Obtaining a numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation requires an initial state for the time evolution. If the system Hamiltonian can be split into a time-independent part and a time-dependent perturbation, the initial state is typically chosen as an eigenstate of the former. For propagation using approximate methods such as operator splitting, we show that both imaginary-time evolution and diagonalization of the time-independent Hamiltonian produce states that are not exactly stationary in absence of the perturbation. In order to avoid artifacts from these non-stationary initial states, we propose an iterative method for calculating eigenstates of the real-time propagator. We compare the performance of different initial states by simulating ionization of a model atom in a short laser pulse and we demonstrate that much lower noise levels can be achieved with the real-time propagator eigenstates.