How can I improve the quality of my sleep?
The Five Pillars of a Better Life (Part Four): Sleep Well
We've eaten well.
We've moved our bodies.
We've made time to stop and reflect.
Now we come to perhaps the most underrated of my five pillars of a good life.
Sleep.
We spend roughly a third of our lives doing it, yet sleep is often treated as the expendable part of the day, the bit we squeeze between everything else.
"I'll survive on five hours."
"I'll catch up at the weekend."
"I'll sleep when I'm dead."
Perhaps we should turn that last one around.
Sleep well while you're alive.
Sleep Is Not Wasted Time
While we're asleep, our bodies haven't switched off.
Sleep is essential for our brains, hearts, immune systems, metabolism, memories and emotions. A good night's sleep helps us think clearly, concentrate, make decisions and regulate our mood.
Poor sleep, meanwhile, doesn't just leave us yawning the next morning. Persistently inadequate sleep is associated with problems including high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Sleep isn't an indulgence.
It's maintenance.
Just as importantly, it affects how life feels.
Almost everything seems more manageable after a good night's sleep. And almost everything seems worse when we're exhausted.
Make Bedtime Something to Look Forward To
We tend to think of sleep as something that happens when we get into bed.
Actually, a good night's sleep often begins an hour or two earlier.
Think of the evening as a gradual landing procedure.
Dim the lights.
Turn down the television.
Put the phone away.
Stop checking the news.
Take a warm bath or shower.
Put on some lovely moisturiser or body lotion.
Change into something comfortable.
Listen to some gentle music.
Read a few pages of a good book.
Perhaps spend five minutes meditating or reflecting on the day.
None of this is compulsory. The point is to develop little rituals that tell your mind and body:
The day is over. You can stop now.
A Few Habits That Really Help
Good sleep doesn't require a complicated regime.
Start with the basics:
Try to go to bed and get up at roughly the same time each day, including the weekend.
Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and comfortably cool (19 degrees is optimal).
Avoid a large meal shortly before bed.
Be careful with caffeine later in the day.
Avoid relying on alcohol to make you sleepy. It may actually disrupt sleep later in the night.
Exercise regularly, but give yourself time to wind down afterwards.
Reduce phones, tablets and computers as bedtime approaches, particularly if you find they keep you awake.
Keep work, upsetting news and social-media arguments out of the bedroom if you possibly can.
And make your bed somewhere you want to be.
Comfortable pillows. Clean sheets. Soft lighting. A bedroom that feels calm rather than like an extension of the office.
There is nothing frivolous about making sleep pleasurable.
Sleep Changes With Life
Our relationship with sleep changes throughout our lives.
In Our 20s and 30s
These can be the years of late nights, early mornings, careers, parties, studying, travelling and the belief that we can function indefinitely on caffeine and enthusiasm.
Our bodies are remarkably forgiving.
That doesn't mean they're infinitely forgiving.
Building good sleep habits early is an investment just like eating well and exercising.
The Parenting Years
Then children arrive and all sensible advice about eight hours of uninterrupted sleep can sound faintly ridiculous.
Babies don't read health blogs.
Neither do toddlers.
Sometimes the goal isn't perfect sleep but simply getting enough rest wherever life allows it.
Parents should perhaps be particularly kind to themselves during these years. Exhaustion isn't a failure of self-discipline when somebody aged eight months has decided that 3:17 a.m. is an excellent time to start the day.
Midlife
Careers, financial worries, teenage children, ageing parents and—in women—menopause can all interfere with sleep.
This may be the stage when deliberately protecting bedtime becomes particularly important.
The world will happily consume every waking hour we give it.
We don't have to give it all of them.
As We Grow Older
There's a persistent myth that older people don't need as much sleep.
We do.
Most adults still need around seven to nine hours.
What often changes is the pattern. We may become sleepy earlier, wake earlier and wake more frequently during the night.
That doesn't mean good sleep has suddenly become less important.
Quite the opposite.
Sleep remains important for memory, concentration, mood, physical health and simply feeling alert enough to enjoy the day ahead.
Don't Turn Sleep Into Another Competition
There's an irony in our modern obsession with wellness.
We can even become stressed about sleeping correctly.
Our watches tell us how long we slept.
Apps award us sleep scores.
Charts tell us how much deep sleep we achieved.
Then we lie awake worrying because our sleep score is going to be terrible.
Perhaps sometimes we need to put the technology away.
Not every night will be perfect.
You may occasionally wake at 3 a.m.
You may have a restless night.
You may sometimes stay up ridiculously late because you're having a wonderful evening with people you love.
That's life.
Healthy living isn't about perfection.
It's about what we do most of the time.
When Poor Sleep Is More Than a Bad Habit
There is one important exception.
If you're regularly exhausted despite spending enough time in bed, consistently unable to fall or stay asleep, or somebody tells you that you snore very loudly or appear to stop breathing during the night, don't simply accept it as part of getting older.
Problems such as insomnia and sleep apnoea become more common with age and can often be treated.
Sometimes better sleep hygiene isn't the answer.
Sometimes we need a doctor.
Tomorrow Begins Tonight
Eating well gives our bodies the right fuel.
Exercise keeps them strong.
Reflection gives our minds some space.
Sleep allows the whole system to recover.
Perhaps that's why a peaceful bedtime shouldn't feel like the disappointing end of another day.
It's preparation for the next one.
Turn off the television.
Put down the phone.
Take a shower.
Spoil yourself with that ridiculously expensive moisturiser.
Climb between clean sheets.
And let the day go.
Tomorrow can wait until morning.
SIMPLY. BETTER. LIVING.
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
— William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Comments
Post a Comment