Sleep Science

Sleep is not hard to attain if you know what to do and what not to do. Our bodies are made to sleep. The key is to stop doing the things that are getting in the way.

Mistaken Beliefs About Sleep

Sleep should be present and relaxing. It should not be something that causes anxiety or stress. To help alleviate some of the stress, these are the most common mistaken beliefs about sleep.

You Should Try to Fall Asleep

The most common mistaken belief about sleep is that you should try to sleep. The harder you try to fall sleep, the longer you’ll stay awake. Sleep comes when you’re not trying. If you try to sleep, your mind monitors if you’re sleeping, which keeps your mind active and your body awake.

Instead, try to have the intention of relaxing and letting go. If you’re tired and ready for sleep, you’ll automatically and effortlessly fall asleep after about 10 to 20 minutes.

This is why doing something calming before bed can help you fall asleep.

You Won’t Be Able to Function

You may believe that you won’t be able to function the next day if you don’t get a good night’s sleep. This causes anxiety which actually prevents you from falling asleep.

Research studies have shown that if you get a minimum of five and a half hours of sleep, your daytime performance will not be affected. If you get less than that, you will still be able to function, and your body will be more primed to sleep the next night.

You Need Eight Hours

Everyone does not need eight hours of sleep. This isn’t a universal rule. Some people need more, and others less.

Instead, focus on improving your sleep and establishing a regular pattern, and your body will tell you how many hours it needs.

You’re Just Not a Good Sleeper

While it’s true that some people can fall asleep very quickly, the vast majority of people who have trouble sleeping can learn to sleep well. It’s simply a matter of learning what to do and not to do to allow your body to do what it was built for.

Sleep Behaviors

Make sure your bed and bedroom act as cues for good sleep. The goal is to create an association between lying down in your bed and falling asleep. The way to get better sleep is to practice healthy sleep behaviors that will automatically bring sleep and changing behaviors that are inhibiting sleep.

Establish a nightly bedtime routine. Start this about an hour before going to sleep. Brushing teeth, meditating, reading, and listening to something relaxing are all good choices. Avoid electronics, work, food and serious discussion with partner. Keep your routine consistent. Do this on weekends and vacation. After a few weeks, it will become a habit and will start to associate it with sleep. You’ll start feeling tired during your routine, even before getting into bed.
Only get into bed when you are sleepy. If you are nodding off or having a hard time staying awake, do not get into bed. This is not the same thing as being tired. Stay up even if it gets late. Worrying about sleeping will only raise your anxiety and make it harder to sleep. It’s true that you might get less sleep, but that sleep will be of better quality, and your body will feel more pressure to fall asleep.
Use your bed only for sleep and sex. Not for work, serious relationship talks, eating, reading, watching TV, browsing the internet, talking on the phone, worrying, journaling or other activities. You want your bed to be associated with sleep. Don’t even perform these activities in the same room.
Get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep. If you aren’t asleep after twenty to thirty minutes, then get out of bed and go into another room. Approximate this rather than keeping an eye on the clock. Getting up will tire you out quicker and will help break the association of being awake with your bed. Think of this time as bonus free time. Enjoy the quiet and peace.
Once out of bed, do something boring or relaxing. Read a dull book. Keep the lights dim. Avoid physical activity. Be sure not to drift off on the couch. Frame this period of time as “extra free time.”
Get back into bed when you are sleepy. Only return to bed when you are sleepy or nodding off. If you don’t fall asleep again, get back out of bed. Repeat steps 4–6 as many time as needed.
Establish a regular wake up time. This is really important to establishing a good sleep pattern. Set your alarm to wake you up at a regular time every day. Do this on weekends too. Get up even if you slept poorly. Do not use the snooze button. Get up immediately. You are trying to establish a regular, automatic sleep/wake cycle. This can be challenging, but if you do this over a few weeks, your body will start to wake up automatically around your set wakeup time.
Don’t nap during the day. Some disagree with this, but Steve is in the no nap camp. He’d rather have you tired at night. He believes the designer to nap will go away with time. If you do nap, make sure it’s less than 45 minutes and it’s before 4 PM.

Calming Your Mind

Many people have trouble falling asleep because their mind is too active. Here are some tips.

When you do get into bed, put on a sleep story. This will distract your mind and allow you to fall asleep without intruding thoughts.
If you get out of bed, grab a pad and pen and write down all of the things that are bothering you. Don’t stop until it’s all down on paper. Then tell yourself you’ll deal with it tomorrow and put the pad aside. You can wait to make decisions or take actions until the next day. Sometimes, your concerns won’t seem that important, and you can simply discard them.

Stress isn’t necessarily bad. Exercise and positive events can be stressful in a good way. However, to fall asleep you have to be able to let go of stress so you can relax.

Destressing

When you wind down, you can do anything that allows you to destress will be impactful.

Don’t skip meals. If you don’t eat enough, you won’t have enough energy during the day, and this will increase your stress and reduce your ability to fall asleep.
If you’re sick, don’t work through it. Taking the time to rest will help you recover much faster.
Take vacations. You need time away from work. Try to take a week or more to recover from stress. Nights and weekends aren’t enough to manage stress and fatigue by itself.
Engage in a hobby. Leisure activities can help you destress and add enjoyment with your life.
Socialize. This can be fun and relaxing, and includes spending time with your partner, friends you like, and family that doesn’t stress you out.
Get a massage or have a spa day. This can be expensive, but this can be very impactful.

Environment

Keep your bedroom cool and your bed warm. Ideally, you’ll keep the room about 65°F is the optimal temperature for sleep. Your clothing should keep you warm, but not enough that you perspire.
Keep the room dark. You should use blackout shades or a sleep mask. Use a night light in the bathroom. Cover your alarm clock if it emits light.
Keep the bedroom quiet. Noise disturbs sleep. The noise that bothers us most is varying or intrusive. You may not remember in the morning when it happened. Warning earplugs, using a noise machine, or using a fan are all effective strategies for creating white noise, which masks other sounds.
Use a separate sheet or blanket. This is especially helpful if your partner has a different body temperature.
Make your bed comfortable. This will help you look forward to sleep. Change the type of bed, pillow and comforter to make it as comfortable as possible.
Make your bedroom inviting for sleep. The more peaceful your bedroom feels, the more likely you’ll look forward to sleep. Use a warm or calming paint color. Use calming colors. Keep electronics out.

Exercise

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to exercise. While there are many health benefits, in particular exercise can help you sleep.

It raises your body temperature, which causes a more intense drop after exercise, which helps you fall asleep. Don’t exercise more than three hours before bed.
It also places stress on your body. This tires you out, and your brain and body compensates from this is by making you sleep better.
It reduces overall stress. Your bodily stress will decrease after exercise. This also helps decrease anxiety.

If you’re unable to exercise, a hot bath can have some of the physiological benefits. Don’t do this any closer than two hours before bedtime.

Light

Light and darkness directly affect your circadian rhythms. When it’s light out, melatonin levels decrease and promote wakefulness. When it’s dark, melatonin increases and promotes sleep.

Get outside when it’s light.
When you first wake up in the morning, open the blinds.
Go for a morning walk.
Sit by a window that lets in light during the day.
Dim or shut off the lights after sunset.
Don’t use electronics an hour before bedtime.
Sleep in a pitch dark room.
Don’t wear sunglasses. You don’t need them. They decrease the effects of sunlight on the body’s natural sleep system. It takes a few week to adjust to not wearing them.
A light therapy device can be a good alternative to sunlight in northern climates, but it’s not as effective as a sunlight.