As much as I love the winter, there’s something to be said for the amount of daylight that comes during the rest of the year.
Interestingly, thinking about more daylight this time of year made me think about sleep. Perhaps because I have young children who now go to bed when it’s still light out!
Additionally, I recently watched a show that included a segment on how to get better sleep. I was unsettled to see the focus was primarily on products, not tips, for better sleep. And I’m not talking about inexpensive, reasonable products that are great sleep hygiene investments, like blackout curtains or a white noise machine.
Burton – the king of great sleep.
This “informative” show framed up the key to better sleep coming from expensive technologies and products. Actual, helpful (and free) tips to improve sleep were buried, barely a focus.
While I don’t imagine these technologies and products hurt sleep, I don’t believe it needs to be so complicated and expensive.
I am a believer in sleep hygiene. Adopting a series of healthy habits, both directly and indirectly related to sleep, can add up to good sleep hygiene and, ultimately, better sleep.
Common sense sleep
I recently wrote about common sense wellness tips; the obvious and simple ways to improve health. One of my key points was that there are no amount of hacks or tips – or expensive products – that will lead to wellness. The real “secret” is common sense; doing the things you already know about but aren’t doing or aren’t doing consistently.
Sleep is in that same realm. Quality sleep is so important to wellness, yet I intentionally did not include “Sleep better” in that article with my top 5 wellness tips. Because, sleep isn’t something you can just decide to do as easily as the others.
You can’t set and achieve a goal to sleep for 8 hours every night in the same way you can set and achieve a goal to do any of the other 5 things on that list; drink 8 glasses of water a day, for example. Unfortunately we can’t directly control the ability to sleep in the same way we can control our ability to drink water.
However, we can focus on things in our control that can lead to better sleep. In the spirit of that article, I’m going to recap it and tie sleep to each of my top 5 tips for health and wellness. Before going out and spending hundreds of dollars on a headband that promises better sleep, consider trying these common sense tips for better sleep.
1. Exercise consistently
Research consistently shows that exercise leads to, not only better sleep, but better quality sleep. The best part is “exercise consistently” doesn’t mean running 40 miles a week or taking CrossFit classes every day. I’ll give my favorite PSA here: Walking is the most underrated exercise and can be done by virtually everyone!
Exercise outside to soak up the daylight.
2. Eat real food
A body that’s full of heavy, processed foods that are packed with sugar or salt isn’t poised to sleep well. Real, nutrient-rich foods, especially protein and fiber-filled, are linked to the ability to fall asleep faster and get better quality of sleep.
3. Drink water
Alcohol, soda, and other sugary or caffeinated drinks are counterproductive to good sleep. Water, on the other hand, is the best beverage you can put into your body. Just don’t drink too much right before bed or your sleep may be interrupted by a call of nature.
4. Save don’t spend
Does anything keep people up at night more than worrying about finances? While some financial stress is out of our control, wasteful spending can be controlled. It may be “buy one, get one free” but if you don’t need either, is it a great deal?
5. And for the love of all things, put away your damn phone
Screen time isn’t helping anyone fall or stay asleep, it’s making both harder. The first step to better sleep isn’t to buy a fancy gizmo or gadget, it’s to get off the phone – which, p.s., is trying to sell all those gizmos and gadgets at every click, swipe, and scroll.
In addition to healthier habits, adopting simple sleep hygiene tips can help encourage better, more restorative sleep. A consistent bedtime and wake-up time every day is a good start.
Similar to common sense wellness, simple, consistent habits done every day can add up and pay off with better sleep.
That’s enough for now. Until next time,
Lindsay