"Many of us have our morning routines down pat (or at least are trying to nail it down). From opening shifts to morning menus, we dedicate significant time and energy to figuring out how to start our days in the best way possible. But evening routines don’t get the attention they deserve, despite their long list of benefits like reducing stress, supporting circadian rhythms, improving mental clarity, and providing time for some TLC. If you’re anything like me, your evenings are dominated by way too much TV, doomscrolling, and staying up too late (read: we lack a proper wind-down regimen). I know that my current evening routine isn’t sustainable, so I decided it was time for a change.
Almost immediately after I decided to put a better-for-me evening routine in place, Mel Robbins released a podcast episode on her nighttime routine. Robbins is known for her digestible personal development advice (chances are you’ve come across her “Let Them Theory” or “High Five Habit”), and her step-by-step evening routine is a recent addition to her growing list of applicable wisdom. Given my current dilemma, I tried Robbins’ five-step evening routine for a week to see if I could change my bad evening habits once and for all. Here’s what happened.
Mel Robbins’ 5-Step Evening Routine
As Robbins put it, her five-step evening routine is especially needed when there is “zero gas in the tank.” Made up of only five simple habits, Robbins claims that this routine will not only help you close out each day, but it’ll also benefit your sleep and set you up to feel better tomorrow.
Step 1: Pick your bedtime
Picking a time to go to bed is the foundation for all the other steps in this routine. For optimal sleep (roughly eight hours of shuteye), Robbins said we should aim to be in bed for a total of nine hours. Dubbed the “rule of nine hours,” Robbins explained that the reason for this extra hour is it takes about 20 minutes to actually fall asleep—even for people with the healthiest sleep habits. So instead of going to bed at the exact moment we want to fall asleep, we should be in bed about an hour before to give our bodies time to relax and naturally wind down for sleep.
To know when your bedtime should be, start by picking the time you want to wake up in the morning and go back nine hours (for example, if you want to wake up at 6 a.m., your bedtime should be 9 p.m.). Once your ideal bedtime is determined, make sure to prioritize consistency (AKA the key to establishing any routine).
Step 2: Clean up the mess so you start tomorrow fresh
“It’s just like flushing a toilet,” Robbins said to introduce step two of her evening routine. “I want you to think about your day just like using a bathroom. When you’re done, you flush.” As silly as it may sound, Robbins has a point: Why do we leave our spaces a mess only for us to have to stress over cleaning it the next day? Like the idea of a “closing shift,” Robbins recommended taking time to tidy up your home before going to bed to start the next day with a clean slate. This doesn’t need to be a full-on deep clean of your space; all you need is a few minutes to clean up any mess accumulated throughout the day, such as putting away dirty laundry, organizing your desk, and organizing any other clutter in your home.
Step 3: Make tomorrow easier
This step is all about making things easier for your future self. Our willpower and decision-making skills are at their best at the start of the day, and they slowly deplete as the day goes on with the more decisions we have to make—from small decisions like what to wear to big decisions like how to tackle a project at work (hi, decision fatigue). To make things easier come morning, make a note of the things you can do for yourself the night before. For Robbins, it’s pulling out her workout clothes and laying them on the floor, filling up a water bottle and placing it near the coffee maker, packing up her lunch and preparing a bit of breakfast, amongst other small things. Remember: “Anything that you do tonight that can make tomorrow morning easier is a gift you’re giving to yourself,” she said.
Step 4: Take five minutes for yourself
We all need intentional time with ourselves, away from constant stimulation, daily demands, and never-ending responsibilities. This step can be completely customized to what you want to do in the evening. When deciding how you want to retreat and unwind for the day, Robbins strongly encourages tech-free activities because “it’s a lie to believe that scrolling mindlessly is time for you,” she stressed. “It’s a lie that you tell yourself that slumping on the couch and having a phone in your hand while you’re flipping and watching trailers is somehow time for you.”
Some tech-free activities that you can do include taking a walk around the block, journaling, light stretching, reading, or simply sitting in gratitude. Just think: In the time you’ve mindlessly watched five to 10 TikToks, you could have done something to improve your mental or physical health and truly recharge. All you need is five minutes—and if you can dedicate more time for self-care, do it!
Step 5: Tuck your phone in before you tuck yourself in
After a long, busy day, most of our go-to activities include doomscrolling or watching TV until we get tired enough to go to sleep. A 2021 study in Sleep Science highlighted the negative effects screens can have on sleep quality and cycles. The research found that phone usage near bedtime disrupts sleep initiation, sleep maintenance, the quantity of sleep, and feeling refreshed in the morning. A way to combat the pitfalls of doomscrolling and binge-watching is Robbins’ “tuck-your-phone-in-before-you-tuck-yourself-in” ritual. Find a designated location out of arm’s reach (e.g., your closet, bathroom, or living room) to put your phone away every night.
If you’re concerned about being completely unavailable overnight, notify those closest to you about your commitment to a tech-free evening routine and instruct them to call (not text) if you’re needed. Or you can adjust the notifications in your phone settings to mute calls with the exception of the people you put on your favorites list (just go to Settings > Focus > Sleep > People, then add the people from your contact list who you want to grant access to notifications).
How Mel Robbins’ Evening Routine Improved My Life
What instantly drew me to try Mel Robbins’ evening routine was how straightforward and simple it is. Only five steps? Say no more. I had no excuse not to try them. After a week of trying out Mel Robbins’ five-step evening routine, I can confidently say that it was exactly what I needed to create a healthy evening routine. Not only did it give me a template to build a routine that works for me, but it also improved my life in many other unexpected ways. Here’s how.
It helped me recognize that a little goes a long way
As someone with an all-or-nothing mentality, I often forgo doing small actions, even though I know they’d still make a positive impact on my wellness journey. If I don’t have 30 minutes to meditate, I convince myself it’s not worth doing. If I don’t feel 100 percent motivated for a workout, I won’t do anything at all. However, after taking Robbins’ advice, like taking a few minutes to tidy up my space and taking at least five minutes to do something for me, I learned that something is better than nothing. During my seven-day experiment, I made time for the things that made me feel grounded and organized without stressing over whether my actions were perfect or grand: write out my to-do list, read some pages from my current read, place my vitamins on the kitchen counter so I remember to take them, put everything I need for the next day in my backpack, charge my devices, and pack my lunch for the next day.
It gave me more structure
My lifestyle is pretty flexible; I work part-time as a freelance writer and part-time as a language teacher assistant, so it’s easy for me to neglect structure outside of work, especially when it comes to the evening time. Before trying Robbins’ evening routine, I would come home after work, throw my backpack in a chair, and flop onto my bed and stay there until nightfall, watching random videos on YouTube and aimlessly scrolling through Instagram Reels. Now that I have a set bedtime (8:30 a.m. is the time I want to wake up, so 11:30 p.m. is my bedtime), I know what time I need to shut off my screens and start tidying up, doing tasks that will make my morning easier, and taking some me-time.
I feel like I’m getting more out of my weekdays
Oftentimes, I feel like I’m living for the weekend and not making the most of my weekdays. After taking Mel Robbins’ advice, I became more intentional with my evenings. Now that my evenings are infused with things that bring me joy, like romanticizing an evening walk around town, taking time to light a candle and indulge in a good book, or treating myself to a dessert after dinner, I no longer feel like I have to wait for the weekend to slow down, do a bit of self-care, and enjoy the day mindfully.
It created a snowball effect for other healthy habits
Once I started incorporating the five habits of Robbins’ evening routine, I introduced more small, beneficial practices to my day without much effort. For example, the habits I was practicing in my evening routine started to bleed into my morning routine: I practiced gratitude instead of waking up in a hurry, drank a cup of water before my coffee, stretched to slowly wake up my body, and made time to sit down and enjoy my breakfast before heading out. I even found that on some days, I was motivated to do more wellness habits because of how recharged and in control I felt from carrying out the simple, low-energy evening routine consistently.
It reduced my screen time and helped me create boundaries
I usually like to close out the day with a good binge session on Netflix while simultaneously scrolling on Pinterest (please no judging). This continues until I’m tired enough to drag myself to the shower, do the short version of my skincare routine, and force myself to go to sleep. Over seven days, I noticed that this simple evening routine unintentionally helped me spend less time staring at screens. It became a non-negotiable for me to turn off my devices by a certain time every day to ensure I had enough time to complete the steps of the routine before my bedtime. Not only did this help me create boundaries and feel more in control over devices, but it also helped me fall asleep more easily.
Is Mel Robbins’ Evening Routine Worth It?
Although the seven-day experiment is over, I’ll continue to do Robbins’ five-step evening routine. It was the ideal routine for me to hit reset and start building healthy habits into my evenings. I would recommend this routine to anyone who wants to trade in their current evening routine (or lack thereof) for one that is simple, effective, and flexible enough to make it your own.
Aaliyah Alexander, Contributing Writer
Aaliyah is a writer, content creator, and blogger based in Brandon, Mississippi. She received a degree in journalism from San Diego State University and worked as an editor for the award-winning student newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Aaliyah covers a range of topics including slow living, her favorite vegan food spots, minimalism, self-growth, and entertainment.
Feature graphic images credited to: Maria Dilley | Dupe, Natalie Davis | Dupe, Annika Knight | Dupe, Tuna Kohler | Dupe, Erika Andrade | Pexels.