You are lying in bed, you’re staring at the roof, your eyes are wide open, and your mind is still going through everything that you dealt with that day. It is now starting to think of all the pressures of the day ahead. “C’mon… go to sleep… go to sleep! Shut up mind, I need to sleep, I have a big day tomorrow and need a good night’s rest!”
Did you know that having a good day can come down to how you set yourself up in your routine the night before? From the moment you get home from work, you should already be starting to do the steps that set you up for bedtime. It is very easy to get home, walk straight over to the couch, after a busy and stressful day, grab the remote control and watch something that you don’t have to think about on television or start scrolling through your phone. Instead, when you get home and before you give yourself the chance to sit down, take the dog for a walk, take the kids to the park or for a bike ride, go to the gym, do some yoga, put some energetic music on and get some chores done or do a meditation. Do something that you don’t need to use your mind but helps you to separate yourself from work, sets you up for a successful week and gets you in a good mindset so you can be present at home.
This creates a positive headspace, releasing and letting go of what happened during the day and leads you into starting a good night ahead.
How to set yourself up for the morning
After you have had dinner and had time to catch up with the family, it is time to set yourself up to make everything easy for the next day and for a healthy morning routine.
If you don’t have time in the morning or plan on going to the gym, make a smoothie and pop it in the fridge the night before. Pre-make your lunch to set yourself up for a healthy lunch so you won’t need to worry about putting it together in the morning. Do the dishes so you have prepped a tidy kitchen ready for the next day, put washing away so that it is easier to find as soon as you require that 2nd sock that normally goes missing and lay out any exercise and work clothes or pack your gym bag that you might be using the next morning. Just by doing this last step you have a higher likelihood of getting up and doing exercise.
Steps leading to bed
With approximately 2 hours left until bedtime, it is time to start implementing steps to help you get a good night’s sleep. Here are some suggestions that have been proven to help people sleep better:
- The obvious one that you often hear, though can be a hard habit to break is to turn off technology at least 1 hour before going to bed.
- A replacement for turning off technology is reading a book or listening to a podcast or audiobook. Make sure the podcast or audiobook is on a low decibel so that your head starts to go into a quieter and more relaxed space.
- Start dimming the lights down around the house. You can now get smart lights that you can change the colour of with an app on the phone. Turn on colours like purple, dark blue or a warm white instead of a bright white. Just turning on the darker colours around the house or using dimmer lights to create a darker room simulates the environment of the sun going down and tells your brain it is time for rest. Some people put warm lights in their bedrooms and bathrooms, turn on a lamp or light a candle and turn off all the main lights around the house which creates a hygge atmosphere.
- Have a warm shower or bath and put calming scents like lavender in the water. This will help to relax your mind and muscles. Turn the lights off in the bathroom and just have a lit candle or a lamp from a nearby room as this starts to set your body and mind up to become slow and calm ready for a good night’s sleep.
- Put an essential oil on that is calming, especially on the bottom of the feet. Oils such as lavender, ylang ylang, chamomile or bergamot are great for calming the mind and body. It can even be put on the kids, however, make sure you mix it with some coconut oil first, so it isn’t as strong on their young skin. You can pop these scents in a diffuser to turn on before bedtime as it will trigger and calm the mind to let it know it is time to start getting ready for sleep.
- Attempt to go to bed at the same time every night and if you have kids do the same for them. This helps to let your brain become aware of a specific bedtime ritual and will become a natural routine to go to bed at this time. You will even find the dog will start to join in with this routine and put itself to bed as well. Of course, this is not always going to be possible, especially if you are a shift worker, but try and implement some sort of routine around a time to sleep.
- Make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature. A slightly cooler room is better than a warmer room, it is easier to warm up with blankets than it is to cool yourself down if you are too hot or overheating.
- Put on a sleep meditation or story. There are many great meditations or stories available now on different apps such as Insight Timer, Spotify or Calm that help guide you into a deep sleep. You can even find them for children to help them breathe and calm their minds into a good night’s sleep.
These are just a few suggestions of things you can do at night to help get a better night’s sleep. Just remember, both animals and humans thrive on a good routine and the better it is, the more successful your day and night will be.
I hope you have a good night’s rest tonight.
