9 Incredibly Hard Things I Need to Do to Improve My Sleep Habits
Are you sleeping enough? I’m not sleeping enough.
Are you a heavy sleeper? I’m not a heavy sleeper.
Do you struggle to leave the phone out of the bedroom? I am.
Do you fall asleep late while watching your favorite sitcom for the 100th time? I am.
Sleep is important. I have heard it a million times. But exactly how important is it? What are the negative side effects of consistently not getting enough sleep?
- 🙋🏻 Mood swings
- 🙋🏻 Difficulty concentrating
- 🙋🏻 Low motivation
- 🙋🏻 Poor judgment
- 🙋🏻 Mental health going down
- 🙋🏻 Difficulty learning
- 🙋🏻 Slower reaction time
- 🙋🏻 Low impulse control
- 🙋🏻 Memory problems / brain fog
In addition to these there are several negative health effects that come with bad sleep. People in general need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. This depends on many factors such as genetics or lifestyle so you might need less or more. For me, I have no problem sleeping 6 hours for 3-4 nights in a row but after that I notice that I’m falling behind. I want to be better at sleeping and I know several things I have to do in order to achieve it but it is so hard. So now I’m writing this article to force myself to remember what exactly I need to do to sleep better.
1. Avoid heavy eating and drinking for the last 2-3 hours before bedtime
Try to limit eating and drinking for the last 2-3 hours before bedtime.Eating will stimulate your digestive system, increase the heart rate and blood pressure which can make it much harder to fall and stay asleep. If you want a small evening snack, eat some carbs, like a piece of bread as it triggers the release of serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical messenger in the brain, a neurotransmitter. It helps by promoting relaxation. Of course drinking too much liquid might make you have to get up to pee during the night, interrupting sleep.
😅 I’m not so good at this one. Drinking (water) is not a problem for me unless I drink too much. Eating I can definitely improve. I’m snacking in the evening way too often. I have not tested how this affects my sleep though but I’m trying to limit evening food.
2. No coffee or caffeine late in the day
Coffee? Don’t need to elaborate on this. Remember that there can be caffeine in tea and energy drinks and many teas as well. It can take 10-12 hours for the caffeine to be out of the system.
✅ If i drink 1-2 cups after 18:00 I can usually notice that I’m more awake during the evening. I only do this if I know I’m going to work though. Usually I don’t drink coffee after 14:00-15:00.
3. No alcohol
Alcohol may help you sleep faster but it reduces the quality of sleep, even for 1-2 units.
✅ I love to have 1-2 beers in the sofa after a long work week. But does it affect my sleep? Absolutely. It’s not very noticeable after one unit but definitely after 2. I feel it the next morning. Thirsty and more tired than if I had not had alcohol. I haven’t measured my sleep quality yet though so maybe I should get a smart watch. On the other hand, I can just follow the items in this list 🤓
4. No screen time before bed and put the #¤&%¤ phone out of reach 🤓
Do not use screens at least 1 hour before bedtime. I know it but oh my god so difficult. The few times I have actually done this before I instantly sleep better. Why? Because our sleep wake cycle is regulated by a hormone called melatonin. As the day draws to an end our brains release melatonin. This is one of the things that makes us start feeling sleepy. Exposure to light from screens suppresses this. This is mainly due to blue wavelengths of light that come from screens. Blue light blockers can help a bit but the problem is the content on the phone that keeps our brain fired up.
✅ This totally works for me. It is especially noticeable if I do focus work late at night. I almost always struggle to sleep, my mind is racing. But just by putting my phone out of the bedroom I instantly sleep better.
5. Relax before bed
Instead of using screens, working or exercising, try to calm down. Read. Write. Meditate. Take a hot shower. Listen to relaxing music. When we are about to sleep our core body temperature drops up to 1 degree Celsius. Therefore it can help fall asleep by taking a hot shower before bed which mimics this process.
✅ Not thought much about this but reading always make me sleepy.
6. Do not read in bed 🫢
Our brains are highly associative. It naturally links a particular place with specific activities. Try to keep the bedroom for sleeping.
🤔 I’m not sure about this one. For me reading helps me fall asleep so I guess I will continue with that.
7. Do a brain dump
As I wrote in my “Why I Write” blog post I like to have a notebook at my nightstand. If I think of something I need to do or remember, or something that bothers me it helps so much to just offload the brain so I know I don’t have to remember it.
✅ This is a very simple and powerful technique for me.
8. Have a consistent sleep schedule
Try to go to bed and sleep and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Doing this consistently reinforces our natural sleep-wake cycle meaning its easier to naturally fall asleep and wake up. If we don’t keep a consistent sleep schedule it can disrupt this cycle, making it harder to fall asleep and decreasing the sleep quality.
✅ This is a bit hard for me but something I need to work on. I think I can relate to this. If I sleep 2 hours extra on a Saturday I usually feel extra tired the whole day.
9. Meditation and breathing techniques
I have never gotten too much into meditation but I like to use some breathing techniques. I have tried some of Andrew Hubermans suggestions.
✅ Definitely helps calm me down but not technique I have been using regularly.