Hi and thank you for joining us on our 7 days to stress less journey. This is post 3 of 7 and today we are all about the ZZZZZZzzzzzz. Creating a healthy sleep habit is key to our mental health and wellbeing.
Do you know what one of the most effective ways to de-stress is? It’s sleeping!
Yes, exercise is great and meditation is a wonderful tool, but the best thing you can do to stress less on a regular basis is to get a goodnight sleep.
I love sleep! I love it, love it, love it!
And if I don’t get enough … OMG! My whole world feels as though its been turned upside down.
You already know your sleep is important. Think about how much harder your job and your life, in general, feel after a night when you were up with the kids. Or up working until four in the morning to finish an important project.
Those nights that last a life time as you watch each hour pass by when you cant seem to drift off!
AWFUL!!
You get grumpy, it’s harder to focus, and every little problem suddenly becomes insurmountable.
You feel a lot more stressed throughout the day and it only gets worse if you end up sleeping poorly for several days in a row.
Now here’s the interesting bit.
The average person doesn’t get the optimal amount of sleep at night. Even when we do, our sleep quality often isn’t great.
Too often our sleep is disrupted throughout the night, even if we don’t fully wake up and most of us struggle with falling asleep.
What we need is a successful sleep habit.
How To Improve Your Sleep Habit
Thankfully there are a lot of things you can do to improve both the quantity and quality of sleep you get.
Before you tell yourself that you can’t afford to sleep more, you need to know that you can’t afford to NOT sleep more.
It’s important to realize that not focusing on a regular sleep habit will cause you to be less focused and productive. You’ll actually get more done by investing time into a good-night sleep.
It All Starts With A Bedtime Routine
Just like a baby, when we try to get them to sleep through the night, it all begins with a routine.
Start by establishing a bedtime routine. Try to go to bed at the same time every night, even on the weekends.
It helps your body get into a rhythm that makes falling asleep and staying asleep easier.
Cut distractions from your bedroom. That means leaving your phone in the living room.
If you need an alarm, buy an alarm clock. You don’t want those alerts and notifications keep you from getting into those all-important deep sleep zones.
How many times have you been laid there just about to drift off when your phone beeps? You can’t resist looking and before you know it you have to restart your wind-down process again.
Its exhausting! and its a sleep habit that needs breaking now!
Set The Tone
Turn off the lights and have a good look around your bedroom. Are there any small indicator lights or blinking lights? Try to remove them if possible.
You want your body and your mind to completely unwind, not think its at a disco!
Listen for any sounds from electronics and the likes. Make your bedroom a calm, quiet, and dark place of rest.
I know some of these things may sound trivial but honestly your body and your mind will thank you for making these subtle changes to your sleep habit.
Screen Time Curfew
Last but not least, watch your screen time at night. Our eyes and the way they process light, including the light waves from our screens have a big impact on how alert the body is.
I bet if you have children you limit their screen time, yet how many times have you been sat laate at night looking at a sceen yourself?
Confession alert! im guilty of this one. I limit my kids, tell them its time to unwind and relax and more often than not, im checking emails etc right up until bedtime.
One of the worst habits we’ve all developed is to look at our phones while trying to go to sleep. Biologically it’s the equivalent of watching the sunrise.
Stop telling your body it’s time to get up while you’re trying to go to sleep.
Instead, focus on calming activities like reading, talking with your partner, or meditating for an hour before going to sleep.
Reduce screen time for a few hours before bed or at the least invest in blue light filtered glasses or install an app that changes your display at night.
So there you have it, a few simple changes can make all the difference. If you need a recap, here is the first post in the stress management series and here is post 2.
As always please share your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to join the mailing list 👇🏼
