I Tried the “3 Things” Nighttime Routine and Finally Got the Best Sleep of My Life

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If you ask me, nighttime routines are just as important as morning routines. As an early riser, I tend to focus on my mornings more than my evenings, but I always feel better when I’m locked into a nighttime routine. Not to mention, the winter season has me aching for rest, relaxation, and time to recharge. I’ve been craving a reset, and a perfect way to do just that is to reassess how I approach my evenings.

I knew TikTok would be the place to find some fresh wellness inspo (but of course), and TikTok creator @bad_art_everyday certainly delivered — her page is a very cozy corner of the platform, filled to the brim with simple videos inviting viewers to slow down. The advice isn’t overly complicated, and the creator’s recommended nighttime routine is just lovely. It’s called the “three things” routine, meaning you do one thing for your future self, one thing to connect with loved ones via play or creativity, and one thing for rest and reflection. The simplicity of the routine is what inspired me most, so I decided to try it out for the night, with hopes that it would ease me into a restful night’s sleep. Read on for the play-by-play of my routine, and other ideas to try for your own three things routine!

I anticipated that this would be the most high-impact category for me, because it made me think of my morning routine and how I can set myself up for success first thing. Three days out of the week, I head to the gym before the sun. I go to an Olympic Weightlifting class that starts at 6:30 a.m., and I always try to leave my house by 6:15 a.m. Keeping things as streamlined as possible is always helpful in terms of getting out the door on time, especially since I’m usually bleary-eyed and grasping for caffeine.

To test out this routine, I took time in the evening to lay out my gym outfit before bed. That way, I could simply get dressed in the morning, without having to dig through drawers or decide what to wear. Truly, this is something I should be doing every night. It made the morning so much smoother, and I know my husband enjoyed the quiet, since I wasn’t rummaging around before he had to get up for work. A win for us both!

This was the easiest for me, since I live with my husband and we always make time for connection at night. Cozying up on our couch at the end of a long day is how we normally spend our evenings, and we always chat about how our days were before settling in. We usually opt for a chill activity, like watching easygoing shows or movies (think: The Office reruns, The Great British Bake Off, Love Is Blind, etc.). It’s currently football season, so we watched Sunday Night Football and started to doze. If you’re solo, calling or FaceTiming a friend or loved one is another great way to create connection, and if you want it to be less mundane, you could queue up the same show and “watch” it together.

I had lots of ideas for ways to wind down (yoga, meditation, gratitude, journaling), and even though I know all of these things can help, I honestly never do them. Last night I was feeling stiff, so I knew a little yoga and stretching would do me good. I didn’t follow a video or specific sequence, I just listened to my body and moved accordingly. I’m not even sure how long I stretched for, but man, did it feel good. It also made me realize that for the past few nights I’d been having trouble falling asleep because of how tight my muscles had been. My movement wasn’t complicated either — it involved lots of twists on my back, a long-held child’s pose, some lunges and downward dogs. Dozens of videos pop up if you search for “bedtime yoga” on YouTube, and if late-night stretching is not your thing, you could do the same search, just for bedtime meditations or bedtime journaling. 

I’ll be honest, this three things nighttime routine wasn’t groundbreaking, especially since two out of the three things I normally do anyway. But I think that’s exactly the point. It’s not meant to take a long time to get through, and this routine is a simple way to consciously check in with yourself (and your loved ones!) at the end of the day. I thought my mornings would be impacted the most, but the biggest impact actually came from the one thing for rest. Carving out time to move really helped me sleep soundly, and I fell asleep faster than I had in weeks, thanks to my stretched-out muscles. This routine taught me a good lesson as well: Change doesn’t have to be huge to have an effect, and a new routine doesn’t have to be drastically different from what you’re already doing. Creating a restful, peaceful nighttime routine doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it shouldn’t. It can be simple, easy, and slow. Isn’t that the point, after all?