A Simple & Incomplete Guide to Better Sleep: Some Dos and Don’ts
by Taylor Palmer
September has arrived, which means a return to routine for many of us. Adieu to late night BBQs and impromptu camping trips, hello early morning classes and coffee-fuelled carpools. So your sleep schedule doesn’t suffer, here are some tips to ease the transition and maximize your beauty rest.
DO keep active during the day
Suggesting exercise to promote better sleep may seem like a cliche but keeping active plays a huge role in the quality of your sleep. Our bodies need to be tired by the end of the day, or sleep won’t come. Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to tire yourself out that don’t involve intense workout regimens. Try opting for the stairs over the elevator (if your body allows) or explore your neighbourhood for half an hour. Eventually, you might even bump that up to an hour. However, it’s important to ensure that your physical activity is appropriately timed. Exercising too late in the day can leave you feeling wired, not tired, when it comes time for bed.
DON’T rely on melatonin supplements
I was as surprised to learn this as I’m sure you are. First, let’s start by explaining melatonin and its role in sleep. Melatonin is an endogenous hormone secreted in time with your circadian rhythm to trigger sleep. Translation: our bodies produce melatonin all on their own! External cues, like it being dark outside, cue the release of melatonin hours before we start to feel sleepy. This release acts like flipping a switch. Just like pressing extra hard on a light switch won’t make the light any brighter, taking more melatonin after your body releases it won’t make you any sleepier. Even more concerning, a lot of melatonin supplements are not regulated, meaning there could be active ingredients other than melatonin in certain over-the-counter supplements. Some don’t even contain melatonin at all! In short, melatonin does not increase sleepiness, and taking it could mean introducing unknown substances to your body. There are plenty of other prescription and OTC medications that do the job more effectively and safely.
DO limit your bed to sleep
Engaging in activities unrelated to sleep while in bed prevents our subconscious from understanding that the bed is a place for sleep. When you are mentally or physically active in bed, it becomes harder to convince yourself to sleep when it comes time to. Press pause on that nighttime Netflix marathon and save the studying for a designated workspace. Allow the bed to be a sacred place, for sleep and sleep alone. (Though the decision to allow *ahem* other bedroom activities is up to you and whoever might be sharing your bed.) Giving yourself a space free from distractions and pressures can have added benefits. You deserve to make space for yourself to sleep well.
DON’T force yourself into bed when you aren’t tired
One crucial step to associating your bed with sleep is to avoid lying there awake when shuteye seems miles away. It may seem counterintuitive to get out of bed when you can’t sleep, but the very act of getting up and engaging in other activities can be enough to make you sleepy. Your alarm may be a rude awakening the next morning, but you bet that extra exhaustion will lead to an easier sleep the following night. Braving a few nights with fewer hours than you’d care for may seem daunting, but your sleep cycle will thank you. Let yourself stop thinking of bed as a place where you stare at the ceiling feeling stressed and futile.
DO change the way you think about sleep
We are inundated with messages that claim there is only one way to sleep, which can make us believe that the way that we sleep is wrong or that we are defective. Go easy on yourself. It is easy to catastrophize, especially late at night, in the dark, accompanied by nothing but our thoughts. We feel we ought to be asleep already and wonder why we aren’t. This kind of preoccupation keeps our brains busy when they need to be closing up shop. However you sleep is what’s right for you, so get to it!
Taylor Palmer is a writer, performer, and creator whose work has been featured in festivals across Canada including the Reel 2 Real Film Festival. They currently work from Vancouver, BC.