To stay up late at night and sleep very few hours has become increasingly common and something more and more people keep doing. We all know that we need around 8 hours of sleep during the night, yet many of us still don't get those hours we need. But sleep is so crucial to us, it does so much that we don't even realise: it impacts our mood, mental health, physical health and how energetic we are in the morning.
That's why, whenever I hear people discuss how they're only running on 3 hours of sleep, I would get really confused and shocked. On a sleep deprived night, I get around 5 hours of sleep minimum. On a good night, it's around 7-8 hours. (On a night/morning where I've slept in too long, that number dances around 10-12 hours.)
So, to stop any of us from sleeping too little, and to perfect our sleep so that we wake up refreshed and ready for the day, I've gathered some tips and tricks to help combat this wide-spread issue of lack of sleep so we can have a better sleep routine.
Part 1: Listening to your body
#1: Find out how many hours you need.
Everyone is different, not just in their talents and skills, but in their biology and physicality. Some people may only need 7 hours of sleep, whilst other won't be able to function properly without 9 hours. That's why you need to find out how many hours you need for you to wake up refreshed. You don't need a complicated method to work this out - just check how you're feeling in the morning and make adjustments to how long you are sleeping until you find the right amount of time.
However, DO NOT become too obsessed with getting these hours in. Yes, they are good for you, but obsessing over them can become a problem of its own. If you miss the hours once, you'll survive the day. Try to get to bed on time that night instead.
#2: Listen to your body
Never force it to stay awake. If it needs to sleep, go get that rest - especially if the time is late. Your body needs rest to function well, so take care of it and it will take care of you.
Part 2: In the Morning
#3: Set an alarm for the same time every day
Whether it is the weekday or weekend, set an alarm for the same time. That way, you and your body can get used to waking up at that time and can do so easily and consistently. Do not give the weekend special treatment because those late nights and lie-ins can really mess up your routine. If you are worried about missing out on your social life, try scheduling things for earlier times.
#4: Get some morning sunlight
In the morning, the sun's rays are different to the rays in the afternoon and in the evening. That's why you need to get some morning sunlight. Your eyes detect the light and therefore release a specific type of hormone that wakes your body up. It also starts the timer to when you will feel sleepy later on in the day.
#5: Do some Morning Exercise
Once you start doing some form of exercise in the mornings, your body recognises that you will do some exercise and provides an extra bit of energy so that you can get through that exercise. This extra boost of energy will help wake you up.
Part 3: In the Afternoons & Evenings
#6: Do not have Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug found in coffee, chocolate, fizzy drinks and so on. Its whole purpose is to wake you up. So if you have caffeine later on in your day, it will wake you up, making it harder to go to sleep later in the evening.
#7: Get some Evening Sun
Just like the morning rays, the eye detects the evening rays and releases a different hormone - one that makes you sleepier. So if you can get a bit of the evening sun, your body will be able to go into sleepy mode.
#8: Avoid Artificial Lights
These include overhead lights hanging from your ceiling and the lights from your screens. The eyes detect their lights and believe that it is daytime, stopping you from becoming as sleepy as possible so that you can fall asleep faster. Make sure you avoid all electronic devices during this time and use lower lamps instead.
#9: Keep the room cool
It turns out that studies have found that we sleep better in cooler temperatures, so keep your room cool so that you can rest well. (If you rest well in that temperature that is.)
Bonus: What if I suddenly become super energetic in the evening when I'm supposed to be getting ready to sleep?
Well, it turns out that getting a sudden burst of energy in the evening is actually normal. Instead of trying to burn that energy off, just stick to your usual routine and it will eventually go away. When it goes, you will feel sleepy and will be able to sleep as normal.
So there you have it, 10 tips on how to sleep well. It won't be easy to change your sleep routine and you won't see a significant change on night 1. You'll have to ease your way into this gradually and you'll see the changes happen in the future.
That's all from me today. I'll see you in my next post. Sleep tight! ;)
Thank you for those precious tips darling, I hope to change my sleep routine after reading this.
I wish you more progress 🌹