Whether you come up with a single resolution or a handful, none can be done without sleep. That is why we have come up with three sleep resolutions you should stick to for the new year!
2022 is coming to a close. The last two years have proven to be some of the most challenging. Coming out of a pandemic the year before and trying to navigate this closing year, we hope 2023 allows some time to relax.
Everyday life has become more and more normal again which means more people are leaving their houses and doing things. So long are the days where we stay cooped up with our beds close. While being out and about is great, we still need a good sleep schedule, so take these tips to heart!
Sleep Resolution #1: No technology AT LEAST 30 minutes before bed
Technology stimulates your brain. When your brain is stimulated, it makes it more difficult for it to relax and slow down enough to lead you to deep sleep.
Not only this but think about it, technology can be hard to put down. If you’re watching a movie and it’s past your normal bedtime you may think, “I’ll just go to bed when it’s over.” This mindset does nothing for your sleep schedule. The same can be said for our phones. Continuing to scour the internet or talking to people will simply prolong the time it takes to fall asleep.
If you sleep close to your phone, this is another thing that can disturb your quality of sleep. If you hear that notification or a bright light appearing in a dark room, it could easily wake you up.
There are ways to help make yourself avoid the use of technology before bed. This can be done by eliminating the amount of technology in your bedroom.
- Consider moving the technology you can into a different room. Avoiding the use of these during nighttime will help keep all your devices charged and avoid the distraction they can create.
- Come up with a schedule as to when your screens will be turned on and off and stick to it.
- If you need something to help ease you to sleep that isn’t technology, consider a book, magazine, or newspaper.
- Consider purchasing a white noise machine, or simply turning on a fan. For some, dead silence can be hard to fall asleep to. White noise machines help to create sounds that aren’t so loud it will be hard to sleep.
If you must use technology right before bed; allow yourself 30 minutes of pure relaxation, technology aside so you can fall asleep.
Sleep Resolution #2: Work on your sleep issues instead of putting them off
For some of us, it can be easy to slip into a damaging sleep routine because we don’t think we have the time to sleep. Those who work in healthcare may have an excuse for this, of course, schedules such as these can be difficult to work with but for the majority of us, we can make it happen.
Everyone knows the rule of thumb is to get 8 hours of sleep per night. There are many reasons for this, just to note a few:
- Helps to improve mental health
- Aids in the struggle of sleep disorders
- Improves immunity
- Helps improve focus
- Helps to regulate blood sugar levels
Those are just a handful of reasons why we need a sufficient amount of sleep. With this in mind, keep a specific schedule this year. If you wake up at 6 a.m., go to bed by at least 11 p.m. If you wake up at 9 a.m., try to be in bed before midnight.
For our healthcare workers, don’t think we forgot about you. Here are just a few tips to help with your hectic schedules:
- Try to get to bed and out of bed at the same time
- Try to keep to short naps
- If you exercise, try to do it during the day rather than at night
- Avoid alcohol before bed
- Uber or taxi home instead of driving if exhausted
- Try to stay away from caffeine after noon.
Sleep resolution #3: Avoid alcohol and food before bed
We touched on this in the previous resolution. This is because, with the holiday season, it can be tempting to do this! Typically New Year’s especially, we all might enjoy a glass of champagne and some appetizers. Let’s try to not do this right before bed though!
Alcohol affects the natural REM sleep cycle. Not only does it affect your quality of sleep, an excessive habit of drinking before bed can lead to more serious sleep disorders like insomnia.
You may think that alcohol helps to make you sleep because after a night out you may feel drowsy but this can be anything but the case. Unfortunately, some people choose to self-medicate with alcohol to sleep but in reality, if you drink caffeine during the day and then combine this with alcohol, the effects of the two do not mesh well at night.
A snack before bed is also not a great habit to get into. Overnight your stomach digests all the food you consumed during the day. If you eat right before bed, your body has to work even harder to digest that food which can lead to stomach aches or indigestion.
If you struggle to fall asleep, consider our drug-free, non-habit-forming supplement, Relaxium Sleep. This supplement is meant to help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and wake up feeling refreshed and alert.
Relaxium calm does this by helping to:
- Regulate the natural sleep cycle
- Relax the body
- Calm the mind
New Year, New Sleep Schedule!
Exercising, traveling, learning a new language, all of these popular resolutions are only made possible if you’re awake enough to do them! In reality, your sleep schedule should really be your first goal to complete in order to do the rest.
We hope this has motivated you to do so.
To restful and healthy days ahead.
The Relaxium Team
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7232925/
https://www.leesa.com/article/eating-before-bed-pros-and-cons