5 Things to Make Sleep Easy
Sleep is an essential part of living a happy and healthy life, so the fact that over 30% of people in the U.S. are reported as not getting enough sleep seems quite worrisome. And while that number is specifically for the U.S. I’m certain that much of the rest of the world isn’t doing much better.
For a lot of people this sleep deprivation comes as a result of choice. They stay up late drinking, working, watching movies or doing whatever else they feel is more important than sleep. For these people getting more sleep is as simple as putting more value into sleep and having better time management.
But what about everyone else?
For many others sleep is more like an elusive mistress who calls to you during the day but then seems to vanish the moment you go to seek her out. You end up laying in bed for hours in hopes of getting even a wink of sleep.
Is there a way for these people to fall asleep quickly? Is there a way for them to get the sleep they need to be healthy and happy?
The answer is yes.
While for some, difficulty with sleep comes about due to a medical condition, for most of us it is due to bad sleep hygiene.
Sleep Hygiene is defined as
“Habits and practices that are conducive to sleeping well on a regular basis.”
With a serious intentional effort, you can go from lying awake for hours to falling asleep in minutes. All you have to do is implement these habits and practices.
Number 1 Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Your body has an internal clock that tells it when it’s time to be awake and when it’s time to sleep. When you keep inconsistent hours it then becomes difficult for your body to tell when sleep time is, which can lead to a high degree of wakefulness when you’d much rather be sleeping. Pick a time to go to sleep that you know will allow you at least 7-8 hours of sleep and stick with it (even on the weekends.)
Number 2 Create a Relaxing Environment for sleep
This step is reasonably simple. Make sure your bedroom is as comfortable and relaxing as possible. There are several ways in which you should do this
Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
Minimize any noise that enters your room during the night.
Minimize all lights and electronics in your room during the night.
Keep a comfortable bed, pillow, bed accessories, etc.
Keep your room clean.
A quick tip, if you are unable to reduce the light or noise in your room for whatever reason, a sleep mask and ear plugs will work brilliantly for you.
Number 3 Create Associations
Just like Pavlov's dogs, our minds create associations that our bodies react to. This can be used in our favor to create associations that generate sleepiness in us at the exact time we wish to sleep. To create associations like this takes a bit of time but is actually quite simple and quite powerful once they take route.
One way in which to do this is by having a routine before bed that you faithfully follow. Make sure to be consistent and before long this routine will be a signal to your body that sleep time is now, which will allow you to fall asleep far quicker than you likely ever have before.
Another approach to the creation of an association would be by doing something like wearing pajamas to bed. Your mind will over time create the connection between the pajamas and sleep, which will allow you to relax and sleep with far more ease.
There are many variations of this aspect that can be utilized, so if you're feeling up for it, be creative, you may find yourself actually having fun while forming these habits.
There is one more thing that needs to be noted in regards to forming associations.
Associations go both ways. While you are capable of creating powerful associations that will make sleep come remarkably quicker, it is also possible to create associations that cause you to become more wakeful and restless. For example you may associate the use of your phone with stimulation and wakefulness. If this is the case then even just checking your phone before bed or in the middle of the night can make sleep several times more difficult.
I should also note that there is one association that can make the difference between sleep and wakefulness more than any other association, and that is the association connected to your bedroom itself. If your bedroom is used for tv, video games or any other kind of stimulating activity it can make sleep extremely difficult. Try your best to use your bedroom for as few things other than sleep as possible. Ideally your bedroom should be used only for sleep (with maybe one exception.)
Number 4 Avoid Large Meals, Caffeine or Alcohol before bed
Large meals before bed have been shown to affect sleep quality and cause the onset of sleep to be more difficult, so try to put some time in between sleep and dinner and perhaps make dinner one of the lighter meals of the day if possible.
As for caffeine, you may be one of the people that thinks that you are immune to its effect on your sleep. You are not. It doesn’t matter what kind of tolerance you think you have. One study has shown coffee has a half life of around 5.7 hours, which means that the caffeine you drink is more than likely still in your system when you are laying down to sleep. Imagine drinking even just a quarter cup of coffee right as you are about to go to sleep. For many of us coffee drinkers this is exactly the effect we’re getting from our daily cup of coffee.
Alcohol, like many other substances, is terrible for sleep. I know there are many who use it as an aid to make the onset of sleep come quicker, but alcohol disrupts the quality of sleep and is something that should be removed for anyone who wishes to have a healthy amount of sleep on a consistent basis.
Number 5 Make the End of your day the most Relaxing Part
Sleep becomes difficult when we are stressed out so make the later part of your evening as relaxing as possible.
Here are some tips to help reduce stress.
Avoid any interactions that you know will stress you out before bed
Minimize overly stimulating activities before bed
Create a relaxation routine in much the same way you did with your sleep routine
Use items that can help you feel more relaxed such as a weighted blanket
Get done any important tasks earlier in the day so that your evenings can be used to focus on relaxation
Meditate before bed
Conclusion
These aren’t the only habits and practices for good sleep hygiene (there’s also things like exercise and diet as well as several other things that have not been mentioned) but if you practice at the very least these five faithfully you will quickly find that sleep isn’t such a difficult thing and with better sleep you’ll feel better, you’ll think better and as a result you’ll live better. Sleep is extremely important and once it’s given the proper value it deserves you’ll find that all aspects of your life will begin to improve.
Afterthought: Don’t use melatonin regularly. Once your body gets used to obtaining melatonin through external sources it will reduce the amount of melatonin it produces naturally which will cause an entirely new problem for your sleep that is best avoided.
