What Does My Typical Evening Routine Look Like?

I thought I’d take today’s blog post to share a glimpse into my evening routine. For the sake of time, I am going to start from the second I get home from work, which is 4:15 p.m., until I go to bed, which is around 9 p.m., and even then, I slip into bed and read for about an hour. This is a span of four-ish hours. While it may not look like this every night, it does look very much like this typical evening routine. 

4 p.m. // I get home from work around 4 p.m. every day, and if I’m working from home, I’ll shut my laptop around this time. I’m very particular about logging off at the same time each day. I strive for that work/life balance and so when I log off, or when I come home from work, I do not think about work until the next morning. I immediately change into my leggings and comfortable sweatshirt, and thus, I turn into a different human being. 

4:15—4:45 p.m. // I take my dog on her afternoon walk for about 30 minutes. I know that some dog owners will say to take your dog on a longer walk, maybe around an hour or an hour and a half, but my dog and I like our 30 minute walks and occasional trips to the dog park nearby. This gives us enough time to get our exercise in (and do her business) and while I’m walking her, I usually turn on a podcast or whatever audiobook I’m listening to. 

4:45—5:30 p.m. // For 45 minutes, I take this time to myself. I hesitated writing this in, but I’m really going to be honest here, but I play with my dog and also scroll through social media. Sometimes, my dog likes to gently nudge the phone out of my hands so I can pay more attention to her and play with her more. (She knows what’s up.) My dog has a blast playing with her toys and playing fetch in the apartment, so I always take this time to play with her. 

5:30—5:45 p.m. // I take my nightly shower (more like an evening shower) because I don’t have anything for the rest of the day, and honestly, a shower makes everything better. You know, some people perform stadium concerts in the shower, some people listen to music or podcasts, but me? I have a full on therapy session with myself or act like I’m hosting my own podcast—or honestly, yeah, sometimes I perform my own stadium concert set. 

I get in my favorite overworn Target loungewear (bottoms found here and top found here) that I have worn for a good amount of time and desperately need to replace. It’s so comfortable and while it does stretch out a little bit, it is good quality and remains intact. 

6—7 p.m. // This is when I usually make dinner, and honestly, if I’m really being honest, then I take more than an hour to cook dinner. Usually, I turn on a YouTube video (or several) while I’m cooking dinner. (Btw, some of my favorite YouTubers are Ally Sheehan, Brooke Miccio, Danielle Carolan, Haley Pham, etc.) 

7:30—8:30 p.m. // When I usually eat dinner, I eat dinner on the couch. Actually, scratch that—I always eat dinner on the couch. I live in a studio apartment, so there’s either my couch or at my desk to eat, and I have already stated that I adamantly support my work/life balance. I know that science tells us that we should not watch TV while we eat, but I can’t just eat in silence? I live alone. So, I turn on whatever I’m watching (usually Gilmore Girls) or whatever new episode of The Bachelor is on (gotta love those Monday nights at 8 pm!). If you have any great shows that you’re watching, ya girl is in need of some recommendations. Some of my recent watches (and this is going to be a blog post in itself later on) are Daisy Jones & The Six, Outer Banks, Grey’s Anatomy (lol), and The Perfect Match. I usually watch about 2-3 episodes, depending on the length of the episodes, until I clean up my dinner and it’s time to take my dog out on her last walk of the day. 

8:30—9 p.m. // I definitely don’t take 30 minutes to walk my dog on our last evening walk, but for time’s sake, I want to keep the 30 minutes even. I throw on my puffer coat (because it’s March and I live in the mid-Atlantic region and it’s still cold) and my Old Navy tennis shoes, and head out the door. This is a typical walk around the block to get any last minute energy out before bedtime. We come back inside where I start on my nighttime skincare routine (spoiler alert: my nighttime skincare routine is not that complicated). 

9—9:30 p.m. // This has to be one of my favorite parts of the evening but also one of the most stressful because it’s so detailed. The first thing I do when my dog and I come back inside is, besides giving her a small treat, is to clean up any remnants of my dinner. This is putting dishes in the sink/dishwasher (lol the sink when I’m feeling lazy), wiping down my kitchen counters, and putting leftovers away in the fridge. Then, I change into my (what a surprise) Target pajamas. I swear by these pajamas, and if you don’t believe me, just go out and buy a pair for yourself (these are in addition to the Target loungewear I was in earlier). I change into my pajamas, and then move to the bathroom to brush my teeth. (Side note that’s not really relevant, but I’m going to share it anyway: when I’m brushing my teeth, I also pick things up around the apartment like my work bag, my AirPods, my work shoes that I left by the door, etc. This is also how I know I’m brushing my teeth for the dentist-approved amount of time.) I then wash my face, and you think I’d use some sort of cleanser, but shocking, I don’t. I had a Cetaphil facial cleanser that I used but I found that it would dry out my skin. So, I am not washing my face with anything but water, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know. I then put on my On The Spot Treatment from Neutrogena and if you take any product recommendations from this blog post, please take that one. I’m not a beauty influencer or even skincare expert but this product has helped me acne TREMENDOUSLY. I’ll have a zit (I call him Paul Rudd, just don’t ask, it’s an inside joke) and I put this on during my nighttime skincare routine, and in a day or two, the zit will be almost gone. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me. Again I say, I am not a skincare expert so please do your own research and do what works best for you. 

After I use my magic zit cream, I leave it at that. At this point, I hesitate moving forward and saying that I’m done, because I’m afraid that other people will read this and have things to say like, “you should be doing this” and “you should be doing that.” I am a newbie to all things skincare, I must admit. If I need to be doing something, let me know. (Please be nice about it.) However, this is what works for me. I also have two moisturizers that I truly love that I use in the morning—the Supergoop dupe from Trader Joe’s for $8.99 is a game-changer—that I’ll sometimes use at night, if I don’t use the On The Spot treatment.

And now, since everything is in its place and I’ve tidied up the apartment, I can finally slip into bed. After tidying up the pillows on my couch, and putting my current read on my nightstand along with my water bottle, I slip underneath my cozy duvet comforter and snuggle up with my dog and dive into my current read—which, at the time of writing, is Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn.

This has been a fun blog post to write! I love reading and watching and consuming routine blog posts and videos, so I thought, why not create one of my own? I realize I love my little routines—they’re what make me, me! Truthfully, I wouldn’t be anywhere without these routines. I’m too much a creature of habit, something that I think all of us are, even if it’s just a little. 

BIG ASK: What do you do in your evening routine that you must do? What’s one thing that you ALWAYS do in your evening/night routine?