I used to be firmly against sleep. Maybe not against, but our relationship status on Facebook would have been a solid "it's complicated". I always loved it, but would routinely starve myself of hours each night, burning the midnight oil to get just a little more done. I figured this was the only way to be "truly" successful. All of the Instagram accounts that talked about "sleeping when you're rich" and the like had a serious impact on the way I went about approaching rest. It wasn't until I read Dr. Matt Walker's book "Why We Sleep" that I understood how crucial sleep is to our bodies, and the severity of depriving yourself of even an hour a night.
The book absolutely changed my entire life, and made me take a deep, hard look and the things I was doing that would affect my sleep quality. The main takeaway from the book is that sleep affects EVERY SINGLE PART of our body's systems and functions, and by depriving yourself or reducing the quality of your sleep due to habits that I'll discuss later in this article, you're upsetting numerous parts of the systems that have been in place for thousands of years to make our bodies as healthy as possible. I highly encourage anyone reading to find a copy of the book, as the information in there is seriously worth its weight in gold (or someday Hive). Between the book and other research I've done, I've picked up a few habits that I feel are worth passing on to anyone who may want to try and improve their sleep quality.
1. No eating/alcohol at least two hours before bed.
This has been arguably the biggest change I've made in regards to sleep, and it's incredible how much better I feel because of it. Our bodies are most active when we're asleep, meaning the processes occurring to cleanse our cells, cement info in our brains, and heal our muscles are wide awake while we're in dreamland. But, when our digestive systems are working to absorb food due to a late meal/alcohol consumption, that energy is taken away from all of the things that sleep could be doing to heal your body. Aim for a window of at a bare minimum two hours of fasting before bedtime.
I use a product called an Oura Ring to track my sleep data every night, and one of the things that's really surpised me from their studies is how much alcohol before bed can also affect our sleep. There's nothing wrong with a glass of wine or beer with dinner, but when it gets closer to bed this is when the issues start to occur. This is an article straight from Oura about the issues with drinking too close to bed: https://ouraring.com/how-drinking-impacts-sleep.
Another graph released by Oura shows the sleeping heart rate data from a user who didn't drink before bed one night, and did the second. The difference is staggering, and worth keeping in mind the next time you reach for a nightcap. I can't post the actual photo of the graph for some reason, but it's in the middle of this article: https://ouraring.com/how-oura-can-help-you-listen-to-your-body.
2. Reduce your blue light from phones/computers at least an hour before bed.
Especially in today's quarantined world where we're stuck inside with our phones to keep us company, it can be easy to get sucked into staring at blue light right up until our bedtimes. Unfortunately, blue light is one of the worst things you can do for your brain when your body is starting to wind down. The light from our screens keeps our brains on alert even at night time, delays the release of the sleep chemical melatonin (which is released by your body to help you fall asleep), and can adjust your body's circadian rhythm over time, making your bedtime become later and later as the months go by. I use a couple different different hacks to reduce as much as I can, though blue-blocker glasses are another easy solution to reduce your intake. I have my computer set up to shift to "night mode" everyday at 9:00pm (in Apple's display settings), but then use an additional program called f.lux (website found here: https://justgetflux.com/), which automatically turns my screen almost golden for my chosen time period from dusk-dawn.
Additionally, there's another way to hack your phone to make it more sleep-friendly. I came across this a couple weeks ago, and have been extremely pleased in the difference it's made on my eyes. This article shows a simple method turns your phone's light to red instead of the standard blue (and putting Apple's "night mode" on is a good precursor for your phone as well), and then leads you through how to setup a shortcut to easily turn on the red light shift every night. I have a reminder set for 9PM daily to switch the light color, and I think it's incredibly beneficial. The article can be found here: https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/keep-your-night-vision-sharp-with-iphones-hidden-red-screen-0173903/.
3. Use a sleep mask.
This isn't for everyone (sorry Dad), but implementing a sleep mask about five months ago has made an astounding impact on not only my ability to fall asleep, but also to stay asleep or quickly fall back asleep if I get up to use the bathroom. I cannot recommend one highly enough. This is the exact one I use; $10 on Amazon and worth 1,000 times that in my opinion: https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Natural-Sleep-Blindfold-Smooth/dp/B00GSO1D9O.
4. Counting your breath to fall alseep.
I'm like everyone else when it comes to finally laying my head down on the pillow. My mind magically decides to come awake, sprouting up new ideas and reviewing every detail of my life possible. Thankfully, a yoga teacher of mine taught this trick a while back that is arguably my single greatest hack to fall asleep: counting your breath. I count by odd numbers, meaning that my inhale is 1, exhale 3, inhale 5, exhale 7, so on & so forth. If I make it up to 200, I start back at one, and almost never make it to the second 200 (my Oura Ring tells me that I generally fall asleep within 2-3 minutes of laying down). Counting the breath means you have to focus on nothing but that, and your mind gradually turns itself off, leading to an easier pathway to dreamland.
5. Eliminate outside noise.
This is a simple one, but another major trick I picked up a long time ago. I always sleep with a fan on since silence is deafening, but also sleep with headphones in every night that aren't attached to anything (they're just in my ears to block out any outside noise). The combination of the sleep mask and headphones (ear plugs would surely work just as well) means that two of my major senses are nearly nullified, making it much easier for my brain to relax.
One bonus trick is to stop most of your fluid intake about two hours before bed as well. This has done wonders for me in terms of the amount of times I wake up at night to use the bathroom.
These are all things I've picked up simply through trial and error, but they've had an astounding impact on my quality of sleep and life. Every morning I wake up feeling refreshed, knowing that I did everything I could the night before to ensure my sleep conditions were as optimal as possible. Especially in times like these where our minds may be racing more than normal due to the circumstances of the world, practicing healthy sleep hygiene becomes even more important, and can help set yourself up for a better tomorrow.
No matter what your job or life looks like, you need sleep. We all do. And the better you sleep, the better your life will feel. Physically, mentally, emotionally, every facet imaginable is either impacted positively or negatively by the amount of sleep you get. Prioritize your rest, see what tricks work best for you, and then check in after a month to see if you can notice a difference. With all of the time we spend unconscious, we might as well make it time well-spent.
"A Single Seed" is my attempt to get out one idea every day that I've learned or accumulated over the years, with the hope that it may stick in someone else's memory bank as well. The idea may be related to fitness, business, life, or philosophy, but I think you'll find that many can change domains if you wish them to. With each seed planted, a new life awaits.
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cliche/120050450
