Why Your Morning Routine Isn't Changing Your Life (Build This Routine Instead)

Morning routines.

Everyone talks about them.

“The best morning routine.”

“Millionaire’s morning routine.”

“How to build a productive morning routine.”

And don’t get me wrong… I love morning routines!

I absolutely love them.

Heck, when I was deciding on a topic for this week’s letter, I thought about writing on how to create a morning routine.

But something said in me didn’t feel that’s what would help you the most.

You already know so much about morning routines, whether you have one or not.

Like I said, it’s all people talk about when it comes to personal development and building routines.

Though morning routines have been a game changer in my own journey, there’s something that was more powerful and really the missing key for me.

Waking Up Early Started The Night Before

In 2022, I was doing competitive kickboxing.

With my coach and some of my peers, we had the goal of competing and not just doing kickboxing for basic fitness and recreational purposes.

This meant on top of our afternoon training sessions, we have early morning sessions to focus exclusively on preparing for competitions.

Now, I identify as an early bird.

So I have no trouble waking up early, and I enjoy it.

But for a multitude of reasons, I’m also a night owl.

I can stay up late with ease.

When I’d visit my grandmother as a kid, I’d stay up late to watch Samurai Jack and whatever else Cartoon Network had playing at that time.

But this created a problem:

Waking up early + Going to bed late = Little To No Sleep (and feeling like a zombie when I woke up.)

If I were going to take kickboxing seriously, the night owl and the early bird could not co-exist.

Someone had to be sacrificed, and that was the night owl.

But the funny thing about trying to ‘kill’ that version of me is that she wasn’t going to go without a fight. She wanted to exist as much as the early bird did.

Or so I thought.

It was during this time that I read Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep.

(Highly recommend).

Surprisingly, that book left such a strong impression on me that my night owl ‘left’ without much of a fight.

The book changed how I viewed and valued sleep.

And because of that, my night owl was happy to go.

The book made me realise that if I wanted a healthy, long life and great performance in kickboxing, I had to prioritise sleep.

If I wanted to start the day on the right foot, it wasn’t about being an early bird and having a good morning routine.

It was about getting high-quality sleep and the right amount of sleep.

And to ensure I was getting proper sleep, I needed an evening routine.

The Routine You Need

This is the routine that profoundly changed my life in 2022.

An evening routine.

The most underrated, but most impactful habit you can build.

Everyone talks about morning routines like they’re the holy grail of productivity and performance.

Yes, they play a vital role.

But here’s the thing and something I want you to drill into your bed:

You win the morning, the night before.

If you’re skipping wind-downs, frying your eyes with late-night scrolling and dreaming about your to-do list all before crashing into bed at 1 am, no miracle morning routine will save you.

This only leads to you waking up groggy, reactive and playing catch-up.

And this has a domino effect:

• You skip the gym

• You default to doing low-leverage tasks.

• You smash 5 coffees to keep your eyes from closing.

• The afternoon slump hits you hard.

• You’re reactive to everything.

When you ignore your evenings, you begin a cycle of sabotage.

If I hadn’t created an evening routine, training in the mornings would have been painful.

Attending university classes would have been difficult.

I most likely would have messed up my diet, and that would have affected:

• My weight for the fights.

• My performance in fights.

• My performance in classes and assignments.

My daily schedule would be controlling me instead of me controlling it.

Morning routines are great, but through my own experience, I learned they aren’t the biggest domino to a successful day, week, month and year.

That impact belongs to your evening routine.

High performers don’t just master their mornings.

They master their evenings first.

Evenings Close The Day and Start It

Evening routines aren’t just great for getting you ready for high-quality sleep at night.

But also closing today right so you can start tomorrow better.

It doesn’t have to be complicated either.

You simply need a repeatable wind-down routine that:

• Signals to your brain that it’s time to recover.

• Helps you process the day and reset for tomorrow.

• Signals to your body that you’re getting ready to sleep.

• Aligns your circadian clock for better sleep and alertness.

Evening routines are powerful because:

1. Better Sleep = Better Focus.

Good sleep improves decision-making, creativity, memory, and emotional regulation — all critical for being at your best day to day.

2. Proactive Planning.

When you plan your day the night before, you wake up knowing exactly what matters most.

No decision fatigue.

No spinning.

Your subconscious mind starts processing and connecting the dots that will make tomorrow flow

3. Mental Clarity and Stress Reduction

An intentional wind-down helps you let go of the day instead of carrying its stress into your sleep and lowering your quality of sleep.

An evening routine helps reduce overall stress levels by providing a predictable and calming end to your day.

4. Momentum

Evening routines create a consistent sleep-wake rhythm. That consistency fuels your energy, health, mood, and focus.

It allows you to get into your morning routine and let yourself start the day on the right foot without putting out fires so early in the day.

5. Time Freedom

You stop wasting time on mindless evening habits and start using that time to recharge with intention.

This doesn’t mean you can’t unwind with an episode of your favourite series, but it allows you to be conscious and intentional with it.

Remember: you want to live by design, not by default.

If you’re ready to unleash your potential, then it’s time to stop treating your evenings like an afterthought and put them front and centre where they belong.

Building Your Evening Routine (in 30 minutes or less)

I’ll offer an overview of how I think of evening routines and the different habits you can experiment with and include in it:

Phase 0: Prioritising Sleep

• You want to determine what time you want to wake up and work backwards to calculate how many hours you need for adequate sleep and what time you need to be in bed sleeping.

  • Research says that adults typically need at least seven hours of sleep per night (some might need or want more).

• Once you know what time you need to be in bed, give yourself roughly 60 - 90 minutes for your evening routine.

  • I’ve found this amount of time to be ideal as it prevents possible rushing, which increases stress (the opposite of what we want).

  • That being said, you don’t need to be strict with this time.

  • If you discover you only need 15 - 20 minutes to wind down, that’s perfectly fine. It’s your routine. Do what works and sticks for you.

Phase 1: Closing the Workday

This phase begins after you’re done with work.

It might not be the first domino of your evening routine, but it is just as valuable.

Habits/activities:

• Review what you’ve gotten done in the day. If there are any tasks not completed, carry them over into the next day.

• Plan out your calendar for the next day by prioritising and scheduling your 3 high-leverage tasks.

• Close the tabs on your computer and tidy your workspace.

• Do something that helps you transition from ON to OFF. For me, this is typically a short walk.

This helps with switching off from work so you can wind down and be more present and relaxed in the evening.

Phase 2: Dinner and Relax

Habits/activities:

• Spend time with loved ones.

• Have dinner (ideally 2-3 hours before bed).

• Watch an episode of a series you’re watching (if that’s what you want).

Phase 3: Clean Up and Prep

Habits/activities:

• Clean up your spaces like the TV room, lounge and kitchen.

• Do the dishes so you have a clean kitchen when you wake.

• Pack your bags (gym bag, work bag, etc.)

• Set out your clothes for the next day.

• Meal prep.

Phase 4: Prepare for Bed

Habits/activities:

• Avoid screens and stimulation an hour before.

• Dim the lights in your house (if you can).

• Put your phone on sleep mode.

• Journal or brain dump.

• Shower or bath.

• Meditation.

• Reading.

• Prayer.

Phase 5: Lights Out

Habits/activities:

Be as consistent with the bedtime window as possible. Give yourself a 15 - 30 minute window.

Sleep is when your brain and body recover, reset, and build the energy and clarity you need to perform at your best.

So you want to prioritise it and protect it.

Tips On Making It Stick:

Stay consistent where you can.

Just like with any habit, consistency is key. Don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t getting to bed exactly at your ideal bedtime, especially when you start building your routine. Give yourself time to adjust.

Set an alarm.

Just as you have a morning alarm to wake up, you want an evening routine to get ready for bed. This is a small nudge that helps with the consistency.

Allow for flexibility.

Your nights won’t always follow the same pattern, and that’s okay. Maybe you have dinner with family, or it’s a friend’s birthday. That’s okay. Allow these things to exist instead of being rigid about the night routine.

Experiment.

There is no such thing as the perfect routine. The ‘perfect’ routine is the one you can stick to. So, explore different habits and what meets your needs.

Experiment. Adjust. Repeat.

Find what works for you.

I hope you’ll start prioritising your evening routines like you do your morning routines. Focusing on my evening routine was a game-changer for me, and I hope it will be for you too.

Thank you for reading.

I hope it helped.

See you in the next one.

— Shana

p.s.

I created a free distraction checklist to help you eliminate hidden distractions and 2 - 3x your focus to get more done in less time.

You can grab yours here.