How to get better sleep

Do you ever find yourself struggling with sleep? Maybe you try to get to bed by 10pm but find yourself wide awake at 12am. Or do you get to bed by 9pm but you toss and turn for hours. Perhaps you get your full 8 hours of sleep but still find yourself exhausted when you wake up in the morning. These are all huge problems many people deal with daily, maybe you included, and this stems from the misunderstanding of how humans should sleep.

Here are the three keys to sleep.

• Sleep/REM cycles
• Understanding your circadian rhythm
• Winding down

We have all heard of morning routines, but have you ever tried creating an evening routine? Morning routines are much easier than evening of night time routines for one simple reason, a lot happens in a day. So much can get in the way of meals, work and most importantly, sleep. A teacher posts an unexpected assignment at 8pm. Your boss asks you to create a presentation for the following board meeting. One of your friends is sick and you need to pick up their kid from soccer. Whatever it is, life gets in the way, and I get that. The goal here isn’t to get rid of the obstacles, more so to work around them.

The first step in making an evening or night routine is to understand when and how much you should sleep. Look at the chart below to figure out the recommended amount of sleep based on your age. You should pick an amount in intervals of 90 minutes. For example 7.5 hours, or 9 hours.

This is because humans have approximately 90 minute REM (Rapid eye movement) cycles. These are the cycles in which it takes for all stages of sleep to occur. Humans also have what is known as a circadian rhythm, otherwise known as your internal clock. This is what lets your body know when it is time to wake up or to sleep. This can be different for everybody and needs to be reset with the help of sunlight exposure.

To further help yourself wind down before bed, turn screens off and stop work at least 1 hour before bed. Your body needs time to relax and decompress before sleep. During this hour before bed, try to do things that relax you and take your mind off the day. You can read, listen to music or talk to someone. Anything that calms you down before you rest. The most important part here is to be sleepy to ensure you fall asleep by the correct time.

The final step is setting your alarm. It may take a few days, but your alarm should not be to wake you up, but as a safety rather. After a week or so, your circadian rhythm should be adjusted and you should now be aware of when your body naturally wakes up. Try setting your alarm just a few minutes after that determined moment for those days where you just cannot get up.

If you are still having trouble getting in bed on time, here are a few extra tips on how to fix your circadian rhythm.

1. Go outside. It is so important to have at least 15–30 minutes of sunlight exposure each day.
2. Don’t eat 2 hours before bed. This can lead to indigestion or heartburn, which will absolutely not help you fall asleep.
3. Clear your mind. Write down whatever is on your mind. This can empty your thoughts and help you settle down.

You should now have all of the tools necessary on how to get to sleep on time and how to not wake up groggy in the mornings. I hope this article helps you get the most out of your nights to kick start you into the next day.