We are a family with a lot of electronics. I honestly feel like my daughter is on her phone 24/7. Somehow though it all seems justified because we are such a technology-driven society. However, I noticed it was starting to affect us getting a good nights sleep.

For my daughter, it was an issue of trying to stay on her phone right up to going to bed. She would stall everything else and by doing so was getting into bed half an hour to an hour later than I had wanted.

Consequently, I decided to start a new routine. Every night an hour before bedtime all electronics had to be off. I created an automatic Do Not Disturb on my cell phone so that text messages and calls would not tempt me.

We decided it would be beneficial for the last hour to be a time for reading. The only struggle for me, however, is that I read most of my books on my phone. So we tried a trip to our local library to get some actual books to read.

It has been a great thing unplugging for the evening. We like to make some sleepy time and just unwind for the last hour. My daughter is then in bed on time and a little easier to wake up in the morning.

I would love to start implementing this more into our day time routines as well and find ways to connect more without electronics but for now, this is our little baby step. Do you have any nightly routines that have made an impact on you and your family?