Tips to Improve Sleep

Sleep problems are a common issue that most people experience from time to time. A night or two of poor sleep can be managed, but if it becomes a pattern, everything in life is affected.

If you find yourself chronically running on empty, you most likely are also noticing more irritability, more aches and pains, more difficulty concentrating, and being more impatient.

So what can you do to improve your sleep habits? Whether you have trouble falling asleep (initial insomnia), staying asleep (middle insomnia), or wake up too early, the following tips can help you get back on track.

Basic Sleep Hygiene Tips

If you consult any sleep expert, or even Dr. Google, and you will likely come across the following life-style guidelines. They may seem small, but put together they can often correct the majority of mild-moderate sleep problems. They focus on removing obstacles to the body's natural sleep rhythms.

• Avoid substances that interfere with sleep, such as alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine. While it is commonly thought that alcohol can help you relax and fall asleep, it actually interferes with your "sleep architecture" - meaning that your quality of sleep will not be as good. Limit caffeine after about 4pm, and if you are especially sensitive, you may need to reduce it more or eliminate it altogether.

• Exercise regularly, but not too close to bedtime. The more active you are during the day, the more your body will be prepared to sleep at night. Unfortunately, many of us with sedentary jobs end up being as still during the day as we are at night! How can our body tell the difference between daytime activity and nighttime activity level? So, again, exercise is important, but try to finish at least 2 hours prior to bedtime or you may feel too activated.
• Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Consider using black-out shades or a white noise machine that plays soothing music if silence is uncomfortable (or unable to achieve in a noisy apartment, etc).

• Schedule quiet time before bed. If you have ever been in charge of putting children to bed, you are familiar with the importance of the bedtime ritual - bathtime, snack, books, potty, lullaby music, etc. Heaven forbid you miss a step and the child will be up for another hour! Well, we grown-ups respond well to routines too. Consider developing your own bedtime ritual or routine for about 30-60 min prior to sleep (without screen time, see below).

• Limit Screen Time before bed. Even 30-60 minutes of screen-free time can make a big difference in how your brain distinguishes day/night. The artificial sources of light, especially blue light sources confuse and disrupt this process. If you cannot get away from screen time close to bedtime, at least consider using a blue-light blocking app or physical filter.
• Limit clock-watching. If you happen to be a clock-watcher at night, hide your clock or at least turn it away from your view. As you probably have experienced, watching the clock only increases your tension around having to "hurry up and go to sleep." The clock plays a bad trick on your mind, keeping it alert thinking, "Oh, if I can go to sleep right now, I can still get 5 (or 4, then 3) hours of sleep. I can't get by on that. Now, hurry up and sleep!"
• Avoid eating a heavy meal too close to bedtime. If you are hungry at night, try a light bedtime snack containing protein, such as milk, peanut butter, or cheese.

Beyond the Basics of Sleep Hygeine

If you have consistently tried those tips for 10-14 days, and you are still having trouble sleeping, here are a few additional steps you can take:

• Use the bed only for nighttime sleeping. Avoid eating, reading, watching tv, etc in bed. Sex is the exception. Otherwise, reserve the bed for sleep only. This will help pair being in bed with sleeping, rather than "trying to sleep."
• Avoid daytime napping - This is hard to follow if you have not slept well in a while! But any nap you take will diminish the natural "sleep drive" that is built up over the day during wakeful activity. However, if you believe that sleepiness is compromising your safety, then take a brief nap.
• Wake up at the same time every day (even on weekends). Regardless of how little sleep you actually got, set an alarm and get up within a few minutes of that time every day. This really helps reset the sleep rhythm.
• Go to bed when you are sleepy, but not before. Remember that being sleepy is different from being tired. Wait until you feel the heaviness of sleep, where your eyes can't stay open and your head is nodding. As long as you are not engaged in activities that promote wakefulness (watching news, action tv, cruising social media, etc), wait until you feel sleepy to get into bed.

• If you cannot sleep, stop trying! If you don't fall asleep after 15-30 minutes (estimate, don't watch the clock), get up and do something calming. I call this nesting. Move to the couch or cozy side chair, and do something relaxing. Return to bed only when you feel heavy sleepiness again. When you lie in bed awake desperately wanting and trying to sleep, you are actually training your body to be awake in bed.

What Else?

If you are still struggling to establish good sleep after utilizing the above tips, there are still other things you can try. This may include a more personalized approach to examine what may be disrupting your sleep. Perhaps you have such as untreated anxiety, chronic pain, or other issues. There is also a technique called sleep restrictive training, but this is something to explore with a trained professional.

Contact Me

If you could use some help improving your sleep patterns, don't hesitate to reach out.

I know how stressful and demanding it can be to make changes in your life, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own.   Some of the benefits of individual therapy include:

• Having a safe, confidential space to work through life’s struggles
• Speaking openly with a highly-trained professional
• Learning to be curious about oneself and become more mindful about your choices
• Identifying relationship patterns that are helpful, or existing patterns that are interfering with your growth and wellbeing.
• I offer online therapy (video conference style of therapy), which provides an increased level of comfort as you could meet with me from the privacy and comfort of your own home or other location.

You can request a specific appointment time that fits your schedule. Once confirmed, you can complete all New Patient Intake paperwork online as well.

*** The tips offered in this article are for general information and should not be considered medical or psychological advice. For more personalized recommendations appropriate to your individual situation, please contact us or obtain professional guidance.

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