Tips For Getting Better Sleep
Of all of the things that we do to keep ourselves healthy, happy, and functioning, few things are as foundational as getting good, quality sleep. In fact, sleep, nutrition, and stress are so fundamentally intertwined that it can be hard to tease out which one is affecting which, and, when we have a problem with one area, we tend to have problems in all three. Let’s start, however, by looking at sleep, and how we can set ourselves up for nightly success.
1) Setting the stage
Just as when we were kids, sleep isn’t something that we just jump into — there is a natural winding down that we need to do, in order to get into bed ready to fall asleep in a relatively short amount of time. There are numerous rituals and routines that people may use, but I’ve found a good (and easy to remember) rule to be this: stop eating 3 hours before bed; stop drinking liquids 2 hours before bed; and (most importantly) stop all electronics 1 hour before bed.
The food thing is a bit flexible, as I like having a small snack before bed, and hunger can keep me awake. The liquids, though, MUST be titrated off, or else the urge to pee is going to keep us up, or wake us up in the night. And the electronics….well this is the big one.
Too often, we try to go from a highly mentally-stimulated state — answering emails, scrolling instagram, and just generally setting our thoughts spinning — straight into sleep, with no wind-down time in between. Not only do the lights from electronics make it harder to sleep , but things like work and social media also have an emotional component, which brings me to…
2) Stopping the monkey mind
It can be very difficult, for many of us, to simply be still. If you don’t believe me, close this email, and sit wherever you are, for 5 minutes, doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. How long before you want to reach for you phone? How soon did it get uncomfortable?
And, if you’re someone that tends to worry about the future, the night time can a time when all of our ruminating thoughts that we’ve been running from all day finally catch up to us. This is, obviously, not ideal, especially when we need to get good sleep in order to function through our day, and avoid even MORE stress being added to our plate.
We have to find something to get ourselves out of our own heads, so to speak, and move us toward a state of sleep, where none of that stuff matters. Personally, I’ve found that reading fiction works for me, and I generally fall asleep most nights with the Kindle hitting me in the face. But a new trend that I’ve heard about (harkening back to our childhood days) is having a story read to you on apps like Calm. There are also guided meditations that work really well for many people. Another option, and one I do from time to time, is try to play a movie or tv show in my head, from start to finish, and see how well I can remember it. The most important aspect of any of these, though, is that they don’t evoke strong emotions — they are completely divorced from the stresses of our day-to-day life, and thus allow us to disconnect, and move toward the dream-like state of sleep.
3) Sleep “pressure”
No, this isn’t pressuring yourself to fall asleep, but the concept that what we do during the day should maximize our desire for sleep at the end of the day. As an example, if we sleep late, then sit around all day, never see the sun, and don’t do anything remotely physically challenging — can we expect ourselves to be tired enough to fall asleep by 9 or 10 o’clock?
Ideally, we wake up on the earlier side of things, and we get some sunlight in our eyes as soon as possible. As mentioned last week, this signals our circadian rhythm that our day is starting, and that we should expect to start winding down again in 16-18 hours. Then, being active in our day, both through intentional exercise, and by low-level, moderate movement (think 10,000+ steps), ensures that we have enough “sleep pressure” to be tired at night, and actually NEED the sleep we want so badly.
A couple more quick tips on the subject, then I’ll be off:
Make your room as dark as possible, and try to keep it cool. Basically, a cave-like environment (with comfy blankets, of course) is best.
Alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine all affect our sleep; if you’re having sleep issues, look at these culprits first.
If you have a bad night of sleep, don’t do anything to try and “catch up;” don’t sleep in, don’t take a nap, and don’t have extra caffeine. Instead, use this “sleep pressure” to get a good night’s sleep the following night, and then get back on track.
There are some great supplements out there for sleep (though I'm not a big fan of melatonin), and you can read about some of them in this helpful article here.
Lastly, if you are having trouble falling asleep, try not to stress yourself out about it — not only is that counterproductive, but it’s totally normal to struggle sometimes. Try some of the tips above, and see if they help. If not, consult a medical professional, and see how they can help.
