Tips to Good Sleep
I’m not going to argue the need for getting adequate rest. An Ivy League University study is not required. Nor will I bother making the case that, in general, we’re becoming a sleep deprived culture. I’m going into this assuming those two claims are self evident.
What most people do is they give their body no signals to rest. They do things that encourage staying amped up.
* They work right up until bed time.
* They eat and drink right up until bed time.
* They stay under bright lights right up until bedtime.
* They don’t wear anything different to bed that they already have on their body (their undies).
* They watch relaxing (sarcasm) TV likes Sons of Anarchy (I love that show).
* They don’t have a regular bed time.
* They don’t get a consistent amount of sleep. . . Ever.
So let’s reverse engineer some of these bad habits.
Creating a Bedtime Routine.
Remember when we were all kids and our folks told us to get ready for bed? We would get our PJs on and brush our teeth and jump in bed (literally at first, but then we’d get under the covers when they came in the room). Then they’d tuck us in and shut out the light and off we went to sleep.
Well, whatever you think of that process one aspect of it that it wouldn’t hurt to copy is the idea of creating a bed time routine that takes up about 15 to 30 minutes. This routine will give signals to your body that it’s shut down time.
This first tip is probably the most important of them all. The other tips are really just a part of this one.
Get to Bed!
Do it earlier rather than later. I’m a big proponent of the idea that an hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after. Ben Franklin was right:
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.”
Well, I don’t really know about the second half of the statement, but just do the first half anyway. And try to be consistent by doing it at around the same time every night.
Don’t give me this sob story. . . “Oh, Tim, you don’t know my life. I’m busy, and the kids, blah blah blah.. . . ” Our parents were busier, with fewer conveniences then we have, and with much more to do, but they got it done. How? They had one thing we lack. SELF-DISCIPLINE. So shut up. Discipline yourSELF and JUST DO IT. Stop telling yourself you can’t do it BECAUSE YOU CAN.
Embrace the Dark Side
Ok, I’m not saying you should submit to some Dark Lord from a galaxy far far away. I’m talking about doing two practical planet Earth things:
1. Knock it off with the bright lights. About a half hour before you hit the rack shut some of the lights out around the house and try to dim all the others. Our bodies are conditioned to being active when the lighting is bright. So give it a clue activity is going to stop by dimming the lights your around.
2. Make sure your bedroom is dark dark dark. Pull the shades and invest in some of those darkening energy saving curtains. They really help to keep out the sort of stimuli that tends to keep us awake.
Silence is Golden
Well, not complete silence, but reducing the ambient noise also tells the body that down time is coming.
1. Turn it down. Reduce the volume of what ever you’re listening to or watching a half hour before you go to bed. Music, the TV, or whatever you’ve got going on. Turn it down. Also, try to not get in any heated conversations either on the phone or in person.
2. Make the bed room a place of quiet. If you live in an urban area or you have a condo with a noisy late night neighbor your bedroom wall shares with his “amazing sound system” then white noise could be your best friend. The slight noise provided by a desk top fan can create enough of an audible distraction to shut out all the other bells, whistles, and buzzers of the outside world.
How dry I am
I’m a big fan of being and staying hydrated throughout the day. But if you don’t want to interrupt your nocturnal pillow time then turn the faucet off. More specifically stop drinking fluids about an hour before you go to bed.
Have an unwind activity
Stretching, deep breathing, and reading all tend to relax the body instead of tense it up.
Now What
Including brushing your teeth and changing into bed clothes create your own bedtime routine. Since you’re going to start going to bed at the same time each night then your routine should start at the same time.
For all you Fitness Junkys out there you know that plenty of good rest IS NOT AN OPTION when it comes to getting the most out of your workouts. Good sleep is the key to good recovery which is a big part of having great results.
What does your bedtime routine usually look like? Let us know in the comments below.
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You forgot the bedtime story.
Mom
hahahah. Mom, you’re embarrassing me in front of my readers. My favorite was the Little Engine That Could.