I think I’m becoming one of those “I don’t play about my sleep” people 😅
After weeks and weeks (and truthfully, months) of poor sleep, last month I said enough is enough.
I sat myself down and said “Danni, you HAVE to get serious about your sleep.”
Sleep was something that I took for granted for a long time… at the end of the day (whatever time that may be), you’ll fall asleep. But increasingly I noticed that simply was not the case. I even started to dread bedtime because I knew it meant being frustrated that I wasn’t asleep when I should be!
Early last month I found myself going to sleep pretty regularly between 2 and 4 AM and it was not by choice…
Then, the time changed.
And as happy as I was about longer daylight hours, I was equally unhappy because my sleep got even worse and I felt terrible!
That’s when I had to sit myself down and figure this out.
And by “figure this out”, I mean actually DO the things I know are supposed to help you sleep better but that I’ve never really done with any real consistency.
And when I tell you… the FIRST night after I did all the things? I fell asleep before 11 PM and slept for nearly 9 hours.
I was sold.
I immediately became a sleep enthusiast 😂
Now I’ve always loved sleep, but I’ve also always considered myself a “night owl”, mornings have always been difficult, and I just assumed it would always be that way.
But listen… in case you’re like me, I’m here to tell you, it really does make a difference when you’re intentional about your sleep.
We have a lot of habits that are actively sabotaging a good night’s rest and undoing them IS going to take some work, but man is it worth it.
So what are the things that I’ve found helpful?
It’s a long list, but a number of them require very little effort, just a willingness to try :) Some I also don’t do every night, but I’ve included them anyway because I didn’t want to leave anything off!
Low warm lighting
I have smart bulbs and I lower the lights in my home between 8-9 PM and make the color warmer. No bright/blue lighting.
No TV after 9 PM
If I’m planning to be in bed between 10-11 PM, this is about the time the TV goes off if it wasn’t already.
Night mode on phone/ipad
This reduces the screen’s blue light and comes on automatically at 9 PM, but if I’m winding down earlier, I manually turn it on.
Grayscale on phone/ipad
I don’t remember what this setting is called, but I make the screen on my devices black & white because if I still have things to do on them near bedtime, I want as little stimulation as possible.
Don’t read/do anything stimulating
No researching, brainstorming, or strategizing. No exciting books, involved convos, etc. I’m trying to turn my brain down.
Do not disturb/Sleep mode
Funny enough, my phone is often on Do Not Disturb because I don’t like notifications, but Apple’s “Sleep Mode” is even better! It darkens the lock screen and minimizes or eliminates notifications completely. I like this because even when I do pick up my phone, I’m not distracted by notifications.
Stretch and/or lymphatic massage
I don’t do this regularly, but it’s nice when I am able to and I do think it helps.
Lean into sleepiness when it comes
I used to have trouble with this because I would feel like getting sleepy around 8 PM was too early. I would push through and end up not getting sleepy again until much later. Now, I roll with it when it comes.
No nap during the day
This is hard because I am a napper! But now I realize that usually when I feel sleepy in the afternoon, it’s because I need to either eat, drink more water, or move my body. On the occasions where I simply can’t stay awake, I take a short 15 minute nap so I don’t mess up my big sleep later.
Don’t eat too close to bedtime
I’m still working on this because the whole getting to bed early thing is new to me, but I’ve found that it helps to eat a couple hours beforehand. I also discovered last week that fermented foods eaten too close to bedtime can mess with your sleep too, so I won’t be having kimchi with a late dinner again lol.
Keep phone in another room- or at the very least, across the room
This is such a small thing, but makes a HUGE difference. Not having my phone within reach means that I’m not on it before bed or first thing in the morning.
Use a physical alarm clock
This further helps me detach from needing to look at my phone first thing in the morning and makes me get out of bed to turn it off. Although lately I’ve actually been waking up before my alarm, so I just get up to make sure it doesn’t go off lol.
Cool bedroom/white noise
These were a must for me already but on their own they weren’t enough. I just wanted to make sure they were included cuz even if I do all the other things, if my bedroom is too warm and I don’t have my air purifier/white noise on, I won’t be able to sleep.
Use a Sleep Calculator for wake time
This is another thing I’ve been doing for years, but paired with everything else it’s been even more beneficial. Instead of arbitrarily setting a wakeup time, using a sleep calculator gives me the best times to wake up BETWEEN sleep cycles, not in the middle of one.
Mellow music
This is not a must have, but sometimes when my brain feels especially busy, it does help having mellow music to turn it down.
Here are a few playlists I’ve found helpful on Spotify:
Whew! I think that’s everything 😅
It’s a lot right?!
But man is it worth it. I’m sleeping better, more consistently, I actually look forward to bedtime, and enjoy waking up! Most days lol. Just this past weekend, I had a couple morning commitments but I got up early enough to have time for ME before diving into the day. That felt amazing, and I really want to make that my norm.
Honestly, had I not hit the low point I did, I know that I wouldn’t have gone THIS hard with it, but I’m grateful. It’s made me much more mindful about how things affect my sleep because I can see and feel the difference. It’s not as simple as “getting in the bed earlier”, it’s a whole process! I threw everything I could at this because I desperately needed something to work, so over time I’m sure I’ll have a simpler routine, but for now I’m just happy to be getting sleep and waking up earlier.
Now I’m not consistently getting 9 hours- truthfully, the first night was the only one I got THAT much sleep lol. But even with that, the quality of my sleep does seem to have improved. My mental ups and downs are still here, but It feels like I’m managing them better and I know it’s no coincidence.
Because it’s new, it still takes A LOT of effort to stick to such an early wind down and bed time, but I can’t argue with the results, and that motivates me to keep going.
So I guess I’ll end with an encouragement from this former night owl: get serious about your sleep! We know we need it, but we greatly underestimate just how important it is to literally everything.
Granted, there is no shortage of things that deprive us of sleep, but I encourage you to please do what you can to improve the quality and/or quantity of your sleep. You may surprise yourself with how big of difference it makes 🧡
-Danni
