This post contains affiliate links: I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I genuinely love.
Every season shift is a good excuse to look at your routines and ask: is this still working for me?
For most of the year, I run on a pretty tight schedule. Up early, moving fast, trying to fit everything in. And for a long time, I didn’t really have a night routine: I’d just fall into bed when I ran out of steam. That worked fine in my thirties. After 40, I started noticing it wasn’t cutting it anymore.
My sleep was lighter. My skin was drier. I’d wake up at 3am for no reason and lie there until 5. I felt like I was running on fumes by Thursday.
Resetting my morning and night routines was one of the things that actually helped. Here’s what that looks like going into summer.
Why Summer Routines Need to Be Different
The days are longer, which sounds great but actually messes with your body clock more than you’d think. It’s still light at 9pm. You stay up later. You want to do more. And then August rolls around and you feel inexplicably exhausted.
Summer routines need a little more intentionality around wind-down, because your brain and body won’t naturally cue you to slow down when the sun is still up.
My Summer Morning Routine
I’ve simplified it considerably compared to the rest of the year. Summer should feel lighter.
6:30–7am: Wake up naturally (no alarm when possible). Coffee first. Always coffee first. I sit for at least 15 minutes before I look at my phone. This has genuinely changed my mornings. My skincare comes next: cleanser, vitamin C, SPF. (I wrote a whole post about my skincare routine here.)
7:15am: A walk. Even 20 minutes. The morning air in summer is something I don’t want to waste. This is non-negotiable through August.
8am: Start the day. Work, projects, whatever needs doing. But by then I’ve already had a good start.
My Summer Night Routine
This is where I’ve done the most work, because evenings used to be where I just collapsed.
8:30pm: Start winding down. This means closing my laptop. Seriously, the laptop goes away.
9pm: Skincare. Full routine, not the lazy three-second version. Then I switch to something cozy and dim the lights.
9:30pm: In bed with a book, not a screen. Even 20 pages. This is the shift that helped my sleep more than anything else.
By 10pm: Lights out, or close to it.
What’s Helping Me Sleep Better This Summer
I’m not going to pretend this came naturally. A few things have made a real difference:
A satin pillowcase. I know, I know, it sounds like a luxury thing, not a sleep thing. But for women over 40, the smooth surface is genuinely kinder to your skin and hair overnight than cotton: less friction, less tugging. This one. I noticed a difference within a week.
🔗 This is the one that made the difference →
Magnesium glycinate. My doctor mentioned this and I brushed it off for months. Then I tried it. I fall asleep faster and the 3am wake-ups have gotten much better. This is the one I take. Take it about 30 minutes before bed.
A sunrise alarm clock. This one is for the mornings. Instead of a jarring alarm, it wakes you up gradually with light. This one. It sounds like a gimmick but it genuinely makes waking up feel less terrible, especially on days when you have to be up before your body is ready.
The Point Isn’t Perfection
Some nights I’m on my phone until 10:30. Some mornings the walk doesn’t happen. A routine isn’t a rule: it’s a rhythm. The goal is to have a structure that brings me back to center when I drift.
After 40, your body tells you pretty clearly when you’re not taking care of it. Summer is the perfect season to actually listen.
Next in the series: My Summer Deep Clean: How I Reset the House When Life Gets Full →
Shop This Post
Discover more from Amie.from.here
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
[…] If you try it, come back and tell me what showed up on your page three. And if mornings are already a bit of a project for you, you might like the one morning a week that’s been saving my sanity or how I reset my whole morning and night routine. […]