New Year, New Snooze: Building Healthful Sleep Habits
Photo: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash
The new year has officially arrived - and with it, the annual avalanche of “New Year, New You” messaging. Gyms, workout streaming services, meal planners, and exercise equipment manufacturers are all vying for holiday cash, contributing to the frenzy of New Year’s resolutions centered around food and fitness. Perhaps you’re even contemplating one yourself!
What if this year, though, you flip the script?
Instead of setting a rigid resolution to completely overhaul your dietary and exercise routines, consider taking things in a different direction (or rather, the complete opposite direction!) and craft something a bit more compassionate and flexible - an intention to nourish yourself with the best sleep possible, all year long.
It is no secret that regularly getting a good night’s sleep is intensely beneficial; being well-rested can reduce stress levels, the chances of getting sick, and the risk of serious health conditions, among numerous other perks. Yet, an astounding 35% of American adults are sleep-deprived.
Are you one of them?
If the idea of cramming a rigorous New Year’s resolution into an already-overbooked schedule has you craving an extra-large coffee, here are three powerful strategies to help take your sleep routine from draining to dreamy.
Regulate Your Schedule
The importance of going to bed and waking up at the same time every day - weekends included - is emphasized in nearly every resource designed to help people improve their sleep quality. Countless books, articles, blogs, and even sleep apps highlight a consistent sleep-wake schedule as one of the best ways to boost both the amount of sleep that you get, as well as the overall quality of your sleep.
Photo: Renel Wackett / Unsplash
It can be challenging at first - especially if you’re used to slapping the snooze button multiple times a day, or turning off the alarm altogether on weekends. If your target sleep and wake times are drastically different from your current schedule, try making gradual changes, adjusting by 30, 20, or 15 minutes at a time, until you have achieved your ideal balance. Of course, there will inevitably be some days that require flexibility. After all, life happens - and it’s important to be able to adapt when it does.
With a bit of willpower and consistent effort, you may very well find yourself used to the new routine faster than you might expect.
Create a Wind-Down Routine
If you’re a steadfast night owl, dreading the prospect of forcing yourself into bed early only to toss and turn until the wee hours of the morning, fear not! There are plenty of ways to cue your body to prepare for sleep - and contrary to your first instinct, they do not have to completely exclude technology. In fact, harnessing the power of smart devices can be tremendously helpful when beginning a new sleep routine:
Many phones now offer some version of “sleep mode,” enabling notifications to be silenced in the hour (or hours) leading up to bedtime.
Take advantage of screen-dimming features and applications (such as Night Mode on iPhones, or f.lux on computers) to minimize the amount of melatonin-suppressing blue light to which you’re exposed throughout the evening.
Do you have a smart home device, such as the Google Nest, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod? Program it to remind you when it’s time to shut down electronics for the night, set it to dim the lights or play calming music as bedtime approaches, or schedule a nightly announcement when it’s time to turn in.
Of course, there are also various ways to wind down that do not involve technology in any way, which may be preferable:
Read a relaxing book (in print, of course - e-readers can emit blue light as well!). Steer clear of suspenseful page-turners that might have you saying “just one more chapter,” well into the night, and opt instead for something light and mellow. A book about sleep itself might even be great inspiration!
Enjoy a creative endeavor, or work with your hands. Obviously, a woodworking project requiring power tools may not be ideal, but painting, coloring, knitting / crocheting, beadwork, or journaling can be wonderful options.
Explore sleep-focused meditations. Apps like Insight Timer, Calm, and Headspace offer expansive libraries for folks with all levels of meditation experience.
Try out some bedtime yoga poses or stretches. YouTube tutorials can be a supportive resource, or perhaps look into a streaming service such as Nike Training Club, Glo Yoga, or Gaiam TV.
Listen to music or podcasts with relaxing subject matter. There is no shortage of options available via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or even YouTube.
Photo: Sixteen Miles Out / Unsplash
Minimize Disruptions
While climbing into bed on time may be the biggest initial challenge, some find actually falling asleep to be just as tricky. It is important, then, to make sure that your sleeping environment is as conducive to deep rest as possible.
First and foremost, evaluate the amount of light that makes its way into your space at night. That street lamp directly outside your window might not seem like such a big deal during the day, but when it’s blaring through the cracks in your window blinds after sunset, that light is telling your brain that it’s not time to sleep quite yet. Getting your space as dark as possible is important for restful sleep, so consider hanging blackout curtains or investing in a high-quality sleep mask.
A second major hurdle to a peaceful night’s sleep is noise. Rowdy neighbors, pets and wild animals, or even minor motor or foot traffic can all contribute to a long night of tossing and turning. On such occasions, being prepared with tools to minimize disturbances can make a world of difference. Simple foam earplugs might do just fine, though you might also research specialized sleep earplugs. Some in-ear headphones come with the added bonus of active noise cancellation, further eliminating outside noise - especially when paired with a relaxing sleep track.
Deliberately turning away from the collective conversation around fitness and food-focused New Year's Resolutions might seem a bit contradictory, especially if it is a habit you’ve built up over several years. However, in crafting an intention to boost your physical, mental and emotional health with the best possible sleep all year long, you create the opportunity to build a healthful, nourishing, and sturdy foundation to support every other facet of your life.