One of the secrets to getting to bed before 10pm is to eat dinner before 7pm, and ideally between 5:30-6:30pm. This eating schedule promotes full digestion of your dinner by the time your 9:30pm winding-down routine rolls around. Remember that if you eat too late, especially within a couple of hours of your sleeping period, your stomach will still be quite active and not ready for sleep.

Obviously, some people work until 5pm and don’t get home till 6pm, creating a barrier to eating within the ideal window of time. And ultimately, the goal is to just eat dinner as early as you can.

Perhaps you can go to work earlier in the morning so you can leave earlier in the afternoon. If you live under the reign of Daylight Savings Time in the summer, that affords you an extra hour.

Leaving a stew or soup in the crock pot while you’re at work is one way to get around this. Or if you know a restaurant that serves quality food at a reasonable price, you might just want to eat out on work nights. That way, you can eat dinner right after work. You could also make a large batch of food on the weekend and then freeze individual portions. In the morning, leave a portion out to thaw. This way, when you get home, you need only reheat the food.