How to Sleep Better: Build Your Bedtime Routine

Our nighttime routine can have a huge impact on the quality of our sleep — and our skin. Building your optimal bedtime ritual is about more than counting sheep; you can set yourself up for sleep success each day long before you hit the sheets for some zzz’s.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the most important elements to creating your ideal wind-down ritual, from engaging all five senses to putting away the electronics for better sleep quality.

Unlocking Your Wind Down: Creating the Ideal Nighttime Routine

After a busy day, your body and soul are probably craving a ritual that signals, “Hey, you’re good to relax now.” An intentionally crafted wind down routine can be the antidote to mindless scrolling, bed rotting, and nights of tossing and turning.

What Does "Wind Down Routine" Mean?

A wind down routine is exactly what it sounds like: a set of activities or preferences that helps your brain and body transition out of work and life and instead ease into your evening.

For some, a wind down can be a simple five-minute meditation. For others, the perfect wind down ritual is multi-faceted, like swapping screens for books, bright lights for dim, vibe-y ones, or drawing a relaxing bath.

Enhancing your sleep quality starts with consistent habits you can stick to, like putting electronics in another room for two hours before going to bed.

But before you start creating your ideal sleep ritual, let’s dig into some common sleep practices and tips.

Popular Bedtime Routine "Rules" Explained

When it comes to getting better sleep, there’s a ton of information and “rules” out there you could follow.

Ultimately, this process is different for everyone, and there’s no one-size-fits-all rule or routine to guarantee a good night’s rest. However, experts have identified some helpful tactics you can try to increase the quality of your sleep.

Follow the 10-3-2-1-0 Rule

For example, the 10-3-2-1-0 rule includes tips to improve your sleep by making changes to your daytime habits. Here’s the breakdown:

● 10 hours before bed: Stop your caffeine intake, as caffeine can keep you up and affect your sleep quality.

● 3 hours before bed: No more food or alcohol. Digestion and drinking beverages can cause you to wake up during the night, depending on your body.

● 2 hours before bed: Sign off on work and mentally stimulating activities. Swap them for more relaxing ones, like journaling, light stretching, or meditating.

● 1 hour before bed: Put away screens, as smart phones and devices emit blue light that can disrupt the body’s release of melatonin, which helps signal to the body that it’s tired.

● 0 hits to the snooze button: This one’s hard, we know! The 10-3-2-1-0 rule encourages people to wake up with their alarm the next morning without the snooze button, claiming that snoozing interrupts the body’s natural sleep cycles.

Building a Personalized Pre-Bed Ritual

Set a schedule

Aim to go to bed at a consistent time each night, and wake up around the same time each morning, even on weekends.

This helps teach your body when to release melatonin and signals your readiness for sleep.

Savor your skincare ritual

A simple way to apply your skincare is to follow Keys Soulcare resident dermatologist Dr. Renée Synder's go-to order. Here is her take on the perfect PM ritual:

Start with a gentle cleanser, like Golden Face Cleanser with Manuka Honey, to help remove any traces of makeup, SPF, dirt or impurities.
Then, reach for your favorite serum. Dr. Snyder recommends this step for weaving in ingredients like Vitamin C or a retinoid here (especially if your nighttime moisturizing step doesn’t have you covered on that front) to help target specific skin concerns, which will look a little different for everyone.
Round out your PM skincare with a nourishing moisturizer like the Fragrance Free Skin Transformation Cream, which contains bakuchiol to help plump the look of skin and ceramides to help keep skin feeling soft and moisturized.

Light a candle

As you leave behind your workday and settle into a relaxing evening, one great way to signal to the brain that you are winding down is by lighting your favorite candle.

Our Sage + Oat Milk Candle offers a 65 hour burn time, and the light, uplifting scent provides an aromatherapy moment that can transform any setting into a relaxing, spa-like atmosphere.

Prep for morning

To keep yourself from scrambling when you wake up, set yourself up for success in the morning instead. Lay out your clothing, pack your lunch, or schedule one last email so it doesn’t weigh on your mind.

Unplug from electronics

While this part can be easier said than done, go ahead and put your phone on “do not disturb” so you can avoid distractions and notifications for the rest of the evening. You can put your phone on the hook to charge for the evening, or keep it in a box until morning.

If you rely on your phone as your alarm clock and timer, invest in a physical alarm instead. This will keep your phone out of the bedroom (and make it that much easier to avoid scrolling as soon as you wake up.)

Enjoy a relaxing activity

With your skincare done, a candle lit, and your phone out of reach, take a few moments to catalogue what you’re grateful for in your Soulcare Gratitude Journal, or write down your top 3 items to do for the following day. You can put on music, read a book, or mindfully sip a soothing cup of herbal tea.

Dim the lights

For optimal sleep, ditch the harsh overhead lights and make your bedroom a haven for sleep instead. You can use soothing red lights or dimmable bulbs to create a cozy environment primed for rest.

Common Bedtime Routine Barriers

Having a hard time achieving your bedtime routine and staying consistent with your wind down ritual? Here are the three main culprits for disrupted sleep:

Screens

If your idea of relaxing before bed is watching a Netflix show or playing a game on your phone, try setting up a cut-off time for electronics. If your bedtime is 10pm, aim to wrap up your screen time by 8pm. You can also pivot to e-readers or audiobooks for a short while to break the habit of looking at a computer or phone screen.

Inconsistent schedules

Say you work an inconsistent schedule and can’t make it to bed at the same time each night. That’s okay! Try setting a new goal where you strive to be in bed at the same time each time a few times a week. Remember: it’s about progress, not perfection.

Stress

When you’re feeling stressed about work or personal issues, it can be hard to fully unplug. Stopping the loop of thinking and rumination is key. One way to do this is by setting a timer for ten minutes, writing down what is on your mind, and then “put away” those stressors once the ten minutes have passed.

Plus, keeping your phone on “Do Not Disturb” is another way to keep notifications or reminders of work at bay.

Foundations of Sleep Hygiene for Nighttime Success

According to Harvard Health, sleep hygiene is defined as a set of habits or daily practices that help you build consistency and improve your quality of sleep over time. Core tenants of sleep hygiene include:

● Creating and maintaining a clean, restful, and ready-for-sleep environment

● Establishing habits that help you prepare for bed (like the 10-3-2-1-0 rule)

● Avoiding stimulants like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine at least 2 hours before bed

● Following a consistent sleep schedule and routine on weekdays and weekends

● Building a sleep ritual you’ll stick to, which takes time, trial, and error

Evaluating and Adjusting Your Routine Over Time

You probably won’t immediately experience life-altering improvements to your sleep quality in a night or two. But developing a wind down routine that you can iterate on and build upon can have compounding results over time.

Try keeping a sleep journal by your bedside to track what’s working about your new routine, or what’s not. If you’re finding it difficult to stick to your routine, you might need to add in some flexibility.

For example, maybe you don’t keep your phone in another room because you call a friend in the evenings instead. Maybe you swap scrolling for a puzzle or book of crosswords.

The important thing is making your routine work for you, not against you.

Signs Your Wind Down Routine Is Working

Your wind down ritual might be working well if:

● You have more energy in mornings, feel less groggy upon waking, or reach for the snooze button less

● You start to look forward to the ritual you’ve built, and it becomes a source of joy instead of a requirement

● You’re able to put down your homework, sign off at work more readily, and leave tasks for tomorrow

● You check your emails and texts less frequently, or spend less time scrolling in bed

Adapting to Life Changes and Roadblocks

Remember that there are seasons to life where you need more rest than others. For example, shorter days and colder nights can mean your sleep intake ticks up in the winter months. A busy social calendar in the summer might change your wind down routine, and that’s okay!

Change is constant, and even your sleep wind down routine will change and evolve with time.

What are your sleep ritual hacks and helpful tips? Share them below to bring the power of better sleep to everyone.