When you finally put work to rest, falling asleep isn’t always easy. This phenomenon is known as bedtime procrastination, and it basically means taking back your free time at night. While spending some much-needed alone time can be a good thing, you don’t want it to interfere with your precious sleeping hours, which is why it’s so essential to create a sleep schedule and to stick to it. A proper sleep schedule can lead to better rest, more energy in the morning, and improved mental and physical health. If you’re struggling to fit your 8 hours in each night, continue reading for tips on creating and maintaining a sleep routine to help form good sleep habits.
Your body has its own internal clock that manages everything from your energy levels to your hunger cues. This internal clock is known as your circadian rhythms, which run on a 24-hour cycle and are most prominent when it comes to sleep and wakefulness. Essentially, your circadian rhythms ensure that you feel alert and focused when you need to and relaxed and tired when you need to.
Light exposure is one of the most integral components of your circadian rhythms. When your eyes and skin are exposed to light, your brain gets the signal to be awake and aware. As the day progresses to evening and night, the light diminishes, and your brain sends signals to your body to relax and get ready for sleep.
Humans are creatures of habit and routine. Through repetition, physical and emotional cues, and responses to those cues, we learn and develop patterns of behavior that suit our daily existence. Sleep is no different. A consistent, healthy sleep routine helps you develop habits that eventually become a cue for your body and brain to wind down and prepare for slumber. Over time, those habits allow you to fall asleep quickly and easily, stay asleep through the night, and wake up without having to hit the snooze button. That all equates to more stable sleep patterns, which result in better health in your waking life.
What Is a Sleep Routine?
A sleep routine in its most basic format, it’s about supporting your natural circadian rhythms and maintaining a regular sleep schedule. Unfortunately, even the most basic sleep routine can come with difficulties. It can be easy for people to fight off their tiredness at night, whether they are out with friends or simply wanting to stay up later for the sake of it. By fighting sleepiness at night, you’re actually fighting your circadian rhythms. Similarly, when you allow yourself to stay in bed for longer, even after waking up, you’re fighting your internal clock. In both cases, you train your body to fight sleep and wakefulness.
Even if you’re not actively fighting sleep, a stable sleep schedule can get thrown off by numerous factors, including:
Jet lag or crossing time zones
Shift work
Stress
Mood disorders
Artificial light exposure
Beyond sleep schedule, a poor sleep routine can have effects well beyond your bed. Poor sleep patterns contribute to expansive issues throughout the body. Sleep allows your brain and body to rejuvenate and repair. Physical healing, memory consolidation, information storage, and metabolic regulation all occur while you’re asleep, and all of those happen to be important components of being awake.
Good sleep hygiene means setting yourself up to have the best night of sleep each night.
Manage your light. At night, darkness causes the body to produce and secrete more melatonin, making you tired and signaling that it’s time to sleep. In the day, the sunlight keeps melatonin production down, ensuring that you are alert and awake. Too much light at night can interfere with melatonin production, preventing you from feeling sleepy. That light can come from any source, but these days, the most common culprits are screens. The glow from TV screens and devices is enough to keep you up. Avoid anything with a screen at least an hour before your bedtime.
If your room is too dark in the morning, your body can have trouble getting out of bed. Opening your blinds and letting more sunlight into your home can get melatonin levels back down and help you stay awake in the day.
Avoid eating large meals before bed. Eating too soon before bedtime can contribute to sleep issues. Eating tends to trigger the release of insulin, which is also linked to your circadian rhythms. Essentially, eating sends signals to the brain that you should be awake, which can interfere with your ability to sleep. Most experts recommend eating at least three hours before you go to bed. If you are hungry around bedtime, opt for a small snack that is low in carbs and sugar.
Consider your caffeine. Caffeine has a half-life of about four to six hours in the body. That means it takes up to six hours to break down half of the caffeine you consume. That also means that the cup of joe you enjoyed in the late afternoon can still exert its stimulant effects as you are lying in bed. That effect can become more defined the more caffeine you drink. Set a hard cutoff point for your caffeine consumption during the day. Generally, you shouldn’t consume caffeine after 2-3 pm. If your sleep isn’t getting any better, you may want to cut back on your total caffeine consumption.
Make your bedroom the most inviting place. It can be hard to sleep if your bedroom feels uncomfortable and uninviting. Make your sleeping environment your perfect sleep zone. If possible, opt for a good-quality mattress, pillow, and sheets. Be aware of how your room smells, and consider using incense or an aroma diffuser to get your room smelling as pleasant as possible.
A hot, stuffy room can make sleep difficult. Aside from the physical discomfort, heat has been shown to increase wakefulness while reducing REM and slow-wave sleep. There’s not a universal, perfect temperature for everyone, but you should aim for a cool but comfortable environment.
Develop a personal relaxation plan.
Meditation
Reading a book
Listening to soothing music
Making time to relax your brain and body before bed
Learning how to sleep with anxiety, how to reduce stress hormones, and the difference between cortisol vs. adrenaline hormones may help improve sleeping patterns.
Don’t do other things in bed. Reserve your bed for sleep and sex. Nothing else. It’s common for people to watch TV, play games, or even do work in bed during the day. Over time, your brain will associate your bed as a place for watching TV, working, or doing anything other than sleeping. If possible, leave your bed alone entirely in the daytime.
How to sleep with anxiety
Anxiety, along with other stress hormones such as cortisol, can contribute to sleeping problems. Understanding hormones like cortisol vs. adrenaline, trying a cortisol test, and managing anxiety can keep stress levels and insomnia down.
Anxiety contributes to sleep problems, and increased sleep deprivation can lead to anxiety disorders. There are even more nuances within sleep disorders caused by anxiety. Internalized stress about falling asleep can worsen sleep anxiety and essentially make you dread going to bed every night.
Those who can fall asleep may wake up feeling anxious in the middle of the night. Falling back asleep can be challenging as the mind races and worry grows. This can lead to sleep fragmentation, which reduces the number of hours of healthy sleep you get every night and diminished sleep quality.
Anxiety, in general, can reduce the quality of sleep. Pre-sleep worries and anxiety can reduce rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This is the phase of sleep when you are doing the most dreaming, but it also presents important physiological benefits. REM sleep stimulates the parts of your brain involved with learning and memory, and it is also associated with increased protein production.
Health risks of poor sleep
While the immediate effect is feeling tired in your waking life, sleep disturbance brought on by anxiety can cause a whole host of health problems. You may perform worse at school or work, have trouble thinking straight or remembering things, and may be more prone to injury. Sleep deprivation can also result in microsleep, which involves dozing off for just a few seconds. This can also lead to issues at work or school and can be dangerous when driving or operating machinery.
Sleep disorders also increase your risk of:
Heart disease
Stroke
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Sleep Hygiene Best Practices; a master list
Keep a regular schedule – Our bodies like regularity. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time. With a regular schedule, your body will know when to release calming hormones before bed and stimulate hormones to wake up.
Keep alcohol and caffeine moderate. – Both will interfere with sleep. Try to avoid caffeine within 8-9 hours of your bedtime.
Eat and drink appropriately. – A regular to smallish-sized meal about 2-3 hours before bed, one that is balanced in nutrients, can help facilitate sleep. Try not to drink too much liquid in the hours before bed, which will help you avoid waking up for bathroom breaks.
Do a brain dump. – Take a few minutes to write out a list of whatever is bugging you. Whatever is in your brain, get it out and on to paper.
Turn off electronics. – Digital devices stimulate our brain. We recommend unplugging from all screens at least 30 minutes before bed. This includes television, computers, and smartphones. The screens release a blue light that prevents our brain from preparing for sleep.
Stretch/ read/ de-stress before bed. – Consider trying some yoga poses, reading, or meditation.
Go to bed before midnight. – This is better aligned with natural light cycles.
Set an alarm to go to bed. – Work backwards and add buffer time: if you need to wake up at 6 AM and want to be in bed for 7 hours, start moving towards bed around 10:30 PM with lights out by 11.
Exercise regularly. – Physical movement (especially outdoors) can promote restful sleep at night.
Take a bath or shower. – A warm bath with Epsom salts or even a cool shower (depending on personal preference) can promote restful sleep.
Keep the room dark. This means curtains, shades, and / or a sleep mask.
Have a stress free / clutter free bedroom. – Get rid of stacks of mail, boxes, clothes strewn about, etc.
Keep it cool. – Anywhere from 60-68 F (15-20C) appears to work best at night.
Use white noise. – For instance, turn on a fan, humidifier, or HEPA filter.
Get outside in the sunlight and fresh air during the day. Or, if you work a night shift, try to get lots of bright light and movement when you should normally be awake.
Keep Moving Forward 😊 Sarah
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