes in sugar levels, which disturb sleep and appetite.

Low-protein protein foods such as turkey and chicken fillet are suitable for athletes. It improves muscle recovery during the night, and also provides the body with tryptophan, an essential amino acid that promotes healthy sleep.

In addition, some “healthy” fats, when consumed before bedtime, slow down the absorption of carbohydrates into the blood. If you often wake up tired or hungry, eat an avocado, a spoonful of peanut butter or add some melted butter to the popcorn.

3. Report, record and prepare for the next day

It will not be superfluous to spend 5-10 minutes every evening analyzing the past day, briefly write down all the incidents, and also make plans for tomorrow.

By analyzing your every day, you are accountable for it to yourself. Was everything done as planned? If you are not able to report to yourself, then to whom can you report?

Greg McKeon, author of Essentialism, advises writing daily on a diary of all experiences, insights, and memories. He recommends writing less than you would like - a maximum of a few sentences. Like most people who keep a diary, you will be tempted to write every detail into it. This can take a long time: from a few minutes to an hour. You will quickly burn out and after a couple of days throw everything away. It is much better if you record only the most important daily. Before you look back, you will have several magazines filled with notes about every day of your life.

At the end, review your organizer and to-do list for tomorrow. In doing so, visualize how your next day should go. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps claims that visualization is the foundation of his sporting achievements. He often says that the intense visualization of the ideal swim created in the evening before the competition is inextricably linked to the victories that follow.

4. Enjoy the minutes spent with your loved ones

We shed the most bitter tears over the graves because of words left unsaid and deeds left undone

- Harriet Beecher Stow

Happiness lies in the ability to enjoy the present. Do not let these moments fly past you. There is nothing permanent in life. Children are growing up. Friends are leaving. People close to us pass away. Let's live in the present and value the most important things in our lives before it's too late.

For most of us, these are evenings that we manage to spend with loved ones. If you do not pay special attention to them and protect them from everything else (including from our own fatigue and distraction), we will lose them.

It is known that one can learn about a person’s priorities by looking at his diary. Usually we plan our meetings, dinners and training. However, most of us in our diaries never find time for loved ones.

5. Enjoy your favorite activities.

Most of the day we have work. It is very difficult to find time for classes that help us learn something new , bring joy and bring diversity to life. It’s much easier to just remove them from our increasingly busy lives. You can often hear people praising people who have no hobbies and work continuously. Yet the key to happiness and success is balance. If you are serious all the time, stress increases, which can ultimately lead to depression.

Having allocated time for rest, you will receive an emotional upsurge, a sense of appreciation, and also make it easier for yourself to enter a state that psychologists call streaming. That is, 30 minutes spent in your favorite pastime in the evening help restore strength and add a bit of fun to your life.

6. Put your house in order.

Among successful business people, it is common practice to clean up their workspace before leaving the office. Nobody wants to go back to where chaos reigns.

Spending a few minutes before going to bed to put the house in order, as a reward you will get the opportunity to fall asleep and wake up in a pleasant environment. This reduces stress and reduces decision fatigue. In addition, you will receive a positive morning mood, which is necessary for a good mood and peace of mind throughout the day.

7. Share love with yourself and other people.

Meditating while lying in bed before falling asleep is a common meditative practice. To do this, you need to take a deep breath several times and think about love for yourself and for other people. At the same time, you not only think about love, but also purposefully send positive energy and emotions to other people. It strengthens your connection with them. A similar practice is night prayers in which you thank God for your mercy and pray for the well-being of your loved ones.
Such practices increase your appreciation and broaden your perception. They allow you to see life in its higher manifestations, to feel unity with yourself and those you love.

8. Go to bed on schedule

One person recently said that, no matter how late he went to bed, he wakes up early every day, as this makes him more productive. But he always has too many important things that do not allow him to get to bed at the right time.
“What matters?” They asked him.

“Well, we just moved, we have children, I have work, and also a dog,” he replied, after which he became silent. People come up with thousands of excuses, not wanting to go to bed on time. Behind these excuses lies the mismanagement of life. Yes, it can be difficult. But a conscious person forms his life himself, making it easier to achieve success and well-being.
Synchronizing with your natural sleep and wake cycle — your biological clock — is crucial to healthy sleep.

It is imperative to go to bed at the same time every night. Going to bed strictly according to the schedule, you will feel much more refreshed and energetic than if you oversleep the same amount at another time. Changing your sleep patterns for one or two hours on weekends can severely disrupt your biological rhythm. For sleep, constancy is very important. Dr. Verma said this:

Many of my patients have so different lifting schedules on weekdays and weekends that they constantly experience the same drowsiness as sleepy people. Even two hours of difference is very harmful, especially to those who already suffer from lack of sleep

There is no exact time when everyone should go to bed. Each person has a different one. However, in order to maximize your morning routine, it is best to go to bed before 11 pm, and the sooner the better.

Conclusion

Your evening schedule reflects your life priorities. Actions speak louder than words. Either you care about yourself and your loved ones, or not. Every evening, making time to regain strength and spend a few moments with loved ones, you will make your life more balanced and happy.

Both morning and evening hours should be tight and consistent. However, at different periods of life, the routine is likely to change. Studying at the university, constant work and raising children - all this requires adjustments to your usual schedule. The importance of the routine is constantly growing, as life becomes more restless and busy.

PS We recommend another useful article on the topic of working on yourself -Eight good morning habits that will increase your productivity .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of TESTutor .