How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Avoid falling asleep on hay bales.

Quality sleep is right up there with air, food and water as being necessary for a quality life. Getting a good night’s sleep, as I’m sure you know, can makethe difference between a day when you’re firing on all cylinders or a day when you’re limping along out of gas.

Your mind has a job to do at night. During the day your emotional and mental energy gets attached to everything that you experience. At night, your mind sifts through all the experiences you had that day, kind of like going through your mail. Some stuff gets filed away for later, and the junk gets thrown out. Your mind’s job is to get that mental and emotional energy back so that you have it for the next day.

Miss 10% of your normal sleep, and you’ll be 10% less effective the next day. What is normal and necessary is different for everybody. You want to have a really good idea of how much sleep you need.

If you are one of those people who want to sleep well but have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, here are some tips for you.

How to prepare for a good night’s sleep:

• Most people have trouble falling asleep because they can’t turn their minds off. Do not attempt to solve major life problems with your head in the pillow. This will create an  association between worry and stress and your bed.
• Write in a journal before bed. Get all the concerns out of your head and onto paper.
• Do things to focus your mind away from worries and concerns. For example, focus on deep breathing, count backwards from 100 to 1, imagine you are in your favorite vacation spot.
• Plan the next day before you go to bed. Uncertainty and a list of “to dos” keep people up. Put things into time slots for the next day. This way, the coming day is handled and done.
• Establish a regular sleep schedule. Condition your body to sleep at a regular time by going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time each day.
• Create a relaxing nighttime routine. You can condition your body for sleep by doing the same routine every night, for example: Do some light stretching to release tension from the body. Wash your face and brush your teeth. Read a book or listen to relaxing music. Turn of the lights. Other relaxing things to do: bathe or shower, prepare for the next day.
• Make sure your bed is comfortable. If you wake up with a back ache, it may be time to get a new mattress.
• Eat a snack before bed. Some people wake up because their blood sugar gets to low in the middle of the night. Keep it light: cheese, almonds, hard-boiled egg, a bit of chicken or beef. Some people do better with a little fruit or granola.
• Keep your room cool. Your body temperature lowers when you sleep. Having a cool room will help you fall asleep faster.
• Keep your room dark. Use a sleep mask if necessary.
• Cancel out noise. Barking dogs, noisy neighbors, or a snoring spouse can disturb sleep. Use earplugs or get a white noise generator.
• Turn off the screens at least a half hour before bed. Television, computer and tablet or reader screens can stimulate the mind instead of relaxing it.
• Know when to cut out caffeine. If I have coffee after 4 or so, I’ll have trouble sleeping. Some people sleep much better by eliminating caffeine completely. See what works best for you.
• Avoid heavy meals before bed. Especially rich and spicy foods, which can keep you up.
• Avoid alcohol right before bed. The sugar in alcoholic drinks can wake you up or lessen sleep quality.
• Avoid watching the news. The local news tends to lead with who got murdered in your neighborhood or what killer is on the loose. Most of the time you don’t need to know this and it does not relax your mind nor help you sleep.
• Avoid long naps during the day. Short naps are best if you need one; 20 minutes is good.
• Don’t fall alseep on the couch. You won’t sleep well, you must wake up to get into bed, and that little bit of sleep might just keep you up.
• Quit smoking. Nicotine is a stimulant.
• Exercise daily. Releases stress and tension from the body.
• Avoid drinking a lot of liquids before bed. Obvious.
• Have night lights or a flashlight in case you do need to go to the bathroom. Bright lights will trigger your brain to wake up.

What to do if you wake up and can’t fall back asleep.

• Try not to get emotional, angry, or worried about it. That will just make it worse. There is current research that suggests that sleeping continuously for 8 hours straight is not how humans have slept historically.
• Avoid the tendency to start thinking about your problems. Stay out of your head.
• Try to stay in a comfortable and still position. Do some calming techniques such as deep breathing, visualizing, meditating or even praying. Focus on relaxation.
• If you do need to get up: keep the lights low, don’t turn on tv or computer, and do something quiet and relaxing such as read. Try laying down again in 20 or 30 minutes.
• Avoid trying to be productive in the middle of the night. You may actually condition yourself to start waking up so that you can get stuff done.

Hope that helps! Sweet dreams!

Ted A. Moreno