For many of us, getting a good quality night’s sleep – and enough of it – can be tricky. We’re often consumed with the stresses and strains of everyday life and find it hard to prioritise sleep over other things. But sleep is really important. We perform better on a good night’s sleep and are more likely to be in a better headspace. Here are 8 considerations to consider for your pre-bedtime routine.
1. Limit Stimulants
Caffeine has been called the most popular drug in the world. It is found naturally in over 60 plants including the coffee bean, tea leaf, kola nut and cacao pod. All over the world people consume caffeine on a daily basis in coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, some soft drinks, and some drugs. However, it can take between 6-8 hours for your body to process the caffeine. Try to switch to decaf in the afternoon as part of your pre-bedtime routine.
As we have discovered in our Optimising Mental Wellbeing sessions Cortisol (Stress hormone) helps keep us alert to danger. However, stress pre-bedtime can lead to difficulty falling asleep. Try to limit news, social media and information that engages your stress response in the hours leading up to bedtime. This time before bed is a great time to unwind your mind and body. You could try a warm bath or some light reading.
2. Physically unwind
Starting with the muscles in your toes, tense and then relax them. Work your way down your body, tensing and relaxing different muscle groups one after the other until you reach your toes. Embrace all the tension in your muscles and then the relaxation the release brings to your body. You will find a short sleep activator video presented by Dr Kelly Morgan linked below. Try and practice this technique during the day and so that when you perform it at night you won't need to watch it on your phone.
3. Sleep environment.
Make sure your room is the right temperature for you and control any noise where you can. Aim for 18.3 degrees Celcius if you can. An eye mask and earplugs can be a good investment. Unnatural light in the evening interferes with your body’s ‘sleep hormone’ called melatonin. Reduce the effect lights have on your sleep by dimming all of them in the room at least two hours before you go to bed. This includes phones, tablets and laptops.
4. Don't lie awake
Experts suggest that if you have not fallen asleep within 15-20mins after trying to fall asleep it could be a good idea to get up, try the sleep activator and get some cool air, then try going back to sleep again. Laying in bed looking at the clock not only introduces light into your eyes inhibiting the release of Melatonin, but it can also increase anxiety and frustration both linked to the release of the stress hormone Cortisol.