Nothing After Nine

I'm currently reading Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin for my book club's May pick.  I really enjoyed Rubin's previous book, The Happiness Project, and while I'm just not loving this one so much, it has me thinking about resolutions.  Basically, in both books Gretchen creates small resolutions each month designed to make her life overall more organized and happy.  Reading things like this always gets me thinking about my own life and ways I can improve.  I'm planning on taking a look back at my 2014 goals and starting smaller monthly goals with the start of next month, but I wanted to share one of my current "resolution" practices that I'm really loving.

Source: Amazon

Last year, a teacher friend and I were talking about how hard it can be to turn your brain off at night sometimes.  She shared with me a new-for-her policy: Nothing After Nine.  Basically, every night at nine pm, you began to power down.  Get off the computer, turn off the TV, put away any school work or other projects.  At 9pm, it's time to relax, get things in order for the next day, and get ready for bed.  At first I thought, "That's way too early!  I can't drop everything at 9!"  But then I realized that most of the things I'm doing after 9 aren't even productive things--usually it's facebook, pinterest, or watching another episode of Pretty Little Liars or some other Netflix trash.  I love sleep, and I need a good night's sleep to be prepared for school, so I decided to give Nothing After Nine a shot.

Way too plugged in.
Yup, that's Food Network on my TV that I'm watching during intermission for a Hawks playoffs game (on my laptop on the coffee table) while working on school work on my school laptop...

For the last year or so, I've been practicing Nothing After Nine on and off, but mostly on.  It's become a wonderful habit and nightly routine for me.  On week nights, at nine pm I tear myself away from the computer and turn off the tv.  I do any leftover dishes sitting in the sink, take a shower, pack my workout bag for the next day, and pick out something to wear for school.  If I'm feeling really ambitious, I even pack my lunch, but those days are few and far between.  Then, I lay down and read.  I find that sticking to this routine has two wonderful benefits (besides the fact that my dishes stay under control!) I make time each day to read, and I can go to sleep relaxed.

Only screen I need after nine--my kindle :)

Some days that I fall out of the routine and end up working out after nine, or blogging, or watching tv.  Those days, when I turn off the lights, I'll find myself tossing and turning, my mind still racing at 100 miles per hour.  A good night's sleep is almost impossible.  So for me, I think Nothing After Nine is here to stay!  At least most weeknights :)

What "resolutions" and routines do you practice on a daily basis?