5 Step Guide To Improving Sleep
If you’re reading this… I’m going to make 2 assumptions:
You feel that you’re not getting good sleep.
You know how important sleep is for your health, how you look, and how you feel.
(check out: Is sleep REALLY that important?)
Knowing the importance of sleep should be enough for anybody to want to improve it.
So, Let’s look at 5 ways we can do that.
Attitudes & Emotions
Firstly we need to address sleep at its core.
How we feel about it.
Some people view lack of sleep as a measure of work ethic / success, especially in the corporate world. It can be celebrated for someone to be on their emails late or at work early. This ‘hustle’ mentality may be affecting how we feel about sleep.
I’ve definitely experienced this myself… at times holding the viewpoint that I need to sacrifice sleep in order to work!
But this is a very short-sighted view that will more than likely lead to sub-optimal work performance.
We may also have a feeling of learned helplessness towards sleep.
Perhaps you’ve struggled with poor sleep for so long that you feel there is “no hope” for you to improve your sleep.
I encounter a very similar problem with people wanting to improve how they look.
They may have tried lots of diets and exercise plans in the past and they’ve never reached a point where they’re happy with their results and able to maintain them.
They reach a position where they feel that nothing will work for them.
… and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Fundamentally you have to maintain the belief that you can get better sleep!
But…
Like most things, that doesn’t happen overnight
(pardon the pun)
Behaviours / Routines
You may be familiar with Pavlov’s Dog. Pavlov would ring a bell whenever he fed his dog and eventually, the dog would start to salivate any time the bell was rang because it had built an association with the bell and food.
We can use this same principle to teach our body that it’s time to go to sleep.
Building a consistent sleep routine can help us to associate certain behaviours with sleep. Such as taking a warm bath, brushing our teeth and maybe even performing a breathing exercise.
As well as creating associations to help us fall asleep…
We want to make sure we’re not creating associations that are keeping us awake.
Try to avoid using the bed for other purposes, like watching movies or doing laptop work.
And if you find yourself struggling to sleep at night, don’t just lie there staring at the ceiling. It’s better to get up and change your environment to avoid building an association between the bed and being awake.
My best advice is to be consistent with your bedtime routine. Even if it’s simple!
That being said… if you want to take it to the next level, you can start building a routine that optimises your health, wellbeing, organisation and sleep.
Circadian Rhythm
Our circadian rhythm is essentially our bodies internal clock.
Our body will adjust hormones, temperature and other factors in correspondence to our internal clock, usually following a 24 hour cycle.
Factors such as our exposure to light will heavily influence our circadian rhythm.
Routine is again a very important factor.
When we sleep / wake at consistent times (even on weekends) it helps to regulate our circadian rhythm and will help improve the quality of our sleep, as well as our energy and alertness on a daily basis.
Maintaining consistent sleep and wake times isn’t easy, especially with real-world factors to contend with like socialising, family responsibilities, work and travel.
But it can make a big difference!
With some planning, it’s possible to make improvements.
Sleep Environment
Now we’ve got the right attitude, behaviours and routines.
Let’s look at the night’s sleep itself.
We want to create a sleep environment, that promotes good sleep.
Make sure the bedroom is:
Dark, so that there is no light in the room.
Cool, to avoid excess sweating or overheating.
And the bed has:
A good mattress, for your frame
A comfortable pillow to suit your sleeping style
Blankets / duvet’s that aren’t leaving you too hot
This checklist will set you up for the best possible nights sleep.
Minimise Sleep Distractions
Now we’re asleep, we want to make sure it stays that way.
Consider anything can disturb your sleep:
Aim to reduce fluid intake before bed to avoid getting up in the night.
Make sure your phone is on do not disturb, or don’t even bring it into the bedroom.
Consider anything else that could create noise.
If your partner snores… You may even need to send your partner to the spare room!
Minimising sleep distractions is going to be very different for different people.
So be mindful of what is getting in the way of a good nights sleep for you and look for a way to eliminate that, if possible.
In summary
Quality sleep will impact every aspect of your life in a positive way.
But counting sheep or taking sleeping pills isn’t going to fix it.
These 5 steps will take work, but they will work!!
Get the right attitude toward sleep
Build behaviours and routines that trigger restful sleep
Aim to sleep and wake at consistent times, to improve your circadian rhythm
Construct a good sleeping environment
Minimise sleep distractions
Improving sleep is a continuous pursuit.
(Just like working out, or eating nutritious foods)
So don’t be overwhelmed, because you won’t reach perfection.
But you can definitely achieve progression!
And very soon you’ll be sleeping better, looking better and feeling better!
Yours in coaching, Harry