March 17th is World Sleep Day: a day where everyone can start to focus on their sleep health. Because it’s no surprise that a good night’s sleep starts at bedtime, we are going to be working towards bringing back bedtime with some quick sleep tips to help you sleep better tonight.
First, let’s start with clearing the clutter and give your bedroom a Spring sleep clean! Your bedroom should be for sleep only; it’s not your office, our gym, or your laundry room. Let’s also set up a dark, quiet, and cool sleep environment.
Install blackout blinds, use a white noise machine, and keep temperatures low to help you achieve proper restorative sleep. Take it one step further by giving your mattress an audit. It’s the single most important piece of furniture in the home. You should be re-evaluating your mattress every 5 years.
It’s easy to fall asleep in a bedroom that is set up for sleep success!
Do you want to know what is one of the biggest sleep disruptors out there? Tech! We are always connected on our computers, phones, and tablets. They have replaced our paperback novels and have started to make their way into out bedrooms.
Think of your brain as having a sleep switch. The blue lights of your screens suppress your natural sleep hormone melatonin and turns your sleep switch off. So kick them to the curb! Create a family docking station in a room of your home where everyone can plug in overnight.
It’s time for a tech curfew! Electronics should be turned off at least 60 minutes before a consistent bedtime, and 90 minutes if you can do it.
I’m going to try and take the pressure off a bit. If you find that you can’t sleep, stop trying!
Picture this: you have trouble falling asleep, or you wake up and can’t fall back to sleep, and now all you can think about is that you’re not sleeping, and you should be sleeping, but you can’t fall asleep… and ack! The stress of that alone is going to make it hard to fall back to sleep. So, I give you permission to get out of bed and remove yourself from the stress of the whole thing entirely.
Go into a different room, but keep things quiet and dark. Don’t start turning on every light, and, whatever you do, don’t turn on the TV or check your emails. Read a chapter or two in low light, drink a warm glass of milk, listen to soothing music and then try again. The important thing is to take the stress away and don’t be too hard on yourself.
Remember to bring back bedtime by incorporating the steps above while also keeping consistent sleep patterns. Also, throwing in calming bedtime activities like journaling, meditation, yoga, or even adult colouring can help you quiet your mind and fall asleep easier each night.
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