“You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
That’s what you tell a friend after a breakup or to yourself after a bad day at work.
But did you know what you are saying is actually true.
The restorative benefit of a good night’s sleep does indeed make you feel better. In fact, it helps you:
– Make better food choices
– Have more physical and mental energy for exercise and work
– More effectively manage your stress and emotions
And in turn, each of those factors can contribute to better sleep. So instead of a vicious cycle that makes life harder, having adequate shuteye sparks a virtuous cycle that makes life better.
There’s a big problem, though.
Many people struggle with sleep.
“I always feel tired, or why am I so tired” are common phrases used when people always feel tired no matter what they do. Plus, they feel like they have tried everything— weighted blankets, sleep trackers, supplements—and nothing helps.
There’s no one single fix for all poor sleepers, but the place many people should start is with their sleep schedule.
While that might sound obvious, if you haven’t been very intentional about this, you could find it very helpful. I know this is something I personally have to work on.
The first step:
Figure out how many hours of sleep you personally need. That’d generally be the amount that allows you to wake up without an alarm clock feeling well rested.
If you’re not sure about that amount, you could start with the standard 7-8 hours.
Now count backward from the time you want to wake up. That’s your bedtime, and yes, it’s THAT simple (to calculate, executing it may be a different story at first)
From the advice of advice Dr. Jennifer Martin, President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, You’ll want to stick to this schedule as much as you can, including on the weekends. That’s because after a good night’s sleep, most people need to be awake around 16 hours before they feel sleepy. So if you get up later than usual, you’re going to struggle to go to bed at your scheduled time.
This may come with tradeoffs you don’t like—such as going to bed earlier and not sleeping in on your days off. But it’s been known to work wonders for people.
Of course, if it’s a monumental change to what you’re currently doing, it may feel impossible to make it work. So instead of going straight to “ideal,” start with doable.
Create a sleep schedule you think you can stick to 6 out of 7 nights a week, and put it to this test: On a scale of 0 (no way!) to 10 (so easy!), rank your confidence you’ll follow through—and only proceed when you get to a 9 or 10.
Do that for at least two weeks, and if you have success, try to improve on it over
time. And if you don’t, scale back and try again.
Sweet dreams!
The Love Yourself Diary 