Evening Routine For Efficiency

Sleep is the brain’s most powerful performance tool, and most people treat it like a negotiable expense. Neuroscience is blunt: when you cut sleep, the brain shifts into survival mode. Astrocytes prune more synapses. Microglia stay activated. The glymphatic “night shift” that clears waste runs poorly. You don’t just feel tired. You lose clarity, memory consolidation, and emotional control. Decisions get riskier. Empathy gets thinner. Creativity shrinks. It’s not hours you’re sacrificing. It’s executive function. High performance isn’t willpower, it’s architecture. The brain thrives in rhythm, not chaos. Try this for 7 days: • Wake at the same time daily (weekends too). Let bedtime adjust earlier. • Light before phone: 5–10 minutes of outdoor light upon waking. • Caffeine curfew: none after 2 PM. • Protect one 90-minute deep-work block after your best sleep. • Swap micro-scrolls for a 10–20 minute early-afternoon nap. • Dim lights and screens 60–90 minutes before bed. • Run a 10–15 minute wind-down ritual (shower/stretch/paper journal, same order every night). Small rituals, massive neurological returns. Leaders don’t optimize sleep because it’s soft; they optimize it because it’s leverage. Start tonight. ♻️ Kindly repost to share with others Follow Benjamin B. Bargetzi for more on Neuroscience, Psychology & Future Tech

My client just called me saying he finds it hard to switch off from work. This is what I explained: Most of us try to slam the brakes at the end of the day. 100 → 0 in five seconds. Imagine if a car did that... Screeching tires. Abrupt impact. Not fun. Not sustainable. So I asked him: “What does switching off actually mean to you?” Is it so you can be fully present with your kids? So you can cook dinner without replaying the last meeting? So you can read, think, or just breathe without distraction? Switching off isn’t about shutting your brain down. It’s about creating a soft landing - giving your mind a gentle transition so you can be fully present in the next thing that matters. Here’s a simple approach I often share with clients: • Write down tomorrow’s first task - so your brain doesn’t carry it. • Close a small loop - wrap up one tiny thing to signal an ending. • Step away from your workspace - stretch, make a cup of tea, or take a short walk. A ritual that signals, “the workday is done.” (I sometimes say this out loud to myself!!) The difference this mindset makes is subtle but profound. Even a small soft landing: • Makes evenings feel calmer • Improves sleep • Helps mornings start sharper • Preserves energy for real focus, creativity, and decisions So try this today! Never underestimate the power of small actions or rituals. How are you going to experience a soft landing today?

High performers often obsess over morning routines. But your nightly off-ramp matters just as much. I work with my coaching clients to build a predictable power-down routine. One of the simplest things we can do to fall asleep quickly is to write a To Do list (not journal about our day). Research backs it up. A study by Professor Michael Scullin (PMID: 299058942) found that busy people who created to-do lists of 10 tasks before bed fell asleep an average of 15 minutes faster than those who didn’t. Why? Worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep. Even more interesting? They fell asleep six minutes faster than people who only made short lists. Why? It’s called cognitive offloading. All day:  📧 Email after email  📅 Back-to-back meetings  🧠 High-stakes decisions Then at 11 pm, we expect our brain to just… switch off. That's not how it works! We don’t expect a car to fly off the motorway at 110 km/h and land safely in the driveway. Yet that’s how most people treat their brains at night. Cognitive offloading, writing a to-do list before bed, helps you fall asleep faster, think clearer, and perform better. By writing tomorrow’s tasks down, you free up your brain from holding them in active memory. The lesson: don’t just clear your inbox, clear your head before bed. Remember, your brain needs an off-ramp. This is the kind of practical, science-backed advice I share in my keynotes with ambitious leaders and teams in my coaching programs because sleep isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a competitive advantage and it’s the bedrock of your performance and wellbeing. 💬 High performers: do you have a nightly ritual to power down? Or is your brain still racing at 1am because it’s still stuck on the (cognitive) freeway?

(Realistic) ways to optimize your sleep for better productivity (+ four more in graphic) → Prioritize sleep cycles Focus on quality over quantity. - Sleep in 90-minute cycles - Aim for 5-6 cycles per night - Wake up at the end of a cycle This approach helps you feel more refreshed and ready for the day. → Mind your diet before bed What you eat affects your sleep. - Avoid caffeine in the evening - Skip heavy meals close to bedtime - Opt for light, healthy snacks Better nutrition leads to better sleep quality. → Create a sleep-friendly environment Your bedroom should be a sleep sanctuary. - Keep it cool and dark - Minimize noise - Invest in a comfortable mattress A good environment makes a big difference. → Incorporate regular exercise Exercise boosts sleep quality. - Aim for 30 minutes of activity daily - Avoid intense workouts close to bedtime - Try relaxing activities like yoga Staying active helps you sleep better. → Manage stress effectively Stress is a sleep killer. - Practice mindfulness or meditation - Develop a pre-sleep routine - Limit screen time before bed Reducing stress leads to more restful sleep.

After 26 years of training high performers, I discovered their most overlooked superpower that allows them to outwork everyone else: It's sleep, but not in the way that you think. I used to try to out-hustle a tired brain and outperform a depleted body, but the fact is, I couldn't. If your sleep isn't replenishing you, it's becoming a danger to your goals. Succesful people don't win because they work when you're asleep, they succeeed because they work harder than you on the right things when you're awake. They're goals are clearer, they're schedule is optimized and they move without skipping a beat because their mind is always well rested. Since learning this I've worked with a sleep coach to optimize for one thing; performance when i'm awake. Here are the 8 habits that high performers use that I started copying: 1. Sleep at 67 degrees Cool environments trigger natural melatonin. You fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. 2. Block out light and sound Black out your room. Use white noise if needed. 3. Clear your mind before bed Use journaling or breath work. Quiet the mental loops that keep you awake. 4. Finish workouts at least 3 hours before bed Don't elevate cortisol late at night. Let your body unwind. 5. Same sleep and wake times daily Even on weekends to protect your natural rhythm. 6. Block 7 hours every night Sleep is non-negotiable. If you miss one night, don't miss two. 7. Cut stimulants by mid-afternoon No caffeine after 2 PM. These break up your sleep cycles. 8. Get up if you can't sleep after 20 minutes Reset and try again. Being successful is the result of how productive you are when you are awake, not the total hours you spend awake. Your day begins the night before. If you want to show up big tomorrow, start tonight. Protect your sleep like athletes do before game day. I treat my sleep like my most important bank account. Every bit of energy and focus you need during the day is a withdrawal. The deposits happen while you sleep.

Most people don’t have a sleep problem. They have a stress problem that shows up at night. This is something that shows up with nearly all the high performers I work with. They’re in bed for 7–8 hours but wake up groggy, feeling unrested, and needing coffee just to get through the morning meetings. (Note: If you need coffee to get through the day, something is wrong.) The issue isn’t just that they didn’t get enough sleep, it’s also because they’re not getting enough deep sleep. And deep sleep is a crucial part of sleep where important things happen: • Brain “cleanup” (glymphatic system) • Nervous system downregulation • Growth hormone release • Testosterone support If that phase is compromised, you feel it the next day. And this lack of deep sleep compounds quickly. This is where a simple addition to your routine makes a disproportionate difference: A pre-sleep cortisol dump. The goal is to lower your stress load before your head hits the pillow. Here’s what that looks like in practice: 1. Move your body (but don’t redline it) Evening training—especially strength work—can help “use up” circulating stress hormones. The key is to not overdo it, because that will wreck deep sleep even more. 2. Create a clear transition out of your day Work → gym → dinner → lights down If you go straight from laptop to bed, your nervous system doesn’t get the message that it’s bedtime. 3. Support the downshift Magnesium glycinate + glycine can improve relaxation and sleep quality. I’ll sometimes throw phospatidylserine into the mix if it’s needed, too. 4. Block artificial light at night Overhead lights and screens keep your brain in “day mode.” Dim the environment after ~8pm. --- The goal doesn’t have to be to sleep more. My clients are busy and have fewer hours than most. But you must pay attention to the quality of sleep you do get. High performers need their nervous system to fully switch off. If you get that right, everything else gets easier: • Better focus • Better energy • Leaner body composition

Sleep: every leader knows it’s vital, yet most shove it aside constantly. Want to master it and dominate your game? Here’s the secret sauce. If you want to excel at sleeping, you must reframe your identity. You need to become a professional sleeper. This means prioritizing sleep like you would a crucial meeting. Here's the problem—most people struggle to say no. The scenario is all too familiar: "I had a tough day, I need to unwind." Then, it’s minutes on Instagram, TikTok, or one more YouTube video. Before you know it, an hour has vanished, and bedtime is history. To reclaim your sleep, schedule it fiercely. Make it the #1 priority on your calendar. Your work productivity, interactions, and overall well-being depend on it. Next, establish a wind-down routine. Don’t dive straight into bed without transitioning. My technique? Two alarms—one at 8:45 pm to start winding down, and another at 9:45 pm to hit the sack. During that 30 minutes, I read. It's an incredible way to calm the mind and upgrade my mental game. Now, replace your wake-up alarms with bedtime reminders. Consistency is key. Create a comforting sleeping environment. Invest in blackout curtains, and keep the room cool and quiet. And a critical tip—stop drinking caffeine after noon. It’s not about whether you can fall asleep; it’s about sleep quality. I used to be a caffeine addict until I realized it was sabotaging my rest. Try substituting with herbal tea in the afternoons. Finally, limit blue light exposure. Dimming screens can boost your sleep quality immensely. These simple adjustments will lead to better rest and recovery. Now it's your turn. What’s your go-to sleep habit?

Here’s the biggest differences I see between founders/executives and athletes: Athletes don't just walk off the court and go home. They take time to shower, decompress, and wind-down to properly transition back into their daily lives. And when it’s time to get back on the court? They warm up. But what do founders and executives do? They go straight from a high-stakes board call to dinner with their kids. Nearly all tend to skip the evening routine and many skip the morning warm up. No wind-up into high performance mode and no wind-down into home life. But if you do this consistently, what unfortunately happens is this: You won’t ever be fully showing up for either. You're home physically, but mentally you're replaying that investor conversation. Your partner asks about your day, and you give them 30% of your attention. Your kid wants to show you something, and you're checking Slack. Then tomorrow morning, you're back at your desk carrying guilt about missing dinner. Distracted from the work that matters. You end up performing worse at work AND not being present at home. This is why morning and evening routines are one of the first systems I implement with clients. Morning routines to get centered, and evening routines to close out the day. The evening routine I build with founders is simple: reflection, debrief, plan tomorrow. 15 minutes. That's it. No excuses not to do it. What went well today? What needs attention tomorrow? Write down your three main priorities for the morning. This wind-down time works to do something more important than simple self-care: It closes your mental loop. Real presence with your family shouldn’t be seen as time taken away from work. Rather, it should be an investment in tomorrow's performance. You'll show up sharper because you've had time to switch off and you’re not carrying yesterday's stress and today's guilt. Athletes understand this. They have post-game routines because performance doesn't end when the buzzer sounds. Recovery is part of the job. The same applies to founders and executives. You can either build in recovery time now, or your performance will slowly deteriorate until you're forced to take it anyway. One path takes 15 minutes a day. The other could cost you months. Have you committed to a wind-down routine?

Not all breathwork techniques are suitable for the evening. Some of them actually wake you up. Likewise, there are some you should generally avoid practicing in the morning. Knowing which technique to practice at which time of day can make a huge difference. Why? Breathwork techniques fall into two broad categories: Heating techniques: They energise, activate, and stimulate your nervous system. Great for mornings and daytime. Not great before bed. Cooling techniques: They calm, relax, and downregulate your nervous system. Perfect for evenings and winding down. There are certain techniques you should follow in the morning if you want to energise your body: ➝ Breath of fire ➝ Kapalbhati ➝ Any fast, intense breathing patterns And techniques to use in the evening to calm down the body and mind: ➝ Extended exhale breathing ➝ Humming breath (bhramari) ➝ Box breathing ➝ 4-7-8 breathing ➝ Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) A simple guide to follow is: Morning: Energise and activate → Kapalbhati, Breath of Fire, energising pranayama Daytime: Balance and focus → Box breathing, coherence breathing Evening: Calm and wind down → Extended exhale, humming breath, 4-7-8, Nadi Shodhana Your autonomic nervous system has two modes: 1. Sympathetic (fight or flight): Activated by warming techniques. 2. Parasympathetic (rest and digest): Activated by cooling techniques. When you do heating breathwork in the evening, you’re telling your body to stay alert and active. When you do cooling breathwork, you’re telling your body it’s ok to rest. Important note: Everyone's nervous system is slightly different. Some people are more sensitive to activating techniques than others. If you notice any breathwork is disrupting your sleep or increasing your anxiety, check which category it falls into first. Tonight, try extended exhale breathing for 3-5 minutes: • Inhale through your nose for 4 counts • Exhale through your mouth for 6-8 counts • Repeat until you feel your body soften Breathwork is powerful. But mostly when you use the right tool at the right time. Did you know about heating vs. cooling breathwork? ♻️ Save this post as your breathwork guide. ➕ Follow Kasia Kirkland for breathwork education that’s accurate and practical.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐭𝐨-𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐬. You don’t power down like a laptop at 6 PM. Even when the day is done, your mind might still be spinning - replaying, planning, staying alert. I know the feeling. Tonight, I caught myself in that loop. So I did something small. I slipped into my pyjamas early. Not to sleep. But to signal: “You can land now.” That one gesture helped. The softness of the fabric. The warmth. The permission. We talk so much about morning routines in leadership. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡. Here are a few ways I remind my body it’s safe to rest, even when there’s more on the to-do list: 𝑰 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕. It tells my body we’re no longer performing. 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 - like it’s anchoring me here. 𝑰 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 - like I’m dimming the stage. 𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑰’𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 - gentle, atmospheric, human. 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆. Side to side. It's primal. It works. 𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒌: “𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘?”And I listen. 𝑰 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔. Sometimes, 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.” Leadership isn’t just how we show up in meetings. It’s how we come home to ourselves, again and again. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠? Let’s share and build a ritual list - not for perfect people, but for real ones. #selfleadership #executivewellbeing #nervoussystemcare #leadershiprituals #restisproductive #eveningrituals