Sleep Hygiene

Imagine this…

You’re climbing into your soft, warm bed after a long weekend of exciting, tiring activities. You settle in, you maybe even skip your usual 20 minutes of mindless Insta-scanning, and close your eyes. 

Then you wait. 

And wait.  

And then you find yourself planning your next day. Or reviewing the weekend. Or remembering to do something. 

Then you shake your head a little, and try to refocus on sleeping.

And wait. 

And wait. 

And then you get stuck in this loop until you give in and pull you phone out so you can check email again, or watch Netflix, or go on Reddit.

Then suddenly it’s 1 AM. 

What is going on here?

Sleep Hygiene - what is it?

Sleep Hygiene, simply put, is a set of strategies and best practices to help you fall asleep more swiftly, stay asleep longer, and to wake in a more rested state.

Why is it important to know about this?

Modern life blocks us from being naturally attuned to our usual circadian rhythms. Full stop. 

 Some common culprits here include:

• Caffeine: caffeine is a stimulant and is meant to keep us awake, so if we are drinking a lot of it, drinking it later in the day, and/or our coffee:water ratio is skewed towards caffeine, then we are making it harder to fall asleep.

• Blue light and screens: many of us spend the majority of our day looking at a screen, whether it me our phone, tablet, computer or TV, the brightness of the screen communicates to our brain that it is the middle of the day, and thus keeps us awake as such. 

• Inconsistent sleep patterns: when our sleep patterns shift and change, both sleeping time and waking time, it makes it hard for our body to know when it is supposed to be sleeping. It may not seem like a big deal, but looking at sleeping patterns across weekdays and weekends and help you to see if and how much variance there is. 

So what can be done you feel that your sleeping habits are being negatively impacted in these ways?

Check out the Tools section below for helpful strategies

Tools

How To Improve Sleep Hygiene

Pick one or two of the following areas to try to improve. Remember, being a perfectionist or being too hard on yourself about these habits is only going to backfire. Pick just one or two things you can begin to shift today:

Establish and maintain a regular sleep routine:

• Establish a regular time to go to sleep and wake up, especially on weekdays. 

• Avoid naps if possible. Naps make it harder to fall asleep and maximize your sleep at night. 

Prioritize the use of your bed for sleep and sex:

• Avoid other activities (TV, Instagram, checking email)in bed as it helps your mind and body to have a stronger association with your bed to sleep. 

• Don’t stay in bed for long periods of time when you are awake. If you find that it is taking more than 15 minutes to fall asleep easily when you get in bed, or after waking in the middle of the night, get out of bed and move to a comfortable chair. 

 Be mindful of what you consume and how it impacts your sleep:

• Learn your personal barometer with caffeine. We all have different levels of sensitivity here, and for some the impact of caffeine can last for several hours. With that in mind, the amount and/or how late in the day we consume caffeine may interfere with our ability to fall asleep because it is still active in our system. 

• Other substances to watch out for  are alcohol, cigarettes and some over the counter medications. 

• Turn off all technology and take space from screens 20-30 minutes before bed. Creating a buffer here will decrease the amount of stimulation we are consuming (brightness of the screen and also the content we are viewing), which helps our mind to calm down and supports easing us into sleep.

Use other lifestyle factors to improve sleep:

• Exercise regularly. The more often we exercise, the better our sleep as it helps to expel energy, manage stress and fatigue our body, all of which promote continuous sleep.

• Be mindful of the timing of exercise. For many people, working out, especially rigorously, can energize our system and thus make it harder to fall asleep. 

Optimize your bedroom for sleep:

• Make your room as dark as possible. Turning off all bright or extra lights supports our ability to enter and sustain good quality sleep.

• Make your room as quiet as possible. All noise aside from white noise like a fan can disrupt sleep due to fluctuations in volume and pitch. 

  • Also good to note, if your pets awaken you, look to keep them outside of the bedroom.

  • Similarly, if your partner snores, this could be fragmenting your sleep. It can be helpful to discuss options with them to help alleviate this interruption.

• Make your room a comfortable yet cool temperature. Science tells us that having a cool room and a warm bed are two conditions that promote good sleep. 

• If you are someone who always checks the clock at night, hide the clock or cover the display so it is less of a distraction. 

Create a supportive bedtime routine:

• Choose a time to turn off technology to help signal to your body that it is time to prepare to sleep

• After you turn off technology, use your time to do other personal care practices like brushing your teeth and washing your face. Many people also find that taking a warm shower or bath is especially helpful.

• Lights out is lights out! As we said, it is best to avoid distractions, especially after you get into bed. Hopefully your devices are already turned off, and if possible being changed away from your bed or in a different room. That way, we are less vulnerable to doing things like checking email or other social media accounts. 

Remember, Pick only ONE or TWO of these strategies to implement in your routine. 

Speak to your coach or therapist about what they are, and how you can use something like the SMART Goal setting tool to create actionable steps you can take to improve your sleep.