When I was young I was never taught the importance of good rest. We just got, “It’s time for bed.” But let me assure you there is way more to that than just going to bed. We need good sleep hygiene to take care of our circadian rhythm just as we would take care of our teeth to avoid cavities.
For the past 5 or 6 years I have been working on a healthy sleep routine. It isn’t easy to keep a sleep schedule because life happens, we get sidetracked, and things don’t always line up. I have done some serious homework and created my own sleep schedule that works for me.
Each of us has different lifestyles and we should be mindful of that. Having a sleep schedule to work with your circadian rhythm is especially tough for night owls. This is due to the fact that when it gets dark we naturally get sleepy. If you are an overnight worker you will have to retrain your body for this one.
Here are some really cool tips to help you get on a good sleep schedule with sleep hygiene:
(in no magical order)
- Electronics: Reduce the use of any electronics that emit blue light as it will trick your eyes into believing that it’s not time for sleep. You should really stop using phones, TVs, tablets, and computers at least 2 hours before bed. I still don’t know anyone that can actually do this. My current mission is to drastically reduce my electronics consumption before bed.
- Light: This is a big one for sure because everyone has all these bright modern LED lights that seem to mirror the sun in the home. Dim as many lights as you can or turn off as many as you can to help your eyes settle for bedtime. Pre-electricity when we only had candles for light I suspect things were way easier.
- Bedroom: Keep the bedroom very cool right before bed. The body should drop in temp as we start to sleep and then warm up as we should wake. The bedroom should be used for only two things, sleep and sex. No TVs or offices should be in the room.
- Stress: Minimizing stress throughout the day should help for a good night’s rest. Try to stay out of your head at night of things you can’t control. Stop obsessing over tomorrow’s events. Maybe listen to feel-good music before bed, preferably without lyrics. The lyrics will keep you thinking. This is my opinion of course.
- Meals: Try not to eat anything or drink anything at least a couple of hours before bed. Stay away from alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine when it is night nighttime. And to be quite honest with you avoiding all of them all the time will be way healthier for you overall and may even help you live longer. Thank you, you’re welcome!
- Exercise: Save the extreme workout sessions for first thing in the morning and go for some good light stretching instead.
- Routine: You really should start to create a nighttime schedule to help you stay on track. Pick the same time to sleep and time to wake daily and this includes weekends. I know this one kinda sucks but you will thank me later on down the road. You can do some light YOGA, or light stretching beforehand to help your brain wind down.
- Environment: Do your best to get the room as dark as possible. You want it dark, comfortable, and quiet. For many of us we seem to need to have some noise in the background, so be mindful of what you select. Some sound apps have commercials that tend to play at 2 am and completely throw off the whole routine thing. I speak from experience on this one for sure! HA
- Daytime naps: If you can avoid these then that will be great, but if you must nap try not to have them too late because regardless it can disrupt your nighttime rest.
Conclusion
Having a good healthy balance of things throughout the day will help when it comes time for bed at night. Be mindful of what you do day in and day out to get your circadian rhythm on track. I am rooting for you!
