People always joke that ever since having kids they are just forever tired. Now I can totally relate to this because being a parent is a full time job in itself but we really shouldn’t always be tired! We are quick to blame our busy schedules for how we feel when really it is just ourselves not making sleep a priority. In fact I really think our society encourages us to work hard and longer to try and reach our goals. People claim their 4 hours of sleep with pride but it shouldn’t be this way! In this post I am going to share with you three ways to help you sleep better!
Do you find you have days where your brain is in a fog and you are extra moody? Those both can be signs that you need more sleep! And so can getting sick more often, struggling to lose weight and finding your everyday tasks just harder to do. Now I am not a doctor so I cannot tell you the way you are feeling is absolutely a result of lack of sleep. If you are having these ongoing symptoms you should totally go make an appointment! But I did want to leave you with some of my go to actions that help me sleep better because I’m sure they can help you also!
#01 Turn Off The Electronics
Turning off all electronics before bed is going to help your mind rest. There are also studies that are finding that artificial light affects our ability to get into a deep sleep. So what might this look like? For me, I have my phone set on a sleep schedule so it actually tells me when to start winding down for bed based on what time I need to get up the next morning. Then it puts my phone on “do not disturb” each night. This has been a game changer for me. I am not intrigued by notifications and it is a good visual signal that it is time for me to put the phone away! In case anyone is curious, you can set it up that phone calls still come through. I like to have it that way in case there is an emergency!
You know I like to be totally honest with you so I do have one little thing I would like to point out, I do fall asleep watching TV. So if the light studies are accurate I could probably be sleeping better than I already am! For me though I will risk it because watching TV before bed is literally the only time I have to watch any TV and it relaxes my mind.
The point of this tip is to make you more mindful of all the electronics you use right before you go to bed. I used to lay in bed on my phone scrolling social media. This did not help me get ready to sleep and I found that I had a harder time falling asleep when I did this compared to now. So if you are looking to improve your sleep try and avoid all those screens at least 30 minutes before bed!
#02 Spend Time De-Stressing
Listen, we are busy, I totally get that. Trying to juggle everyone’s day to day activities is incredibly hard and that brings stress. The other day I brought my son to his soccer practice 30 minutes late because I mixed up the time. They started walking off the field and I still had not realized the mix up until I questioned why practice was only a half hour. Mom of the year award for sure! I just had to laugh though because trying to get everything done is hard!
Since we are all so busy we don’t get enough time to just be. Think about it, when was the last time you just sat down and just sat there? Hard to think of that time isn’t it? I know it was for me. Prioritizing time to de-stress from your day is going to help you sleep better! It will help you release all the tension that has built up.
So how can you de-stress? Well that’s the easy part because there really aren’t any rules here. I find doing things like some light yoga or reading really help me. We also have a hot tub so some nights my husband and I will put our kids to bed and go in the hot tub for 20 minutes. It just helps me be calm from all the stress in the day. You just need to find an activity you enjoy doing and make time to do it each night before bed.
Now I know I said there weren’t rules but I’m thinking you should try and stick to activities that are a little more low key. Maybe like reading, drawing, doing a project, just something that will help you calm down and relax!
#03 Temperature
This one is a huge one for me! I find most people sleep better when the room is a little cooler. The truth really is, it is going to depend entirely on you! You have to play around with the temperature and find one that works the best for you!
If you are uncomfortable, you are not going to sleep well and since that is what we are trying to help here, you can understand how important this one really is! I try to keep the temperature in my room between 67-72. We have a thermometer built into a little clock we have in our room so I can always see it. When I’m having a hard time sleeping the temperature is the first thing I check and if it isn’t in the right range, I make adjustments!
I totally understand that sometimes the temperature is out of our control. We all have had those moments where it’s a hot summer night and the AC stops working or we don’t have AC at all! In situations like that we have to do our best to make ourselves as comfortable as possible.
There you have it my friends, three easy ways to help you get that sleep you need. Sleep is so important and making sure you get enough of it needs to be a priority. For those of you who know me well you are probably laughing because you have probably laughed at my bedtime in the past! So for those that don’t, my kids go to bed at 8:00 and you can find me and the dog in bed by 8:10 (if not earlier), on work/school nights. I know my body needs sleep and that I function better when I get it.
This week for my weekly challenge, I am challenging all of you to choose one way to de-stress each night to help your sleep. To join the FREE weekly challenges click the button below and drop your name and e-mail and then wait for the fun to show up in your inbox each Monday!
