Why You Should Add Reading To Your Night Routine
I was going to title this blog post, “how to start a relaxing night routine.” And then I thought, hmm … that’s been written before. You type in “night routine” in the TikTok search bar and get these glamorous night routines that are very addicting to watch. Everyone can read those articles (aka me) and say they’re going to start it, but always end up staying awake until 1 a.m. scrolling through TikTok.
Sound familiar? Yeah, same.
But no, not the same, because in the past few years, I have really dedicated time and energy to crafting the “perfect night routine”—and when I say perfect, I mean perfect FOR ME. And I wasn’t even trying! Before my carefully curated night routine, I slipped into the habit of staying awake past a specific time, and by next morning, I was always waking up tired and I’d be sluggish throughout the day. Don’t get me wrong … I still wake up tired and in desperate need of a steaming cup of coffee each morning, even with this “perfect” night routine, but I found that setting a bedtime—and sticking to it—has helped me become a morning person.
So, yes, a healthy and consistent night routine is linked to a healthy and productive morning routine.
Okay … but why should I read at night?
EXCELLENT QUESTION.
Because you should, duh.
But let’s get into the reasons.
Reading is a mental stimulation for your brain. Studies have been done to prove this … your actual brain lights up when reading a good book with tension. So, the next time you complain about a slow burn romance, just know that it’s lighting up your brain.
Grow in knowledge about the world and learn new vocabulary. Do you want to be smarter? Try reading. Reading actually allows you to increase IQ scores. Think about the words on the page—when are you actually going to read words like “therefore” and “segue” and “nonsense”? People don’t talk like that anymore. (For the record, I don’t have a book near me right now so there are bigger words than nonsense, I just made up a word.)
Become more evaluative. Reading also allows you to think. When I turn on the TV, I most likely turn on a show that I just want to watch in the background and scroll on my phone for an hour or two. (Unless you’re one of the people who watches shows like Yellowstone, which requires you to think, and then, you are too cool for me.) For the binge-watchers, we watch the show without actually paying attention to it. When we read, we have to tune into the words on the page, or we won’t understand what the heck is going on. It allows us to be more evaluative and contemplative and curious about the world around us. We can see past ourselves and wonder what the heck is going on in other people’s lives. There are even some studies that say reading can slow the onset of dementia, but I’ll let you read more about that.
Reading helps reduce stress. For me, reading allows my brain to wind down and relax. After a long day of being on the go, I can slide into bed under my comfy blanket and let my eyes move across the page at whatever speed I want. I can choose to read two pages or 200 pages. This is the best reason, in my personal opinion, because who wants to be permanently stressed?
Because reading is entertaining. This doesn’t have any scientific reasoning behind it. When you’re scrolling through social media for the thousandth time that day, are you really seeing anything new? Are you digging a deeper hole for your comparison and anxiety to sink in? Yeah, go ahead and admit it because I’m right there with you. But when you read, you open yourself up to the world of possibilities and wonder and curiosity. Reading is wonderful because it allows you to step into a new world and experience new characters and stories. Even if that story is a book publishing executive ice queen who takes a trip to a small town with her sister and is wooed by another publishing executive. (Not looking at you, Charlie Lastra.)