I honestly think I love evening routines more than I love morning routines. When I think of an evening routine, I think of winding down, bubble baths, and writing. I also view an evening routine as the perfect set up for a morning routine.
How your evening routine is done will directly impact how your morning routine goes. I’ll dive into this a little later in the blog and you’ll see how important having both a morning and an evening routine is.
Strolling Into Your Evening
It’s five o’clock. You’ve had a long day of work. You’re probably tired and lacking creative energy. You’re feeling groggy and maybe your shoulders hurt from leaning over your computer all day.
It’s at this time that I recommend getting away from any screens and going outside for a walk. It’s really important to get out and enjoy any last rays of sunshine you can for the start of your evening.
I mentioned in the morning routine blog that exercise can help with your creativity. This is true. Getting your body moving will help those creative juices flow and get you ready to write in your evening. Go for a walk or a run, or roll out a yoga mat and do some stretching. If this time is the only time you have to squeeze in your workout for the day, make sure you make the most of it.
You’ll really want to take advantage of this time so later when you write in the evening, you’re not restless. Instead, you’ll be rejuvenated and ready to get in your word count.
Family Time
After you’re done your evening workout, make sure that you eat a proper meal with friends or family. Do not eat alone if at all possible. Regular socialization is important to keeping your sanity during NaNoWriMo. Take a full hour or so to be fully present with your friends and family.
Ask them about their day, and chat with them about how your writing is going. This time is great for tapping into your support system––especially if you’re dealing with one of your NaNoWriMo roadblocks.
Having others to talk to during NaNoWriMo will help make the solo journey less lonely. They don’t have to be writing with you to be supportive of you. Just chat with them and enjoy this time in the evening.
Set the Mood
Before you even get to writing, set the mood. Light some candles and put on some background noise like a movie or some music that inspires you. Grab margarita or your drink of choice. Really lean into setting the mood for your writing.
Figure out where you’re going to be writing in the evening as well. I like to write at my desk in the mornings, but at night I love to relax on the couch with my laptop to get my writing done. Try and pick a place where you feel most comfortable.
The place you write in the evening should be very different from where you wrote in the morning––if you wrote in the morning. Part of this is making sure that you have a different mindset than you do in the morning. In the morning, it’s a lot about the hustle and the drive. It’s more about pushing yourself hard and doing as much as you can before your day begins. At night, your goal should be to keep your mood relaxed and calm because you’re trying to wind down from a long and stressful day.
Setting the mood will help with you keeping things calm and de-stressing from the workday.
Evening Writing
If you haven’t written yet, around seven at night is the perfect time to get your writing done. It’s long enough after your workday to give you a bit of a break away from screens, but early enough in the evening that you have some brainpower for a couple of hours to get your word count in.
The only problem with evening writing is this: your willpower diminishes greatly throughout the day and you may not get your word count in if you wait to write until the evening. This is why I emphasize writing as soon as you wake up so you can get ahead and beat out any kind of decision fatigue. However, I realize that waking up earlier might not be in the cards for some of you and you may need to rely on writing in the evenings to get your word count done.
By creating an evening routine with writing at the heart of it, you’ll ensure that you’re creating a habit that can help carry you through NaNoWriMo. Even if you only have thirty minutes to write in the evenings because of familial obligations or life circumstances, making sure that you sit down to write in the evenings is a great way to get in your word count.
Set Up Your Morning for Success
Once you’re done with your writing for the night, put away your laptop. Do not spend hours scrolling unless it’s going to be for inspiration. Electronics can seriously mess with your sleep schedule––the light from your laptop can send signals to your brain telling you that you need to stay awake. This will impact your sleep. And as I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, you cannot sacrifice your sleep.
Lay out your clothes for the next morning. I usually put my clothes in the bathroom so as soon as I get up in the morning, I brush my teeth and my clothes are right there ready to go. It makes waking up earlier than usual way easier for me. It’s harder to tell yourself to just go back to sleep if your clothes are in your face, telling you to get up and get moving.
The Wind Down
After you’ve set your morning up for success, it’s time to start winding down for the evening so you can have the best quality of sleep possible. You could take a bubble bath, read a book, or grab a coloring book. If you’re not sick of writing for the day, grab a journal and write down how you’re feeling at the end of the day. Listen to soothing music or a podcast that you can relax to.
At the very end of your evening, I recommend praying or listening to a meditation for writers like this one. Make sure to set your phone FAR away from your bed so you’re not tempted to stay awake and scroll after the meditation has ended.
Now, I’m not going to tell you what time you should go to bed, but I do recommend getting to bed relatively early if possible. Remember that NaNoWriMo is a marathon, not a sprint and you’re going to need to rest up properly on a regular basis so you do not burn out. Figure out how much sleep you need and then set your own bed time from there. If you’re waking up at five in the morning like I am, I recommend being in bed no later than nine so you can get at least seven hours of sleep. Just do what is right for you and for your body.
Let me know what your NaNoWriMo evening routine will look like in the comments section below. I always love hearing from you guys.
Elizabeth Yuen 