Evening wind-down routine checklist
The last hour of the day decides more about sleep than anything done lying in bed. Repeat the same short sequence most nights and the body learns what it means.
22 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Kitchen closed for the night
- Worktops wiped and washing-up done
- Dishwasher loaded and switched on
- Kettle filled ready for the morning
- Tomorrow's clothes picked and laid outOne less decision made at the time of day when decisions are hardest.
- Bag packed for tomorrowKeys, wallet, whatever the day actually needs, by the door rather than searched for at the last minute.
- Screens put down at a set timeThe hour before bed is where scrolling eats the most sleep, not the ten minutes lying in bed.
- Phone charging outside the bedroomIt stops being the last thing you check and the first thing you reach for.
- Lights dimmedBright light in the last hour tells the body it's still afternoon.
- Caffeine finished hours earlierCheck the actual cut-off for your own body, not a general rule.
- Alcohol, if any, finished well before bedIt can help you fall asleep and still wreck the second half of the night.
- Room temperature checkedA room on the cool side sleeps better than a warm one, whatever the duvet says.
- Curtains or blackout blinds closed
- Water glass filled for the night stand
- A short wind-down activity, the same one most nights
- Reading a few pages
- Stretching or a few minutes of breathing
- Writing down whatever the day left unfinished
- Worries written down rather than carried into bedA thought written on paper stops circling in a way the same thought in your head doesn't.
- Alarm set once and not checked againRepeatedly checking the time is its own way of staying awake.
- Bedroom tidied enough that it doesn't nag at youA room that looks like a job left undone doesn't feel like a room for sleeping in.
- Same rough time, most nightsThe routine works because of the repetition, not because of any one item in it.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Does the exact order of the routine matter?
- Less than doing it at all. What matters is repetition — the same short sequence most nights, so the body reads it as the signal for sleep rather than any one step in it.
- What if the evening genuinely runs late?
- Do the shortened version rather than none of it — screens down, lights dimmed, alarm set. A three-minute routine done consistently beats a twenty-minute one done twice a month.
- Is this the same as a sleep hygiene plan?
- It's the practical half of one — the actions, not the theory of what's wrong with your sleep. Persistent insomnia is worth raising with a doctor rather than solving with a routine alone.