How is your day today?
The question is, how is your night?
In particular, how are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping like a baby?
Your body does most of its recovery when it rests and the time you spend asleep is the most important time of all to ensure your cells repair properly ready for the challenges that face you in the next day.
A series of poor nights sleep will lead to:
- accumulative fatigue – leaving you feeling drained with little energy to enjoy the day
- poor moods and becoming irritable – meaning you snap at people for little reason and are constantly grumpy
- poor decision making – which can lead to a whole host of issues and can impact on the foods you eat too
- a greater appetite – meaning you eat more than you intend to or mean to
- less adherence to eating well and subsequently putting weight on
As you can see, this can affect your work, your relationships and also your ability to lose weight and achieve your goals.
Good quality sleep really is that important.
I am not just talking about one night here though. I am talking about getting CONSISTENTLY good sleep over a prolonged period of time.
Below I have listed 4 mistakes that may be troubling you but more importantly I have included the solutions to over come them.
Mistake 1: Too much TV or Tablet/Phone use before bed
What used to happen in ages gone past is that when dusk came, our bodies told us it was time to go to bed by releasing hormones that made us tired and sleepy.
When the sun came up and light encroached the sky, other hormones are released which wake us and fill us full of energy, getting us ready for the day and the challenges ahead.
Today, technology has advanced so much that our bodies can become unaware of when it is daylight and darkness.
Light is everywhere and if we expose ourselves to it too much, then we will suppress the hormones that make us sleepy and thus stop us from having a good night’s sleep.
This results in an over active body, right when we want it to settle down and relax. The knock on effect is that we feel lethargic the next morning, we have a greater appetite and we gain more energy as the day turns towards night, right when we should be settling down for sleep again.
The TV, Phone and Tablet emit what is known as ‘BLUE LIGHT’, which is brilliant at suppressing the hormone we need to help us sleep!
As you can see, exposing yourself to the TV, Tablet and Phone before sleeping can become a vicious circle which deteriorates the more it happens.
This can have disastrous affects on your lifestyle, which I have briefly touched already.
Now, you may think I am laying it on a bit thick here, but this is serious stuff and it REALLY IS having that great an impact on your daily activities.
So how do we beat it? Luckily for you the answer is simple…
Solution 1: Ditch the TV, the phone and the tablet at least 30 mins before closing you eyes
Like I said, this is simple. Not easy!
Turn the TV off and go and get ready for bed at least 30 mins before you shut your eyes.
Adopt a routine that takes you about half an hour and you have this one cracked easily (this could be as simple as having a wash, cleaning your teeth, using the toilet, doing some light stretching and reading a fiction book before closing the eyes).
Plug your phone in before you start the routine and have it on a dressing table that is out of reach from the bed. That way you will not be tempted to reach over for one last look at social media to see what other people are up to in their lives.
Dim the lights in your bedroom if you can or switch on sidelights to minimise exposure to bright light. This will lower the mood and again help get the body ready for bed.
Simple stuff to do…..not easy though.
Mistake 2: Filling your mind with too much information before sleeping
Again, technology has allowed us access to unprecedented amounts of information.
As a result our minds are constantly racing and we rarely have time to ‘switch off’.
Today, many people work until late at night and others pour over detail after detail well into the late hours.
Our minds are constantly active with information racing around it all the time.
If we attempt to sleep whilst our minds are racing, we will be constantly disturbed and we will ‘toss and turn’ all night at the things that we are thinking about.
The result will again be a poor nights sleep.
Solution 2: Learn to ‘Switch Off’ at some point before sleeping
This will be different for each person but it is important that you stop the influx of information at least 30-60 mins before sleeping.
This can be tied into your 30 minute pre-bed routine quite nicely.
Firstly, switch off the TV, Social Media outlets and stop reading any non-fiction material. This means stop pouring over that work and learn to relax. Your body is unable to prepare for sleep if it cannot relax.
Write a short journal each night as you prepare to get into bed or whilst you are actually in bed. This journal can include things such as:
- Your frustrations from the day. What has bothered you that day?
- Your demons looking forward. What is filling you full of dread as you look into the future?
- Your successes from the day. What have you achieved and what are you proud of from today?
- Your gratitude. What are you grateful for in life and what makes life worth living?
Writing this stuff down on paper each night will release your pent-up frustrations, your worries and your fears from your mind and capture them onto paper. Research has shown this may actually do some good and clear the mind ready for some sleep.
It also highlights to you all the good things you do during the day and all the things you have to be grateful for in life.
We often neglect and forget these things.
Mistake 3: Too much heat and noise before bed and during the night
Our bodies like it to be cool when we go to sleep and we obviously don’t like too much noise either.
Have you ever gone to a hot country on holiday and struggled to sleep on the first night as it is ‘too hot’?
Or have you tossed and turned as your other half snores away or there is a house/car alarm going off outside?
Whilst we complain and moan about these things we have little control over, we often find ourselves creating environments where we generate huge amounts of heat or noise that we can often eliminate.
If we eliminate these things and create an environment that prepares our body for sleep then you will find yourself much more rested and refreshed when you wake the next morning.
Solution 3: Create a cool and dark environment before and during your sleep time
Step 1 : STOP WATCHING TV IN BED!
Not only are we suppressing our sleep hormones but we are also making the bed hot and uncomfortable. This is a double whammy and is doing your good night’s sleep some serious damage.
This also goes for watching stuff on the Tablet and/or Phone too. STOP IT!
Only get into bed right before you intend to use it.
Your bed should be used for one of 2 things. Sleeping and sex. Keep to this basic rule and you will be fine. This means no lounging, no TV watching, no lying there on the phone chatting for hours with your mates….
Step 2: Get some blackout curtains
Our council have installed some new street lights which are brighter than the sun! This shines straight through our curtains and keep the room light at night.
Not only is this bad for drifting off to sleep but it also has the chance of waking you up during the night.
We invested in some black out curtains and hey presto, we have a dark room again and the problem of being disturbed has gone away again.
If this doesn’t work for you then buy an eye mask and see how it works. You will be surprised.
Step 3: Remove the pet from the bedroom
A large number of people allow their pets to sleep in the same room as them at night.
Pets emit body heat just like we do.
Pets snore and fart just like we do.
This all goes some way to disturbing you at night and knocking your rhythm.
Banish the pet to another room and you will likely find your sleep improves.
Step 4: If need be, wear ear plugs
If there is sustained noise outside or if your partner snores louder than an plane taking off, then invest in some small foam ear plugs.
Keep these steps simple and they are likely to work a treat.
Mistake 4: Not investing in a quality bed and bedding
When I was younger, I prided myself on being able to sleep on a washing line, such was my ability to sleep anywhere.
As a result, I never saw the point on spending money on a decent bed or bedding. It was better invested elsewhere, like on some junk or down the pub on several ales or at the take away.
Considering we spend around a third of our lives in bed and how important sleep is to our existence, you would think we would invest some money into it…..but for some reason, the majority of us don’t.
Put it another way. If you do a lot of walking, you are likely to buy a good pair of shoes.
If you drive a lot and put the miles in up and down the country, you are likely to buy a good car that can handle the journey.
The same should go for your bed and bedding.
Solution 4 : Invest in a good bed AND bedding
My wife finally put her foot down last year and informed me we were having a new bed and bedding.
We went to a specialist bed maker and ended up walking out having ordered a hand made bed and mattress, along with top of the range pillows.
Whilst the iron was hot she frog marched me to a home store and I splashed out on a good duvet and some ‘Egyptian’ cotton sheets and pillow cases.
I felt like I had been ambushed and relieved of all my money……well I had.
I moaned, I resisted and I felt awful at spending money on these things.
Until I actually got into the bed for the first time…
Oh my god! I have never ever slept so well.
The bed is unbelievably comfortable and the sheets and duvet feel great against the skin. It is like getting a massage in bed and my sleep is amazing.
Granted, the other tactics that I have also adopted have helped massively, but the bed and bedding have gone a long way to helping me get a great night’s sleep.
Now, I am not saying go out and spend all your money on a bed. What I am saying is get the best bed and bedding your budget can afford.
You will be glad you did.
Right,
I have rambled on for long enough.
I am sure you are feeling sleepy just from reading this!
If so then I have done a good job already.
There are plenty more tips and tricks to help you sleep better.
Some of these I will reveal in part 2….
Until then, adopt one or all of these solutions listed above and sleep tight.
Thanks for reading and speak soon,
Gaz
