My Nighttime Routine & How I Wind Down the Day

It's not your average wellness girlie ritual.

If how we begin each day energetically sets the stage for how each interaction transpires, then how we close out each day’s highs and lows is equally as important. To honor the moments that brought us joy, and acknowledge and release the experiences that left us feeling hollow or anxious.

You’re probably ready for this to be a textbook “I’m in bed by 9:30pm and lights out by 10pm” kind of post. But I’ll be honest, I am such a night owl. My body naturally feels most inspired around 10pm, which is when I have ideated almost every single MARA product, and usually, it’s the time of day when I put finger to key for my Substacks. For years, especially when I was studying the art of entrepreneurship and beginning to build a business, every single book I read preached “early to rise” as the secret to success. I remember giving the Miracle Morning a shot in 2017, which included writing, meditation and movement all before something like 7am and, although I did do it because I’m disciplined, I fear I did not enjoy it. I felt shameful for years that I simply could not adhere to such a routine. Will my success in business be constrained by my inability to go to bed before midnight? How with this effect my performance, my leadership abilities, or if I ever have a family?

For some context, I am not incapable of getting up early. In fact, I was up at 5:30am throughout high school (for zero period, so I could take an extra AP class each year to higher my weighted GPA), in college (so I could stack the classes needed for both my majors, so I could intern at E! and MTV for experience) and then in my twenties, where my dream job as the host of a daily entertainment news show required me to be in the makeup chair writing our first segment of the day at 7am. Back then it was fine, I was able to balance my late night tendencies with early mornings and required little to no sleep to feel energized. But now in my late thirties, I have realized that sleep is so important, even though it’s something I have always struggled with.

My Oura ring changed everything for me — it showed me the importance of magnesium for my REM and Deep Sleep cycles, and improved my latency by a landslide. But more importantly, it validated what I have always known - my chronotype is equal parts Wolf and Dolphin and I naturally fall asleep around midnight and wake up around 7am.

If your schedule allows, I highly suggest tracking this to see where your body naturally likes to doze off and wake up. Back in the day, I was straining myself to try and go to bed early (which inherently made my insomnia worse) and then would force myself to get up at 6am or earlier for a workout class before work. I was averaging 4/5 hours of sleep a night which we know is not healthy for the long term, all in the name of both exercise and the pressure to be one of those successful people that wakes up early. For the record, sleep deficiency and poor sleep quality (from alcohol, stress) actually makes it much harder to maintain a health weight. It’s clinically proven that lack of sleep increases both appetite and water retention, so figuring out my sleep rhythm was a crucial part of my wellness journey.

All of this is a long way to say, my nighttime routine is not necessarily the pinnacle of health and wellness, but it works for me and creates an environment where I am in sync with my own circadian rhythm, allowing me the maximum amount of solo creativity time in the evening and the space to sleep and get the energy I need to tackle the following day’s tasks. I decided to do this by time stamp so you can see what an average evening looks like for me. Of course for days where I have events or work dinners, this shifts. These are guidelines not rules of course.

I do follow a few guidelines when possible:

• No caffeine after 12pm

• No alcohol on a work night unless it’s an extra special event or celebration

• No workouts that end later then 6pm

• No eating past 7:30pm

An Evening in Time Stamps

6pm — Get home from work. I tend to my dog Billie and either take her on a little walk or let her out in the back yard. I deal with any packages or deliveries right after that because even though I am not your typical influencer, the amount of PR I get sends my Virgo rising into overdrive. I hate clutter, especially corrugated boxes in the foyer — clutter deeply effects my mood so this is a must. Also I immediately change out of my work clothes when I get home into something cozy. People who come from work and sit on their couch in jeans is psychotic behavior.

6:30pm — Either begin cooking dinner or place my Postmates order around this time. Lately I have been loving salmon in the air fryer, grilled shrimp or ground Wagu beef hamburgers. I try and have little to no refined carbohydrates and stick to veggies filled with fiber. If I’m ordering, it’s usually sushi, Goop or Erewhon.

7pm — My ideal dinner time! Even a little earlier like 6:45pm is preferred. I really dislike eating later because I’ve learned that eating late (or having a sweet treat later in the evening) was one of the key drivers of my sleeping issues. Eating a healthy, light dinner earlier in the evening has been such a game changer for me. I clean as I go when I cook so usually the clean up is easy and my meals are simple, I try and have them all under 30 minutes unless there is something extra fun I want to try and make.

7:30pm — Quick email scan. Honestly, I am always on email, it’s one of the unwritten rules of owning a business and isn’t for everyone, which is why not everyone owns a business :) But now that I’m farther along in this journey, I only respond to things that are urgent.

8pm — I like to do a fifteen minute quick clean as I like to call it. Clutter deeply effects my performance in life, and so I’ve learned that by dedicating fifteen minutes to tidying the house or doing an annoying task each evening, it allows things not to pile up so I never have a laundry list of to-dos. An example is like changing out the water filters, hanging up clothes, putting away folded laundry, fluffing pillows… I like my house to look like a hotel at all times if possible.

8:15pm — This is the time of day the TV goes on but somehow I seem to never watch anything. I typically scroll TikTok for a little, or coordinate with my assistant to post something on TikTok. I also love creating mood boards on pinterest for everything so I’ll do that, or send ideas to my team that I see on Instagram. I don’t get much (if any) time to be on social media during the work day so this “TV time” is actually when I get my scrolling in.

I recently got the Higher Dose Infrared Sauna bag, and I love doing this to help balance my cortisol levels. I don’t do it every night, but I have been trying to do this three nights a week.

Around this time, I also take my supplements (I’ll do a whole post on this but magnesium is a must for me) and sometimes I make a whine down drink like this one from Proper that I am really enjoying.

10pm — My magic hour. When inspiration strikes, it’s usually around this time and when it does I’m always ready to jump on it. My best ideas come to me here, or in the air. In fact, just the other day I thought of the most creative concept for our next product launch event that I had been struggling with for awhile. It’s the time I sit down and write my Substack and it’s also the time when I work on any larger scale decks, projects or presentations. Because I get interrupted almost every moment throughout the workday when I’m not in a meeting, this time is crucial because it’s completely unadulterated me time. When you get in a creative groove, it’s so important to have the space to stay in it and that is really really hard to do when you also are the operator of the business. This magic hour is fleeting and is not every night. When it happens, I don’t give myself a hard out but if I am still going and it hits 11:30pm, I try and squeeze out the most important final thoughts as an outline for the day to follow.

On nights when I’m not getting any vibes, I usually begin my skincare routine around this time. My skincare routine is quick but intentional, I cleanse my face with MARA Cleansing Oil, and then most nights use Retinol and Universal Face Oil or SeaDream. I manually stimulate my face with MARA oils to build collagen and reduce inflammation, sometimes I use a gua sha, while repeating a few of my current intentions in the mirror. I let my skincare sink in for about five minutes while I brush my teeth, water floss and floss (with intention!). I’ve been spending more time on my scalp health lately because my psoriasis has been out of control - I love using the Necessaries Scalp Serum with rosemary and either the Crown Affair brush or the Wildling hair gua sha to stimulate hair growth. Then I hop in bed, put on my DDR red-light mask (sometimes I do like 4-5 passes, I also use this on my scalp) and write in my gratitude journal or free writing for about 5-10 minutes.

10:55pm: I have a new business coach who gave me a five minute prayer to repeat for 21 days in a row, to release negative energy around me and being directed towards me from sources that shouldn’t be that hard to pin down. This has been an incredible experience so far, I felt lighter the first time I said the prayer. Good things happen when you release the bad, and so many good things are happening — positivity breeds positive outcomes.

11pm: I try and be in bed by this time and off my phone, which is hard for me but I try. I have a bevy of books by my nightstand. Right now I am reading How the Universe Got It’s Spots intermittently, and listening to Mindful Magic during the day. I am a big fan of the 5 Minute Journal and have been trying to stay more consistent with this. I also love free writing for a little bit on nights I need to process thoughts.

11:30pm: I turn my lights out and hopefully get a latency of less than 30 minutes, which means in bed and asleep by midnight.

And that my friends is my average nightly routine - let me know if there is something that resonates with you in the comments.

XX

Allison