🌱 3 Ways to Prioritize Night Time if You’re A Night Owl

Night time is for sleeping, right?

Not at all!

Night time can be as good of a time as day, especially if you have to stay up because of your work or heck — just because you want to.

Nothing beats the chill, dark vibes that darkness gives off. Making it a perfect time to get solo business work done 🌙

But what if you’re feeling like you’re not having a healthy routine at night?

How can you prioritize your time better if you’re a night owl?

That’s what this story will help you out with.

What’s been told

You may hear often of daytime influencers saying, “get up at 6 am!” and “drink water as soon as you wake up!”

These may seem to have nothing to do with nighttime, but nonetheless of the time, they’re right.

Having a nightly work routine can be detrimental to our health. But like daytime, there’s still a way to keep a balanced routine at night.

Let’s start with some generic facts we’ve all heard.

Drink water

At night it can feel like you’re invincible, but it can also make you more prone to dehydration. After all, it’s harder to plan our routine as if it were day ☀️

But how can you make sure to drink water when you’re zoned in on work?

1. Have a reminder on your desktop: If you use Notion & have a dashboard you continually use, write it as a widget or callout. If you have a different app, try to make it stand out.

2. Use an alarm: Just like sleeping, having an alarm play every 30 seconds of the most hideous sound will help you have an ear for timing, by remembering to drink before the timer goes off.

3. Have water by your desk: An airtight tumbler helps keep your drink fresh & ready when you’re zoned out, so if you still grab papers and things on your desk while working, you’re most likely to see it & remind yourself to hydrate.

Take breaks

The right routine is one that has breaks. Otherwise, it’s far easier to burn out!

So what are some ways to remind yourself & actually take a breather?

1. Take a walk before the sun sets: If you’re just waking up at 6pm and the sun sets at that time, take the opportunity to go outside. Do you really want to stay cooped up in your house for the next, what, 6 hours until morning? Having exercise will help you focus better!

2. Having meal times: Instead of skipping just because it’s night, have a time you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner nonetheless of whether you only work half or the whole night.

Whether you’re on the computer only or having to drive to work, eating will help you feel less crabby having to work, and also help you take your mind off work for a bit.

Take note of when you’re hungry and have time to spare. Use that time to eat, you won’t regret it!

3. Using a Pomodoro Timer: Setting a timer might not sit well with you, but either that or make note of when you’re mentally strained & take that moment to simply get up from your chair. Taking 1 minute every half or one hour to just walk around your office can provide some mental & physical relief!

Establish waking and sleeping times

Simple, right?

Well not to everyone.

Most people (that I know) who work late at night are way too disorganized about when they actually get to bed and wake up.

Without a set time every day, not only will you mess with your circadian rhythm (which controls sleep) but your ultradian rhythm too! Which is super important for regulating your energy throughout the day.

Try putting it on the calendar, mentally making note of when you feel sleepy or awake, or have a time that you’re for sure you have sleep & then set your alarm for 8–9 hours before waking up.

If you have trouble sleeping, drinking Chamomile tea always does the trick for me ☕

Takeaway

Routines give structure, they’re your reason to do a task at a certain time and to drink water when you need to.

Taking the time to set the right routine now will save both your sleep and energy in the future. Otherwise, no one likes being around a zombie!

Even if your routine feels like crap right now, just remember that every step you take towards establishing one is going to add up in your future efforts.

With continued effort every day, your nighttime will only become more enjoyable to work during!

To conclude, here’s what someone on Reddit said about their nighttime routine:

Screen capture from Reddit

What about you? Do you find these strategies helpful for working at night?

Recently I’ve created 2 perfect Notion templates to help with nighttime.

• Night time OS — used to track your time to keep healthy.

Image taken from NotionPlates

• Midnight Study OS — used for students to stay energized during their nightly studies.

Image taken from NotionPlates