Tips to Get a Better Night’s Sleep – Thoughts on Rest – Part 2
A good night of sleep is probably one of the best feelings in the world. Waking up, feeling refreshed and well-rested holds a special place as one of those amazing feelings we experience throughout life. As a parent it’s incredibly cute to get to see your baby wake up from a long night of sleep. I’d dare to say this isn’t just exclusive to humans. We’ve all seen videos of animals waking up and yawning or stretching. Whether it be a lion on the plains of Africa or your dog waking up on a weekend morning. That first stretch and big wide mouth yawn and shake/shutter – it’s kind of hard to beat. One of my personal favorites is also the ability and time to lay back down for an extra 15 minutes or so of good shuteye, what an amazing feeling. It’s resounding proof of how important rest is in our lives.
So how can we improve our rest? What are the factors that lead to improved sleep? How can I sleep better tonight? How much sleep do I need? Why can’t I sleep? How do I fall asleep fast?
These are some of questions we ask as a society when it comes to sleep, so here are 3 tips to get a better night’s sleep – maybe even tonight.
·Tip #1 – Create the right environment for good sleep
When it comes to getting good sleep – environment is key. As humans we have evolved and adapted over time, but somethings remain true to how our bodies function. When it comes to a good environment for sleep, 3 things are essential – darkness, temperature and sound.
Darkness
Optimizing as much darkness as possible provides the absence of what we’re trained to remain awake for, light. This can be achieved a number of ways – blackout curtains, a sleep mask and/or eliminating light emitting devices in the bedroom (bright alarm clocks, sleeping with the TV on, etc.)
Temperature
Temperature has long been a conflict amongst roommates and couples for many years. Chances are that if you like the house warm, your roommate or partner likes it cold, and the battle over the thermostat wages on. Here’s the truth of it though for optimizing your sleep. Cooler is better. Cooler temperatures help your body get into an optimal state for rest and recovery.
Sound
Sound or the absence of sound is a key factor to good sleep. Some may find it relaxing to fall asleep to the sound of the tv on or listening to a book or a podcast. Most research, however, points to the absence of sound or the consistency of something like white noise, as the optimal contributor to quality sleep. Our goal, as best we can, is to get our brain to slow down and recover.
·Tip #2 – Develop a sleep routine
We are all unique yet, as humans, we are innately creatures of habit. Our bodies love habit and love routine. So when we create a routine or habit our body tends to fall in line. If I do the same thing, in the same order, at the same time, I consistently improve my chances for a consistent outcome. Developing a consistent sleep routine can provide improved chances for quality sleep. As you consistently take part in your routine each night, your body will begin to fall in line and recognize the steps as a sign to start shutting down and preparing for rest. Here’s an example of a quality sleep routine.
Target a time you’d like to be in bed, lights off and asleep.
Give yourself 30-45 mins before that time to do everything you typically do before you sleep (i.e. skin care routine, brushing teeth, taking medication, preparing clothes for the next day, etc.)
Eliminate phone use as early as possible before sleep time – if you use your phone as an alarm, set the alarm and the appropriate volume and then put it into Do Not Disturb (DND).
Most smart phones give you the option of a favorites list that will still be allowed to contact you even while the phone is in DND, so you shouldn’t have to pick it up again unless you hear from one of those contacts.
Read or write for 5-10 minutes before you sleep. Do this non-electronically. Use a pen or pencil and write in a journal or note pad. Read a physical book, not a tablet. Don’t read something related to work, like a report or an assignment. Read something for pleasure. Write out your thoughts. This can be journaling or a quick list of things you may need to focus on for the next day.
Lights out. If you have one, turn the sound machine on, preferably have it going while you’re reading or writing. DON’T CHECK YOUR PHONE, you already set that up. Slow deep breaths as you go to sleep.
Tip #3 – Consistency
When it comes to rest, one of the best things we can do for ourselves is to provide consistency to our sleep practices. For those of us who have raised kids on a sleep schedule, most can attest to the blessing that the schedule provides, and the nightmare it can be when that schedule is interrupted. The longer and more consistent we are in sticking to the child’s schedule, the more the child will eventually become dependent on that schedule. When it gets to nap time, the child starts yawning and, in some cases, even snuggling up to their parent, knowing that it’s time to go to sleep. As the child gets older, perhaps nap times go away, but in most cases there’s a clear bed time and wake up time. Somewhere down the line though, as we get older, we tend to forget how important this is to our health, our rest and our overall performance throughout the day.
One of the tenants of many top performers, whether they be athletes or executives, is the fact that they prioritize their rest and the consistency of that rest. Many have a specific time that they go to bed each night and a very specific time they wake up each morning. Whether we like it or not, our bodies like routine & schedules. They like knowing what’s coming and a sleep schedule is no different. I won’t say what the proper amount of sleep is for all of us because I believe that may be different for each person. I will, however, debunk a myth that I believed for a long time.
I used to say to myself that it’s ok If I didn’t get a lot of sleep throughout the week, because I would just catch up on the weekend. This thought process has been proven to be a fallacy. We do not help ourselves by trying to “catch up” on sleep, we hurt ourselves. Our bodies don’t perform as well during the week when we’re not getting enough nightly rest, and then when we try to catch up on the weekend it throws our body off again because it’s not used to this schedule so when we wake up from the longer nights of sleep we feel groggy. This is typically when we hear people justify it by saying, “I actually do better and feel better on less sleep.” They say this as they hold their 4th cup of coffee in their hand. You can’t catch up on sleep, your body only benefits from consistent and healthy durations of good amounts of rest.
These 3 tips are just the beginning of where things can go and how we can implement and practice good rest in our daily lives. It’s a literal matter of life and death and the old adage “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” only points more directly at the unhealthy relationship we’ve developed with sleep in our culture. I’ve been guilty myself of hearing the words come out of my mouth “I don’t have time to sleep.” Nothing could be further from the truth if our goal is a long, healthy and productive life. When we prioritize healthy and consistent sleep, we prioritize ourselves, and that benefits those we love.