Although we are getting smarter & more effective day by day, the struggle to rest is one of the greatest challenges we face today. We work less but feel busier than ever. As a result, countless people are sleep deprived or do not have an adequate sleep cycle. I’m no longer surprised when every second or third person I meet has trouble sleeping. In most cases, the reasons are more or less the same: work, commitments, outings, etc. & if not this, then stress, overthinking or anxiety. If they have no quality or quantity problems, they have completely disturbed the sleep cycle and they would like to have some discipline in place.
Recent studies indicate that approximately 30% of the total population suffers from sleep disturbances. Moreover, during & after covid this figure only got higher.
I am not an exception and belong to this 30%. I have been struggling to have proper sleep for ages now. To conquer this challenging battle, I have taken my sleep as a priority since early 2021. After trying numerous ways for over a year, here, I will be sharing five changes you can add to your lifestyle to improve the quality of your sleep. Perhaps, it can help you too.
Food, food & food
Keeping a few hours of gap between your dinner time & bedtime can grant you good uninterrupted sleep & also keep digestion in place.
The kind of food you eat directly impacts your sleep quality. For example, if I eat a lot of chocolates (sugar) or have coffee at night, I know I won’t be able to sleep properly. Moreover, it’s the same case with heavy dinners. Even studies support that heavy dinner can prolong digestion which interferes with sleep. However, it doesn’t mean it would exactly be the same for you, as everybody is different.
Keeping a few hours of gap between your dinner time & bedtime can grant you good uninterrupted sleep & also keep digestion in place. Also, setting a fixed time window can help you keep your digestion function better which can help you get a good, timely sleep. In the nutshell, being aware of what you put into your body can help you immensely.
Stick with a cycle #routine
We all know that our bodies like routines & habits. It likes them so much that it can adapt to almost anything. If you drink coffee for 3–5 days, it would be difficult to resist coffee on the 6th day. It’s the same with Alcohol, ice cream or any junk food. Every time I talk about sleep to anyone, they advocate how they are comfortable going to bed after midnight, even though they would like to go to bed early & wake up early. I believe that It’s easy to get these habits & difficult to undo them. That’s one of the reasons people get comfortable with the struggles rather than combatting and overcoming them.
To break this comforting & vicious cycle, you need to work on your routine with the help of discipline. Since Jan 2021, the time I go to bed is around 9 PM (90% of the time) & wake up before 6 AM. Every time someone asks me how I can go to bed so early, they would like to do that too — I tell them that for 3–7 days just focus on getting up at the time they desire. As a result, your body will automatically ask you to go to bed early on that day. Indeed, one doesn’t need to make a sudden change like from 1 am to 9 pm, you can change it in small steps, like 1h (or 30 min) change for 1 week, and slowly move to your desired window. Certainly, it will take some time & effort but in my opinion, it would be worth it.
Exercise
This is the point on which I cannot stress any further. Exercise is inescapable. Our body is designed to move, work & get tired at the end of the day to have proper rest & get ready for the next day. Today, with a lot of professions that require one to just sit and work, it’s strenuous to keep our bodies active. Taking time explicitly just to exercise is not facile for all of us, and trust me, being someone on both sides, I understand. The goal here is not to go to the gym and do some fancy exercise, but just some full-body movements for 45 minutes if you don’t move in your daily life.
As a result, your body gets stronger which helps you reduce stress, improves your state of mind & above all, makes you physically work out, which further leads to a profound sleep.
Proper sleeping arrangements
During work from home, many of us can relate to this. Having the comfort of a laptop & wifi, it’s so convenient just to lie on the bed to work. Why not have lunch as well since it’s so cosy? As a consequence, the whole day passed with several meetings, coffee & snacks. Now, it’s time to sign off from work and sign in to Netflix, in the same place (on the bed) and with dinner. Really! Can we all please acknowledge the issue here?
According to the Sleep Association org., when you work from your bed, your brain starts to associate your bed with work. Then later when you go to bed to sleep, the brain doesn’t cooperate because it thinks it’s a workplace & not a place to relax or sleep. The same goes for other activities like eating food, watching too much television, scrolling on the phone etc.
Setting some boundaries also in your bedroom (& bed) will let the mind know the purpose of your bed, that’s nothing else but sleep.
If this is not always possible for you, change the ambience and everything around it. What works for me: good cleaning, changing sheets, reducing lights, etc. just before bedtime. The fresh atmosphere will deceive your mind & help you relax to sleep.
No screen time 2 hours before sleep (1 hour at least)
Well, I am sure that we all are aware of this advice on the Internet that says, to sleep better, stop using your digital devices at least 1 hour before going to bed. Checking your phone frequently keeps your brain engaged & awake which leads to delays in sleep or even worse that is trouble falling asleep sometimes.
According to research, the light from the phone that mimics the daylight can affect your internal body clock which reminds you of your bedtime. Moreover, that amazing notification feature that keeps us feeling fancy & important every time something pops up is your enemy when it comes to timely sleep.
Not using your phone an hour (2h if possible) before going to bed allows your brain to settle down, get comfortable without that alertness we carry all day with our phone and help you get ready to sleep. What I did to put this idea in place is, I put DND 1h before my bedtime. Even though sometimes I forget, the feature reminds me and puts the phone in black & white along with DND mode just 1h before bedtime.
Conclusion
Like many other aspects of our life, we tend to take our sleep for granted. However, a profound sleep has the potential to do magic to your brain & body. You must give your body a little time to adapt to these changes to respond as desired. A good routine, a good diet, a sleepy environment, exercise and digital wellness are all you need. The goal here is not to have a stern routine, but to have a healthy lifestyle with regular peaceful sleep so you can start the next day with a fresh mind and body.
In my case, despite all of this, being able to sleep every day is still a challenge for me. There are still days when I go to sleep after 10:00 or when I wake up after 6:00. However, in a world that never sleeps, where parties never finish and Zomato (food availability) is 24/7, I think it’s okay to be a little indulgent with yourself.
I hope it helps. Please feel free to let me know in the comments what you do to get good sleep.
Thank you for reading.
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