Tips for a Sound Night Routine Evening: Sleep Soundly!

Many times, more often than not, you’ll find that it is extremely difficult to turn off your brain even though you may have had an absolutely exhausting day. Here’s where an evening routine comes in to help your overworked brain and body get some much needed rest.

Preparing your brain to sleep starts with cortisol being low in the evening, typically starting about 3 or 4 hours before your bedtime. So when daylight fades, your brain should start producing melatonin, often called the sleep hormone. Melatonin doesn’t just make you drowsy. It also signals to your entire body that it’s time to shift into recovery mode, activating your brain’s clean up processes that clear out metabolic waste and consolidate memories from the day.

Blue or bright light exposure (screens, bulbs, etc.) suppresses melatonin production and can delay it after an evening spent under bright lights or scrolling on your phone. So, before sleeping, avoid using the phone. Over time, you will definitely see improved moods due to better sleep.

Sleep deprivation and rumination the night before can lead to waking up with some dreadful feelings. Hence, make sleep a priority and then cut out alcohol and caffeine. Caffeine can  impact sleep and anxiety levels for up to 72 hours.

Mental overstimulation has a similar effect when your brain is constantly processing new information, solving problems, or dealing with stress. The cortisol levels stay elevated. You’re not just tired, your mental power is affected, making you easily irritated, tired or overwhelmed. Decision making and focus is affected. It’s like trying to run a software program on a computer that never gets to clear its cache and or update its systems.

1. Light transition

The first way to do this is by making use of a light transition, where you start dimming or switching off all lights except for one or two, about two hours before your bedtime. 

• Switch to warmer, dimmer lighting. 
• Use amber or red spectrum bulbs in your bedroom or main living areas, or if that’s not practical, blue light blocking glasses can be surprisingly effective. 
• Make use of the night mode settings in phones or mobiles.

Humans are creatures of habit, so making an evening routine, starting by cues like brushing your teeth, closing your laptop or even psychological cues by like saying out loud- “Work is done for the day, ” or by even making a list of your priorities for tomorrow can help your brain rest by not worrying about tracking them overnight.

2. Nervous system downregulation techniques

To help your body settle from its constant ‘fight or flight mode’ to a more relaxed and safe state, breathing techniques become highly essential. Some of them include:

• Four, seven eight breathing pattern or box breathing. 
• Sensory grounding techniques like taking a warm bath, listening to gentle music, or engaging in soothing activities like light exercises or reading.
• Progressive muscle relaxation. 
• Brain dumping.

Slow down during the day. We keep ourselves distracted and busy so the mind pops up worries when you’re undisturbed when you’re trying to sleep, allowing your mind to wander and integrate information.

3. Brain dump and release

This is about giving your mind permission to simply just relax and sleep without stressing about the next day’s problems. An easy tool to use in doing this is by journaling. 

You can start this by writing down just three small things that went well in the day as well as your priorities in an organized manner for the next day. Another tip here is to also jot down whatever concerns you on a piece of paper. Now your brain knows that since you’ve written them down, you won’t have to spend time worrying about it when you go to bed, instead it will be ready to face those challenges with a fresh and better perspective.

Our aim is to make progress by beginning in small ways. Sometimes, the more effort we take in trying to not think about something, the more it sticks. So even if your thoughts don’t seem to be stopping, you need not fight them. Simply relax and practice the sensory breathing techniques or do a light body scan.

4. Sleep Hygiene:

• • Chamomile and Caffeine: Research has shown that chamomile, famously known for its calming effects, is effective for treating chronic insomnia and anxiety. Drinking one cup of chamomile tea half an hour before bed, can improve the quality of sleep (“Herbs for Better Sleep: A Natural Guide to Improving Sleep Quality and Overcoming Insomnia With Herbal Remedies,” 2019). On the other hand, drinking caffeine can leave its effects in the body for more than five hours, so it is recommended to avoid having it six hours before going to bed (Cherney, 2018).
  • Bed: Just as how your table is meant for eating or work, your bed should make your brain associate it with only sleep or sex. So avoid using your phones or laptops in bed, instead, bring in supportive pillows and a comfortable mattress. Use light transition and try using black out curtains for the best effects (Clinic, 2023).
  • Pink Noise: White noise is static but pink noise refers to relaxing sounds like the sounds of waterfall and ocean waves. Using pink noise can aid in masking the other sounds that may interrupt your sleep like a dog barking or any outside sounds (Clinic, 2022).
  • Sleep schedules: Taking a 20-30 minute power naps in the day is ideal for when you’re really tired and will leave you refreshed and not at all lethargic, also improving mood and focus (Clinic, 2021). A full sleep cycle, on the other hand, requires 90 minutes. You can use a sleep calculator to find out how many cycles you may require as it differs from person to person based on their usual sleep timings.
  • Sleep Drive: Our sleep drive is determined by our circadian rhythm which affects our wakefulness and sleepiness. So if our sleep drive changes, it can cause insomnia or make us more alert at night rather than sleepy. This can be resolved by sleeping for more than 7 hours in the night each day (Suni & Suni, 2025). 

It’s very important to realise that you should never feel guilty for taking up rest as your priority, especially when you get overworked and stressed. Look at it from the perspective of taking sleep as an investment for the next day’s productivity. Sleeping now will only make you more sustainable tomorrow.

Start small. You can start by practicing just one habit today and see its effectiveness not just before going to bed but also the next morning. Help your brain in clearing up its storage and preparing you to maximise your full potential for all the days coming ahead. 

REFERENCES:

Cherney, K. (2018, November 7). How long does caffeine stay in your system? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-caffeine-last

Clinic, C. (2021, November 11). Should you take power naps? Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/power-naps

Clinic, C. (2022, April 28). Can pink noise help you sleep? Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-pink-noise-might-just-help-you-get-a-better-nights-sleep

Clinic, C. (2023, September 25). Sleep hygiene: 7 tips for a Better Bedtime routine. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/sleep-hygiene

Herbs for Better Sleep: A Natural Guide to Improving Sleep Quality and Overcoming Insomnia with Herbal Remedies. (2019). Australian Herbal Insight, 2(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.25163/ahi.21207811

Ikeda, Y., Morita, E., Muroi, K., Arai, Y., Ikeda, T., Takahashi, T., Shiraki, N., Doki, S., Hori, D., Oi, Y., Sasahara, S., Ishihara, A., Matsumoto, S., Yanagisawa, M., Satoh, M., & Matsuzaki, I. (2022). Relationships between sleep efficiency and lifestyle evaluated by objective sleep assessment: SLeep Epidemiology Project at University of Tsukuba. PubMed, 84(3), 554–569. https://doi.org/10.18999/nagjms.84.3.554

Suni, E., & Suni, E. (2025, July 23). Sleep drive and your body clock. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm/sleep-drive-and-your-body-clock