I did all the wrong things last night, working against my goal of a good night’s sleep. I talked on the phone and browsed social media in bed until midnight. I had a sugary snack late at night. I skipped out on my evening decompression routine. Then, this morning, when I opted to skip the gym and sleep in some more to make up for it, I continued with bad habits. I stayed in bed on my phone. I napped for several hours. I ate in bed again. And all of that added up to me struggling to get out of bed until early afternoon, compromising my productivity and ability to reach the goals I find most important.
While I was wrestling with my own inability to motivate, I found myself justifying: “Your body needs this, clearly! You haven’t rested like this in weeks!” This is true, and my body did need to rest, but the more appropriate and effective rest would have been achieved by following a sleep hygiene routine the night before. I also caught myself in the thinking trap of “You’ll never be able to sleep after the baby comes, so you may as well take advantage now!” Of course I will struggle with sleep after the baby, but I will struggle even more if I fail to maintain a healthy sleep routine.
So what is sleep hygiene? Sleep hygiene is essentially the creation and follow through of routine healthy practices that aid in restorative night sleep. Without realizing it we often engage in activities that work against us in the evening hours, many of which I named in my example above. Research suggests that the blue screen of our phones actually activates the awake receptors in our brains. As the blue light is picked up by special receptors in our eyes, the receptors communicate to our brains that it is morning. Additionally, our thoughts can easily become activated by the content of the material that we are consuming, making it difficult to quiet our mind enough to fall into sleep.
Going to bed at different times each night also poses a challenge to regular sleep, as the natural circadian rhythm (the sleep/wake cycle) of our bodies is impacted by the inconsistency. Going to sleep, and waking up, at around the same time each day helps train our bodies to know intuitively when it is time to go to bed. And eating late at night impacts sleep by causing spikes and crashes in our blood sugar.
Short term effects of poor sleep quality include impacts on mental and emotional functioning, increased irritability, impact on immune system functioning, impacted memory, distraction, and forgetfulness. Long term effects of poor sleep could lead to much more severe consequences including an increased risk for disease, psychosis, and even death.
We all know sleep is important, yet it is still difficult to institute healthy habits and routines that facilitate effective sleep each evening. Here are a few do’s and don’t’s for healthy sleep hygiene habits:
Do:
• Create a regular sleep/wake schedule. Aim to go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day. If you are doing well with this you likely won't even need an alarm.
• Exercise. Even if it is just a 30 minute walk, exercise can have a positive impact on your rest.
• Keep the environment in your room comfortable. This includes temperature, sounds, and light.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Warm bath or shower before bed.
Don't:
• Exercise or engage in stimulating activity just before going to bed.
• Have exposure to bright lights or computer screens in the evening.
• Over-caffeinate, particularly in the afternoon or evening.
• Read, watch television or use electronic devices in bed.
• Use alcohol to help you sleep – in fact alcohol before bed causes arousals later in the night.
• Go to bed too hungry (causes insomnia) or too full (can cause acid reflux).
• Drink too much water before bed – causes wake-ups to go to the bathroom.
• Take daytime naps – if you have problems initiating or maintaining sleep.
• Command yourself to go to sleep as this can cause performance anxiety leading to further wakefulness.
• Look frequently at your watch or alarm clock – very common cause of insomnia.
If you lie in bed awake for more than 20-30 minutes, get up, go to a different room or different part of the bedroom and participate in a quiet activity (e.g. non-excitable reading or television). Return to bed when you feel sleepy. Do this as many times during the night as needed.