Can't Sleep? Try These Strategies
Quality and quantity go hand in hand when it comes to sleep. If you sleep deeply (quality), but for just a few hours a night (lack of quantity), your brain and body don’t get what they need to rejuvenate. If, on the other hand, you spend plenty of time in bed at night, but the quality of sleep is poor—you’ll have the same problems. You deserve to be well rested and to sleep in peace for the appropriate amount of time.
Thought for the Day
Fake it till you make it. Whenever someone asks you how you sleep, respond that you sleep like a baby. You’ll create a new story about yourself, and that will make it into a reality.
Affirmation
“I drift off into a deep restful slumber with ease. My dreams take me on beautiful joyful journeys. I wake feeling well rested and energized.”
Bedtime Practice
While you are lying in bed tonight, take a moment to examine the quality of your thoughts. Sometimes when I’m going to bed I realize that I have to get up early and I won’t get all the sleep I know I need. I start thinking about how sleepy I’m going to be in the morning, and I have to catch myself, because I know this sort of thinking can disrupt the quality of sleep that I do have available. Instead, I say an affirmation: “I am going to wake up easily, feeling awake and alive. I am going to have a perfect night of sleep.”
Bedtime Writing Exercise
Keep a notebook and a pen by your bed, and use it as a safe holding place for your thoughts. If you find your mind racing at bedtime, write down any to-dos, worries, ideas, or goals. Trust that they’ll be waiting right there for you tomorrow. For now you can rest easy.
Sleep Strategies
If you have trouble sleeping, try the following tips to improve your snooze time:
- Don’t exercise within three hours of bedtime.
- Avoid alcohol in the evenings (it might make you feel sleepy, but it actually interrupts sleep).
- Don’t consume caffeine after 2 PM.
- Check that your medications don’t interfere with sleep.
- Establish a regular bedtime and wake-up time, and stick to it.
- If you nap, keep it to under an hour per day.
- Cooler bedroom temperatures promote sleep.
- Remove or cover lights, glowing screens, or lit displays.
- Use a white-noise maker or a fan if outside noises keep you up.
- Get black-out curtains if daylight or outside lights are an issue.
- Allow only sleep and intimacy in the bedroom; do all other activities in other areas of the house.