My Evening Routine That Makes 4AM Mornings Possible

Waking up at 4AM with three little ones — one of whom still wakes me in the night — sounds almost impossible. But I’m here to tell you, with the right evening rhythm… It’s not only possible – it’s realistic. Today, I’m inviting you into the simple, quiet evening routine that makes my early mornings of prayer, exercise, and a head start on the day before the children wake up a reality.

What You’ll Gain

I’m going to share my full evening rhythm, including what I do during my golden hour. Stay tuned until the end, because I’ll share my top evening principles that help me to wake up so early — even in seasons of exhaustion.

I want to mention that this is by no means prescriptive and if this doesn’t work for you, in any way causes more stress, or just doesn’t serve you — please don’t feel like you have to do this to be a good mother. Find what works for you. This is what I’ve found that works for me and it changes depending on the season too.

There’s nothing glamorous about this evening routine.

No fancy skincare rituals or cozy drinks. Just quiet faithfulness stitched together with small, simple habits.

My Evenings Aren’t That Impressive

I hesitated to even share this because, quite honestly, my evenings just aren’t all that impressive.

But after so many of you asked about my evening routine in the comments of my ‘how I wake up at 4am video,’ I realized — maybe that’s the beauty of it. The work God calls us to isn’t always showy. It’s often found in the quiet rhythms of life.

After my children are tucked in between 7 and 8PM, I do any last minute homemaking. I reset the kitchen making sure the dishes are loaded in the dishwasher and it’s set to run, the counters are wiped, laundry tossed into the machine with a delay start timer for morning.

I prepare for the next day: setting out my workout clothes, keys and wallet, checking my planner to make sure I am ready to do whatever is on the agenda for the next day, and tying up loose ends like YouTube comments or emails.

Then, my Golden Hour begins — this is my calm, screen-free time to close out the day, connect with my husband and prepare for a good night sleep.

Sometimes it’s a full hour; sometimes it’s just 10 minutes of prayer and journaling. But the intent remains the same: no screens, no rush, just a quiet evening that I look forward to everyday.

The real key to peaceful mornings is preparing my mind and heart the night before.

Why I Call It My Golden Hour

I like to call this my Golden Hour—not because it always goes perfectly, but because it helps me end the day in a way that feels peaceful and life-giving.

Keep in mind that the golden hour is meant to serve you – not the other way around. There was a time when I would get so stressed out if I didn’t have enough time for a golden hour and felt like I was a failure if I looked at a screen during it. But then I realized, it doesn’t have to be so serious. So, if my husband wants to watch a video with me during this time, I’m totally fine doing that. If it will be better for my mind to get a couple to-dos off my plate on my computer during this time so I can sleep without those tasks hanging over my head, I will do that. The general rule of thumb though is that I try to do all the screen-free things I love before bed for about an hour.

What I Do During My Golden Hour

• Usually I begin with prayer. It’s not complicated or formal — just a quiet pouring out of my heart before the Lord. I have a video on my prayer method and the journal I use for this if you’re interested in a new prayer rhythm.
• After prayer I try to move my body in a supportive way like stretching or foam rolling.
• Then, I pick up a life-giving book to read. I tend to read books that point me back to the truth — I’ve been loving C.S. Lewis lately. Sometimes it’s a Christian living book, and sometimes it’s a book on homemaking or motherhood.
• This is where my brain retraining work comes in — a practice that has completely transformed my ability to regulate stress.

Finally, before the lights go out, my husband and I take some time to visit together.

I aim to be in bed by 9pm and asleep by 9:30PM.

You’ll notice I don’t aim for 8 hours of sleep—and honestly, I think that number can feel kind of arbitrary.

There was a time when I would obsess over how many hours I was getting—and if I didn’t hit eight, I’d immediately assume I was going to be exhausted and foggy the next day. But I started noticing something: on nights when I went to bed at peace, I could wake up after six or seven hours — even five — and still feel rested.

Now, instead of fixating on the number, I focus on setting myself up for deep, albeit interrupted sleep. So here are my 8 evening principles I try to follow:

My 8 Evening Principles for Quality Sleep

1. Embrace Rhythms, Not Rigid Routines: A rhythm allows you to honor the natural shifts of family life without feeling defeated when things don’t go exactly as planned.
2. Close the Kitchen Early: No food after dinner. Let your body rest instead of digesting late at night.
3. Avoid Napping: Unless I’m pregnant, I avoid naps. Even 20 minutes can wreck my night’s sleep.
4. No Coffee After 11:30AM: One cup in the morning and that’s it. Caffeine lingers and affects my sleep hours later.
5. Put My Home to Bed: Dishes done, counters wiped, laundry ready — it eases my mind before I rest.
6. Set Up My Morning: I lay out everything I’ll need. It removes friction and helps me start the day strong.
7. Plan Ahead: I check off my day, move what didn’t get done, and review the next day’s plans.
8. Ground Yourself in God’s Peace: More than a checklist — it’s about trust. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

The Blessing of a Simple, Quiet Evening

I pray this glimpse into my simple, quiet evening has blessed you — not to add pressure, but to offer hope.

Remember, your rhythms will change. Your season may feel chaotic. But God’s mercy is new every morning.

If you want to go even deeper into creating a peace-filled homemaking life rooted in Christ, I’d love for you to join me inside my free workshop. It’s filled with biblical wisdom and practical tools to help you transform your days from weary to worshipful.