The Sleep Post

(Get it?! Counting sheep? ... I'll see myself out...)

So we all understand the importance of sleep to our overall quality of life. We also understand that we still don't actually know what the deal is with sleep or exactly why we need it. However, we can all agree that we feel best after a good night's sleep, so this is where I'll tell you the ways I've found (and the methods that have been recommended to me via the quadrillion podcast episodes I've heard on the topic) to kick ass at sleeping.

Again, I'm not a doctor or a scientist or a health professional. I have zero official qualifications, but I read/listen to a lot on these topics and can share my own personal anecdotal evidence. Without further ado - my steps for improving your sleep hygiene!

Routine Maintenance:

This is by far the easiest step and the most important one. In high school as a moody teen, I had a revelation: if I slept for a whole 8 hours at night, I was way more productive (and less moody) the following day. So I gave myself a bedtime again. I took the time I needed to wake up in the morning, subtracted 8 hours, and started crawling into bed earlier. No matter what I was doing on a school night, when the clock struck 9PM I would turn off the computer, get into my PJs, brush my teeth, and hit the pillow. It had a dramatic effect on my mood and the overall quality of my young life. I've maintained this habit throughout adulthood despite getting the side-eye from many of my fellow students in college and from my colleagues now.

The most important part of creating a routine is sticking to it, even on weekends! Now I'll admit, I am not very good at getting into bed on time on the weekends right now, because I'm usually squeezing every last drop out of quality time spent with one friend, or a bunch. But when I have the choice between watching one more episode of the TV show I'm bingeing or getting an extra hour of sleep, I do choose the latter. Maintaining consistency here allows your body to fall into a rhythm and the longer you stick to it, the easier it will be to fall asleep and wake up at the correct times for you.

I will note that there is no one right answer for how many hours your body needs or for when those hours occur. Some people are naturally up late, and some are early risers. Figure out what works for you (and your work/school/life schedule) and stick to it religiously.

Consume Responsibly:

Here's where I turn into the Fun Police (I'm sorry!) Two of the biggest factors in poor sleep quality are caffeine and alcohol. I'm not saying you can't have them, but you've got to be careful about when and how much. Personally, I can't have any caffeine after noon or it takes me AGES to fall asleep, but many people can get away with pushing it into the early afternoon. It's certainly a good idea to cut yourself off before 3pm in order to get some solid zzz's. Additionally, limit alcoholic beverages as these tend to cause fitful, rather than restful sleep. Sure, they make you feel drowsy, but once your body processes the alcohol you can become jumpy, less deeply asleep, and not to mention more likely to hear the siren song of the toilet in the middle of your deepest sleeping hours.

Screens off:

At least half an hour before your predetermined lights-out time (preferably a full hour), turn off the TV, close your laptop, and stop scrolling through social media on your phone. Not only do these forms of entertainment stimulate your brain into wakefulness (regardless of how tired you might really be), the blue light emitted from them throws off your circadian rhythm and tells your brain it should still be awake for a while longer. The theory is that our bodies evolved to wake with the sunrise, and become drowsy at sunset. Sunlight has loads of blue spectrum light, and some studies show that blue light - even from tiny LEDs in an otherwise dark room - has negative effects on sleep quality. Instead, take some time to catch up with your loved one about their day, tidy up or get prepared for the next morning, start journaling, or (my personal favorite) read a book. In theory fiction is best, turning your brain off of problem-solving mode, but whatever calms you down and prepares you for sleep will do.

Kill the Blue Light:

A continuation of the previous point, many homes are lit using high-wattage fluorescent or LED bulbs, which also emit large quantities of blue light. Instead, as it gets closer to bedtime, turn off most of your lights, opting instead for candlelight or for red light (you can find affordable bulbs at any department store, or splurge for longer-lasting ones). This sounds super weird, I know, but trust me that this also makes a huge difference in how quickly (and deeply) you can fall asleep. I always have candles lit at home because I love the way they make my apartment feel cozy af, but I also have a lamp on my bedside table with a red light bulb. I snap that on, crawl into bed, and read until my eyelids feel heavy (which is not very long at all, now that I follow these rules).

Flower Power:

Sounds super woo-woo, but lavender oil is known to have a relaxing effect on the body. The exact cause is a bit of a mystery, but in my experience (and in that of my notoriously stubborn mother) it helps to calm your mind and makes you more ready for sleep. You can buy diffusers on the cheap, though good-quality oils can get expensive. Not all lavender scented lotions contain quality oil (in fact, most don't), but I also use a couple drops of the oil with some pure aloe gel as a moisturizer for my face before bed.

Comfy AF:

Not only should your bed and bedding be super duper comfortable, but so should your PJs. Personally, I'm a big fan of sleeping in the nude. No clothes are way more comfortable for moving around between the sheets than any clothes I've found. Fabrics can bunch up and twist around, and non-breathable fabrics will have you up sweating in the middle of the night (cue the never-ending cycle of sticking a foot out of the end of the sheets and pulling it back in to regulate your temperature...no thanks). However, if sleeping au naturel has you blushing, make sure you take some time to choose truly comfy clothes to sleep in. Don't be so concerned with what looks "cute" or what happens to come to the surface of your pile of clothes, take the extra moment to choose what you feel most comfortable in for sleeping. After all, no one likes waking up to pick a wedgie...

4G? How About "NoG"?:

This is the weirdest, "scienciest" point I have to make here. There are very few studies about the long-term effects of EMF on the body, and that's because it hasn't been a thing for very long. What we're starting to see, however, is that sleeping patterns are different (and more fitful) in a room bathed in Wi-Fi or cell signals than they are without it. Easiest thing to do? Turn off your Wi-Fi router and put your phone in airplane mode. You won't be using them while you're asleep anyway, so there's no harm in being cautious. I started doing this a while ago and I can feel the difference in the morning if I've forgotten to do this the night before. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but if I've been exposed to EMF overnight, I can feel a soreness/tenderness in the back of my neck and from what I hear, I'm not the only one. Taking the precaution is a simple thing to do, even if it turns out someday that these influences aren't as bad as we think they might be.

Kill ALL the Light:

When it's time to turn out the light, REALLY turn them all out. Cover any LEDs, lose the nightlights, and get blackout curtains and/or a (comfy) light-blocking eye mask. The human body is incredibly sensitive to light, so be sure to shut it all out to improve the quality of your sleep. I lucked out that my insulated navy blue curtains block out the street-lights outside and I found a $3 drugstore eye mask that doesn't pinch or pull or press on my eyes, but there are loads of affordable options out there. As for blocking LED lights from your devices and alarm clocks, electrical tape is super cheap and easy to stick on and take off. Sleeping in a pitch-black room is the best way to ensure the restorative deep sleep we all need to be our best.

Lastly, I'll throw in a shout-out to the Sleep Cycle app (in the App Store and on Google Play) for allowing me to play soothing music while I fall asleep, tracking my sleep quality, and using a "smart alarm" to wake me when I'm at the lightest point of a sleep cycle when I need to get up in the morning. Give it a try, it just might change your life.

Hope this has been helpful and informative for you all. Let me know what you think! Do these work for you? Do you have more tips to share? Bring it on, I'd love to do a Part Two!