Maybe you haven’t thought about much of a routine for bed. Maybe it’s the usual yawning around 10ish or so, then you lay in bed till you sleep. What if you could develop a routine that helps you to fall asleep faster?
There is so much more that you can be doing for yourself to promote the best night’s sleep. Statistics show that adults especially do not receive the appropriate amount of sleep. The NIH (National Institutes of Health) reported that 7-19% of adults report not getting enough sleep; and to add to this, “Nearly 40% of adults report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month.”
So how can we work on this? We have come up with a few different ways.
- Try to wake up and fall asleep at the same time
- Consider your daily diet
- Keep your environment around you relaxed
- Consider some sort of daily physical activity
- Do your best to sort out problems during the day
We will delve into the points of importance with each step we have listed. What is important to note is that you do not need to have the most perfect diet, workout, or environment for these tips to work. Making an effort in any of these will prove to be helpful to you.
Waking up and falling asleep at the same time
Let’s mention a scenario many may be familiar with. Your job has you come to work by 8 a.m., you have a 20-minute commute time. So you set an alarm to go off at 6:45 a.m., and you allow enough time to shower, eat breakfast and get dressed. You even have some spare time so your boss won’t have a fit. After some time of doing this, you may develop a pattern. On weekends you may find yourself waking up around 6:45, of course, many may just fall back asleep but regardless. Your body has developed a pattern.
This is the logic we are using when we say to try to stick to the same times you wake up and fall asleep. If you use the same logic as waking up around a certain time in the morning, the same logic can be applied at night. Your body over time will naturally feel a sense of tiredness at a certain time because that is what it is used to.
We can thank our circadian rhythms for this. Our bodies operate around a clock of sorts that helps us to wake up and fall asleep.
Consider your daily diet
What you eat will affect how well you sleep. If you are consuming snacks at night with a high sugar count, it will be more difficult to fall asleep.
Caffeine is found in a number of different things. Coffee, a drink many consume in a day, sometimes more than once, is a huge example of what to avoid when it’s close to nighttime.
A lot of the popular foods consumed in society are full of sugars and saturated fats. These ingredients do nothing to help the body relax and break down foods so you can have a restful, peaceful sleep. If your body is working in overdrive to break down substances you have consumed before bed, no wonder you are having some trouble!
Try to maintain a peaceful environment
For some of us, this can be difficult. If you have kids, a pet, or even live in a loud area there is only so much you can do. But with that said, there are sometimes methods.
The increase in using sounds during sleep has become widely popular. Gone are the days when all you need to do is turn on a fan. There are apps where you can choose from an abundance of sounds; white noise, pink noise, brown noise, blue noise, even black noise. Some of these provide real comfort.
You could also consider new bedroom furniture or blankets. The implementation of a body pillow perhaps.
Keep your technology away, maybe even in a drawer. Technology is no friend to a good night’s sleep. We don’t want to stimulate our brains in that way before bed.
Daily physical activity
This can be as simple as a 10 to 20-minute walk a day. Getting your body in motion will prove to do wonders for your sleep. If you choose to start up at a gym, vigorously exercising will help burn out that energy that keeps you up.
After an adequate workout, your central nervous system will eventually lose its ability to keep moving your muscles. While this can be frustrating if you want to keep working out, this is great for your eventual night’s sleep.
Worry about your stresses during the day and try to quiet them at night
Many people struggle to fall asleep because their brains simply feel like they won’t turn off. This is because a lot happens in a day. During this time period, it is understandable that things can be stressful. Workplaces are still adjusting since the pandemic, and working from home and learning new technology just to have meetings can be stressful.
If you work from home we advise you to avoid doing that work in your bedroom. Your bedroom should be a place for rest and relaxation. If you look over at your desk and think of that stressful meeting you just had, it can be difficult to fall asleep.
Doing breathing exercises, or even meditation before bed may help to provide relaxation. Consider how the day is over and in the morning you will have time to deal with stressors but for now, you must sleep.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect
As we said before, any of these steps may help to aid in your sleep journey. You can choose to do one of them or maybe all of them. No doubt like the first example we provided, over time creating a pattern will feel normal, maybe even necessary, therefore creating a good routine before bed to get a good night’s sleep.
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.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation