Our sleep cycles are run by our circadian rhythms, which are set by a tiny receptor in the retina that is highly sensitive to light and darkness. Our sense of smell has the power to transform a room and alter the way everyone in it feels. Use a candle or room/pillow spray or use a relaxing balm on your pulse points to trigger yourself into 'sleep mode'. Here are some practical things you can do to set the mood in your bedroom.īan electronics from your room. Having these items in our bedrooms tends to wreak havoc on sleep Put the charger in another room if that helps and use an alarm clock to wake if needed. Life is busy, so at bedtime make sure that you send a signal to your brain that it's time to slow down and sleep. I’m making myself do this because I know my willpower alone is not enough! Create the optimal bedroom environment for sleep In fact, given the irresistible lure of the phone if it’s next to you on the sofa (especially if you’re tired), you could leave it in another room altogether. Gazing at your phone feels like a relaxing thing to do, but the blue screen is waking your brain up. It becomes habitual to reach for the phone as the credits role and I am the worst offender at this.
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Like me, I suspect you’ve never got into bed and thought “I wish I’d watched another episode” but have often wondered why you didn’t get into bed half an hour earlier!Īlso, don’t enter a time vortex by scrolling on your phone when the TV programme finishes. That block of time between leaving the sofa and being in bed is a no-mans land and has fooled many of us into going to bed later than we wanted.ĭon’t let Netflix seduce you into another episode, taking you up to the time you wanted to be asleep. It’s lovely to listen to your Hypnobirthing relaxations in the bath too. Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor at New York University School of Medicine says "If you raise your temperature a degree or two with a bath, the steeper drop at bedtime is more likely to put you in a deep sleep," This ups your chances of a good night’s sleep, especially if you give yourself time after to cool off, as it's the drop in your body temperature that's key. So as an example, an evening guide, which factors in your 20 mins of lovely hypnobirthing relaxations, might be: Include an hour before sleep which is dedicated to relaxing and winding down - and a bit of faffing about! It sounds like a lot, but it isn’t actually, once you factor in a bath or a book, getting ready for bed and your Hypnobirthing practice if you’re doing that and it will help you wind down for a more restful night’s sleep. The earlier you finish off any last bits of work, the less your sleep will be disrupted by the stimulating effects of looking at your laptop screen. The earlier you eat, the less chance of acid reflux in bed. When mapping out your evening routine, it’s worth taking into account the following factors:
You’ve then got a loose timetable to follow each evening (unless you’re out). Once you’ve decided when you want be asleep, work back from there to schedule in the stuff you want to do beforehand, like eating, relaxing etc. If you want to wake at 7am each day, that means being asleep by 11pm latest. So, now we’re ready to figure out your nightly routineįirst, work out when you want to be asleep by. You want to aim for 8 hours sleep a nightĪccording to Hofstadter's Law: things always take longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter's Law into account! So give yourself plenty of time for things you want to do in the evening and for getting ready for bed and remember that LESS IS MORE! If you don’t like the idea of a routine, think of this as your gentle evening guide. I’m going to help you figure yours out, but before we do, please bear in mind three things. To get to sleep at the same time each night, it’s important to establish an evening routine. Remember, this is something to aim for, rather than something you’ll manage 100% of the time. In the excellent book Why We Sleep:, Matthew Walker tells us that going to bed and waking up at the same time every day will help us sleep better.
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