Transform Your Sleep: Top Tips for a Better Sleep Routine
A good night’s sleep is fundamental to our overall health and well-being, it allows our bodies to rest, recover, and recharge, impacting everything from our mood to our physical health. Yet if you are anything like me as I have gotten older I found maintaining good sleep more difficult, which as many of you will know leaves you feeling tired and irritable. However, establishing a consistent sleep routine can help enhance the quality of our sleep, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up naturally, reducing the time it takes to fall asleep, and increasing the proportion of restorative sleep. So here are top tips for creating a better sleep routine, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed, relaxed, and ready to tackle the day ahead.
1. Establish a Consistent Sleep Schedule:
Our body clocks love routine, which means going to bed and getting up at the same time each day. Yep, sorry that means every day, including weekends. I know for me this one is crucial. I am good getting up in the morning, I am a lark type. I struggle with the evenings. When I first start to sleep badly it is always because I have gone to bed ridiculously early and I get my 7 hours sleep and then wake up at 3 am. This would be fine, but doesn’t work with my day job, or the rest of the world. So consistency is key here. That may mean going to bed at the same time, setting an alarm for the weekend also, and not pressing snooze forever.
2. Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine:
To create a relaxing routine spend the last hour before bed doing quiet, relaxing activities. These could include reading a book, taking a warm bath, journaling, or practicing gentle yoga. Anything that can help signal to your body that it’s time to wind down and leave the stress of the day behind. This is one I am guilty of not doing enough, I always sleep better when I read, rather than watch TV and do some gentle yoga, my sleep gets worse if I watch TV in bed. It is about being honest with yourself.
3. Create a Sleep-Inducing Environment:
Another thing to consider is your sleep environment. Your sleep environment needs to be calm and restful. Is it clutter-free? A cluttered space creates a cluttered mind. See my top tips for creating a relaxing space here. Could you dim the lights and create a calm atmosphere in your bedroom? Is the bedroom cool and calm? A cooler bedroom can help regulate our body temperature enhancing sleep. A well-ventilated bedroom can also help reduce dust, dust mites, and therefore allergies. Is it dark? Again this is one I struggle with being in a rented space. To overcome this I use a stick-up blackout blind and also wear a sleep mask during the summer months.
Further to this, what are your mattresses and pillows like? Are they supportive and comfortable? For years I struggled with neck pain, which resolved itself with the change of a pillow.
4. Watch Your Diet and Hydration:
Another thing to think about is how your diet and drinking habits may affect your sleep. A heavy meal can lead to discomfort and indigestion. Anything spicy or rich will cause your stomach to release acid and if you lie down soon after this can flow back into the oesophagus causing acid reflux. Heavy meals can also influence blood sugar levels which can also impact sleep. Ideally, you should be aiming to have your last meal 2-3 hours before bed enabling you to digest food and get a good night’s sleep.
Drinks are another one to think about. Too much drink of any kind before bedtime can lead to needing to get up to go to the loo. This is one I struggle with. As I have got older hormonal issues have meant drinking plenty is essential, however, that also means I tend to have to get up in the night.
Caffeine and alcohol are the other two to think about. It has been shown that caffeine continues to act on our system for about 3-5 hours after consumption, so ideally, we want to stop caffeine about 5 hours before bedtime. Many people think alcohol helps them to sleep, I think I have been guilty of that in the past. When actually although you may fall asleep quicker it impacts the quality of sleep, leaving you more tired the next day, so again best avoided close to bedtime.
5. Get Regular Exercise:
Regular exercise is another key piece of the sleep puzzle. Regular exercise builds sleep pressure, that is it helps make us tired and therefore much more likely to sleep.
The other thing with exercise is to consider your timing. Exercising late at night can cause you to be awake longer, especially high-intensity exercises. If you like to exercise, later consider calming exercises such as yoga or a relaxed walk.
6. Limit Naps During the Day:
This one makes me sad to write as I LOVE a nap. A bit like a cat I can nap anywhere, at any time, with any amount of noise in the background. However as I have gotten older and my sleep is not as good as it once was, naps have become detrimental. Napping means you are less tired when you go to bed so less likely to sleep. Generally, now I try not to nap, but if I have to I try to limit myself to about 45 minutes which includes getting settled time, I also try to make sure they are done before 4 so I can still sleep afterwards. So, try to limit naps, but if you must think about what time you are having them.
7. Exposure to Natural Light:
Natural light is crucial in regulating our sleep-wake cycle, also known as the circadian rhythm. Natural light, particularly in the morning, helps to reset and synchronize this rhythm, promoting a healthy sleep pattern, and helping us know when it is time to be awake and time to be sleepy. Exposure to natural light especially in the morning can support our body’s natural rhythms and improve overall sleep quality.
8. Know When to Seek Professional Help:
Longer-term lack of sleep can have severe consequences. It can go beyond feeling groggy and irritable the next day. It can impair our cognitive function, affect emotional regulation, make us more irritable and snappier, weaken our immune system, and increase the likelihood of chronic health conditions. Therefore, it is important if you are experiencing long-term chronic insomnia that you seek professional help.
In conclusion, a good sleep routine can help improve your sleep, which in turn can bring many positive physical and emotional health benefits. Using the tips shared here can help you improve your sleep.
