How To Start Getting More Sleep

In North America, the average adult gets about 7 hours of sleep per night while 33% of the population gets fewer than 6.5 hours per night. Deep, consistent, rejuvenating sleep is a major factor in recovering from a stressful day. Improving the amount and quality of your sleep will benefit just about every area of your life. To improve your sleep, it’s important to focus on the outside factors you can control. Instead of getting into bed and hoping for Mr. Sandman to show up, work on crafting the environment and the habits around bedtime to ensure a restful night. Here’s how you can do it:

PLAN A SLEEP ROUTINE - Going to bed at the same time every night (or at least every weeknight) sets the stage for shutting down your brain and falling asleep quickly. But the plan should start well before you turn out the lights.

SET A “SHUT DOWN” ALARM - It takes time to unwind, so have an alarm go off 30 to 45 minutes before you want to go to sleep and begin your bedtime ritual.

CREATE A NIGHTLY RITUAL - Turn off all your electronic screens, write down everything you need to do tomorrow (so you’re not fretting about when the lights go out), get into your pajamas, brush your teeth, wash your face, drink a small glass of water. Whatever you need to do before bed, do it in the same order every night. This sends the message to your brain that it’s sleepy time.

GET DARK - Humans are very sensitive to light, so do your best to make your bedroom as dark as possible. Think about repositioning your furniture, purchasing a set of room darkening curtains and covering up all the little lights on your devices (black electrical tape works well). If you keep your cell phone on your bedside table, place it face down.

QUIET PLEASE - Make your room as quiet as possible. A bed partner can make this difficult, so consider investing in a pair of earplugs or a white noise machine if the person next to you is a heavy breather. There are also phone apps that successfully muffle the sound of snoring.

SOAK UP THE SUN DURING THE DAY - Exposing yourself to plenty of natural light during the day taps into your body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that tells you when you are tired. At night, the contrast of your dark, quiet room will strongly signal that clock to make you sleepy, so you will fall asleep faster and more easily. Spend as much time outside during the day or in bright rooms as you can and save dark spaces for bedtime.

If you take the time to master a simple sleep routine, you will find you have more than enough energy to spend living your everyday life and until next time, stay happy, healthy and beautiful!