Sleep is so important, yet, do you really know what makes a good nights sleep?
A great gauge is to think about whether you feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning.
You could also consider your energy levels throughout the day. Although sleep might not be the full story, if you’re feeling tired it could well be a sign that you’ve not slept enough, or that your sleep quality needs a bit of work.
If you’re restless, wake frequently in the night, or just feel like you don’t sleep well, these are more signs you might like to work on your sleep.
I’ve worked with several clients who have had years of poor sleep, and despite these tips perhaps sounding a bit simple, every one of these people now has vastly improved sleep quality.
So, here are my top tips to help your sleep quality.
– a good nights sleep starts in the morning! Get plenty of natural daylight to let your body know it is definitely the morning, and to encourage production of the hormone serotonin. A bigger hit of serotonin in the morning means a bigger hit of melatonin at bed time.
– create sleep pressure by getting your body active during the day. On the flip side to this, disturbed sleep is often a symptom of over training. If you think you might be over training, then the advice here might be different – I’m happy to make a personalised suggestion if you’d like
– stop drinking caffeinated drinks before 2pm at the absolute latest. There is some natural variation here but 2pm seems a good middle ground.
– eat some carbs with dinner, they help you feel sleepy just like a carb-heavy at lunchtime meal makes you feel sleepy!
– late eating might tie in with sleep quality, so ideally try to finish eating a couple of hours before bedtime
– while a glass of wine might help you nod off, the sleep you get is not as good quality or restful as you’re hoping for. Plus, alcohol often reduces our sleep duration too.
– wind down for bed over a couple of hours – stop ‘getting stuff done’, lower the lights, stop looking at your phone or iPad (or at least, switch them to night shift mode) and do something calming. You might want to watch tv, have a bath, sit and chat, read a book
– it doesn’t matter – perhaps experiment with a few things to see what works best for you.
– have a consistent routine, or as close to one as you can manage.
– get your room as close pitch black as you can manage, in order to maintain melatonin production.
– approach your experiment in improving your sleep quality with interest and not with pressure.
– similarly, if you really worry about your sleep, it can become a bit of a vicious circle. Sometimes the pressure of wanting to sleep well stops us sleeping! Simply letting go of the worry might really help, although this is likely much easier said than done! Try to reassure yourself that simply lying with your eyes closed is still useful and valuable rest.
I really hope there are some things here that you’re not doing and which will help improve your sleep quality.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about your sleep – and your feedback on these ideas too!