How to Get Better Sleep: What I Have Learned
Ways to Get Better Sleep
All of you sleepy people out there know that today is the first day after the time changed for daylight savings. I always dread this week as it takes me a while to adjust to the time change. Today I have felt pretty sluggish, especially in the afternoon. But in general, I have been sleeping a lot better during the last few months.
In January, I set two stress management goals for 2012. One of these goals was to get more sleep and the second one was to get organized. I have been working on them little by little over the past three months.
I have to admit that I have almost always had trouble sleeping. For most of my life, I have been one of those on the go busy people. Raised in the south, I drink too much iced tea and too much Diet Coke. My professional life is very busy. I work a lot of hours doing things that take a lot of thought. Sometimes I work later than I should. I have been doing this now for many years and, I often have trouble winding down and falling asleep. Also, I sometimes do not sleep very deeply at night and wake up exhausted.
The sleeplessness had become a vicious cycle for me. I would not sleep well or enough and would then wake up exhausted. In my exhausted state, I would need a lot of caffeine to keep me awake during the day, but would not be at my best, which made me less efficient at work and at home. Last fall and winter were difficult for me. I worked on many grants in the fall and then caught pneumonia before Thanksgiving. It took a while to recover. It also made me think about the way that I was living my life.
When I set my stress management goal of getting more sleep, I tried to think about the things that were affecting my sleep. I have tried a lot of things in the past to get better sleep including:
- sleeping in a comfortable bed
- sleeping in a dark room
- white noise
- removing clocks from the room
Unfortunately, all of these things combined had not really helped. So I set out to make some changes.
Limiting Caffeine
First, I stopped drinking caffeinated drinks almost entirely for 10 days when I went to India. At the time avoiding the caffeine helped me adjust to the jet lag. But then I realized that I was sleeping so much better without it. Now, that I am back in the United States, I am not drinking caffeinated drinks after lunch. The negative part of reducing caffeine is that I have to fight the urge to lay down under my desk and take a nap at 3:00 pm. But, I have been drinking a lot of water to make up for it, which makes me feel less dehydrated.
Limiting Late Night Work
Although I cannot completely avoid it, I have been trying not to work late at night. One thing that this has meant is that I have cut down a bit on blogging activities. But, the interesting thing is that it does not really seem to matter. My blog and website are still growing, even though the pace is slower than full time bloggers.
Regular Yoga (and Other Exercise)
Another thing that has helped reduce my sleep problems is my regular beginner’s yoga class. I started yoga in November and then enrolled in another class after returning from India. I find that I am quite relaxed Tuesday evenings after yoga and try to hold on to that relaxed feeling through the night. Since the weather is warm here in Florida, I have resumed all of my heavy gardening activities, especially on weekends. Over the last month, I have spent several hours each weekend raking leaves, moving tree branch debris, pulling up weeds, and planting new plants. Over the next month, our family will resume the heavy work of laying sod to finish our never-ending lawn project. While many people do not ever want to do this kind of heavy labor, I find that it is calming to me. It is also such good exercise that I sleep very well.
Reducing caffeine, limiting work at night, and doing yoga and other exercise regularly are the things that I have changed to get better sleep. So far, doing each of these things has been very effective for me. I am sleeping better than ever.
What do you do to get better sleep?
Category: Exercise, Stress Management, Yoga
About the Author (Author Profile)
Kristen is a psychologist who lives in central Florida and enjoys writing about stress and health. When she is not writing, Kristen enjoys spending time with her family and pets, reading, traveling, yoga, and trying to finish her never ending yard renovation.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
I used to be the best sleeper ever, but that’s changed. Now I’m inconsistent in my sleep and I’m not entirely sure why.
I never drink caffeine past the morning, I walk nearly every day (and do some kind of exercise when bad weather prevents walking).
I have been thinking of taking up meditation to see if that can help. I miss the good ol’ days of sleep.
Cathy Miller recently posted..Successful Business Writing: Want the Secret?
Hi Cathy! Thanks for coming by. I believe that a person’s sleep can change over time for no really good reason. I am sure that you miss sleep. I love how I feel after a good long sleep. I hope that things get better with your sleep.
Kristen recently posted..How to Get Better Sleep: What I Have Learned
I have (almost always) slept for very few hours a night. But, if I ever feel tired, I know that a 15 minute nap is needed- and now. I don’t feel daunted to take one.
I am employed by our clients to provide top-notch services. If I am not at the top of my game, I am cheating them out of their needs. So, there’s no option.
I have heard all the statements about caffeine and sleep impairment. My answer to that is “know thyself”. I used to drink 65+ cups of coffee a day (Yes, I clocked it for a month.) And, multiple 2 litre bottles of pop (at least four). Every day. And, since I’ve stopped (ok, I do have zero to 4 cups of coffee a day now), my sleep pattern has not changed- one iota. (It’s been more than 15 years now.)
I do believe regular exercise is critical. Not only to keep in shape, but to keep my brain stimulated and to render me capable of putting in those extra moments of concentration or physical activity that are needed from time to time.
Oh, and another trick- if you don’t like the time change, act “as if”. Get to work later. Work later. Use your own time zone. I always operate on RST- Roy Standard Time.
Thanks Roy for your thoughtful comments. It is interesting how caffeine can affect one person but not another and how some people sleep more than others. People are so similar in some ways but different in others. I find that I am quite sensitive to caffeine and medicines for some reason. With medicines, if there is a side effect, I find a way to get it. I have totally gone without caffeine for a few years and found that I was calmer throughout the day and a better sleeper. But my thoughts also seem to happen in slow motion and afternoons are rough. Anyway, I am going to keep trying these things to see if I can get into a regular healthy sleep patter…at least until the next grant is due.
My sleep patterns do get changed with time, weather etc. But more than caffeine and physical activity what seems to affect my sleeping are the emotional factors and my state of mind. On days that I’m calmer and more relaxed, I tend to sleep better. This is where meditation helps me. I also do some breathing exercises to relax myself.
Sarah Reece recently posted..Bluehost Discount
My sleep is definitely disturbed when I am stressed and better when I am calm and relaxed. I have found that too much caffeine for me makes me feel more stressed and jittery, so reducing it has made me feel calmer, along with the yoga and just exercise in general. Thanks Sarah for stopping by!
I normally love sitting in front of my PC working day in day out. I dont spend much time sleeping not until when I was ill, I learnt my lesson in the hard way.
But now, I do sleep at any time I want but working overnight is one of my favourite and I don’t think I will stop for now because that is exactly when I’m able to do my best.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us here ):
Olawale Daniel recently posted..How to Build a Mailing List that Will Sell Your Products and Affiliates
I guess that we all have different sleep patterns. I always feel better when I have had plenty of sleep! Don’t work too hard!