Sleep
evilegg got me thinking about sleep. As most of you know, I work full-time on the graveyard shift. A lot of people are curious about when and how I sleep, and the answer is pretty much, "In the afternoon, and very well, actually." Part of being able to sleep well is being blessed as a naturally decent sleeper, but I *also* make an effort to maintain healthy sleep and stress-minimizing habits.
So while there's the usual cliche (though obviously correct) advice about reducing stress, eating right, exercising, having a good mattress, limiting nighttime fluids, and leaving plenty of time for sleep, I'll set that aside and address more immediate sleep tools.
Here are some of the practical tips I use that are less-commonly known:
1. Have your doctor check your vitamin D levels. Most people are deficient, especially people who work in northern latitudes. That dramatically effects your sleep cycle.
2. Protect your bedroom from ALL sunlight. That means *light-blocking curtains*, specifically. If you can, get the kind that have velcro strips to seal them together. Gauzy curtains and blinds aren't going to cut it. A single dime-sized patch of direct sunlight hitting your skin for a few minutes is all it takes to stimulate your body to end its sleep cycle. Never let even a small speck of sunlight touch you while you're attempting to sleep.
Even if the sun isn't touching you, general "morning" brightness also stimulates your brain into wakefulness. The darker your sleeping space, the better you'll sleep. Which brings us to:
3. No electronic screen usage within an hour of bedtime (preferably longer!). Tablets, computers, and phone screens all stimulate wakefulness in the brain, the same way sunlight does. Just a few seconds of checking email on your phone can stimulate wakefulness. Don't read yourself to sleep on an electric device - if you're going to read, use printed media *only*. If you can't read a thing without using a bedside lamp, you shouldn't be reading it in bed.
Also, bedrooms are for sleeping (and sex, or so I'm told). They are not for TV-watching. Ideally, there shouldn't be a TV in the room at all, but if you *must* have one, make sure it shuts off an hour before bedtime (set your TV's auto-off timer if need be). Do NOT fall asleep to the TV. You might be unconscious, but your brain is monitoring the sound from the TV and keeping you somewhat wakeful.
4. Foam earplugs. Get them and follow the directions exactly (roll them until they're very compressed, pull the rim of your ear up to open your ear canal, insert them fully your ear, then *hold* *them* *in* *place* *while* *they* *expand* *to* *form* *a* *seal*. (Be very careful to gently wiggle them to break the seal before you pull them out - don't yank or you could damage your eardrum!).
When earplugs are properly inserted, you should be able to hear a person speaking next to you and be able to hear piercing sounds (like your alarm clock), but ambient bothersome noise should fade to nothing. If you're hearing things like fans or road noise, you've inserted the earplug wrong. You might have a very slight sensation of fullness in your ear at first, but it should be unnoticeable within a few moments.
I've tried every brand of earplugs, and "Howard Leight - Max Lite Uncorded" is my favorite. Order them online, 200 pair are $19 on Amazon. These things are fucking amazing. I live literally a stone's throw from a major transit center with multiple buses constantly pulling up, beeping, making announcements, and when the earplugs go in, I don't hear any of it.
5. Your sleep partner(s) might be the culprit. Snoring and moving might be periodically disturbing you, perhaps not enough for conscious wakefulness, but enough to not feel fully rested. Consider sleeping totally alone (no pets!) in a guest room for a few weeks as an experiment to see if sleeping arrangements need to change permanently.
6. Set your alarm for the last possible moment before you have to get out of bed, then when the alarm goes off, get out of bed immediately. When you hit a snooze button, your aren't going "back to sleep," you're interrupting your sleep cycle, then starting it over again from the beginning. You will be much more rested if you sleep straight through until the last possible second before you need to get up.
7. Last, prescription medication is a very sticky area and I don't want to presume to get between anybody and their doctor. I don't want to turn this into a debate on medication. Personally, I believe that Ambien et all might be right for some people...but it's probably bad for most of them. It might help some people to fall asleep, but it is not a "sleep" drug, or at least, it sure as hell doesn't work as advertised and the way most people (even doctors!) assume it's supposed to.
I really hesitated to bring that up, but I can't in good conscience avoid it. There's plenty of evidence to support the theory that our modern lifestyle is what is disrupting our sleep. Sleep drugs aren't able to counteract perfectly against lifestyle-based sleep issues. So if lifestyle is disrupting sleep, then it is lifestyle that must be corrected. Ideally, every possible practical sleep solution should be attempted before sleep drugs are attempted.
8. Stress. And that thing about minimizing stress? It's a cliche, but it's actually the most important possible thing you can do in your life. Minimizing chronic stress should be done as consciously as maintaining diet and exercise. I've done a lot of hobbyist research on chronic stress, but this documentary is the best introduction of the subject that I've seen yet. If it doesn't make you examine your lifestyle, I don't know what else will (don't watch it in bed!). Good luck, and happy sleeping!
So while there's the usual cliche (though obviously correct) advice about reducing stress, eating right, exercising, having a good mattress, limiting nighttime fluids, and leaving plenty of time for sleep, I'll set that aside and address more immediate sleep tools.
Here are some of the practical tips I use that are less-commonly known:
1. Have your doctor check your vitamin D levels. Most people are deficient, especially people who work in northern latitudes. That dramatically effects your sleep cycle.
2. Protect your bedroom from ALL sunlight. That means *light-blocking curtains*, specifically. If you can, get the kind that have velcro strips to seal them together. Gauzy curtains and blinds aren't going to cut it. A single dime-sized patch of direct sunlight hitting your skin for a few minutes is all it takes to stimulate your body to end its sleep cycle. Never let even a small speck of sunlight touch you while you're attempting to sleep.
Even if the sun isn't touching you, general "morning" brightness also stimulates your brain into wakefulness. The darker your sleeping space, the better you'll sleep. Which brings us to:
3. No electronic screen usage within an hour of bedtime (preferably longer!). Tablets, computers, and phone screens all stimulate wakefulness in the brain, the same way sunlight does. Just a few seconds of checking email on your phone can stimulate wakefulness. Don't read yourself to sleep on an electric device - if you're going to read, use printed media *only*. If you can't read a thing without using a bedside lamp, you shouldn't be reading it in bed.
Also, bedrooms are for sleeping (and sex, or so I'm told). They are not for TV-watching. Ideally, there shouldn't be a TV in the room at all, but if you *must* have one, make sure it shuts off an hour before bedtime (set your TV's auto-off timer if need be). Do NOT fall asleep to the TV. You might be unconscious, but your brain is monitoring the sound from the TV and keeping you somewhat wakeful.
4. Foam earplugs. Get them and follow the directions exactly (roll them until they're very compressed, pull the rim of your ear up to open your ear canal, insert them fully your ear, then *hold* *them* *in* *place* *while* *they* *expand* *to* *form* *a* *seal*. (Be very careful to gently wiggle them to break the seal before you pull them out - don't yank or you could damage your eardrum!).
When earplugs are properly inserted, you should be able to hear a person speaking next to you and be able to hear piercing sounds (like your alarm clock), but ambient bothersome noise should fade to nothing. If you're hearing things like fans or road noise, you've inserted the earplug wrong. You might have a very slight sensation of fullness in your ear at first, but it should be unnoticeable within a few moments.
I've tried every brand of earplugs, and "Howard Leight - Max Lite Uncorded" is my favorite. Order them online, 200 pair are $19 on Amazon. These things are fucking amazing. I live literally a stone's throw from a major transit center with multiple buses constantly pulling up, beeping, making announcements, and when the earplugs go in, I don't hear any of it.
5. Your sleep partner(s) might be the culprit. Snoring and moving might be periodically disturbing you, perhaps not enough for conscious wakefulness, but enough to not feel fully rested. Consider sleeping totally alone (no pets!) in a guest room for a few weeks as an experiment to see if sleeping arrangements need to change permanently.
6. Set your alarm for the last possible moment before you have to get out of bed, then when the alarm goes off, get out of bed immediately. When you hit a snooze button, your aren't going "back to sleep," you're interrupting your sleep cycle, then starting it over again from the beginning. You will be much more rested if you sleep straight through until the last possible second before you need to get up.
7. Last, prescription medication is a very sticky area and I don't want to presume to get between anybody and their doctor. I don't want to turn this into a debate on medication. Personally, I believe that Ambien et all might be right for some people...but it's probably bad for most of them. It might help some people to fall asleep, but it is not a "sleep" drug, or at least, it sure as hell doesn't work as advertised and the way most people (even doctors!) assume it's supposed to.
I really hesitated to bring that up, but I can't in good conscience avoid it. There's plenty of evidence to support the theory that our modern lifestyle is what is disrupting our sleep. Sleep drugs aren't able to counteract perfectly against lifestyle-based sleep issues. So if lifestyle is disrupting sleep, then it is lifestyle that must be corrected. Ideally, every possible practical sleep solution should be attempted before sleep drugs are attempted.
8. Stress. And that thing about minimizing stress? It's a cliche, but it's actually the most important possible thing you can do in your life. Minimizing chronic stress should be done as consciously as maintaining diet and exercise. I've done a lot of hobbyist research on chronic stress, but this documentary is the best introduction of the subject that I've seen yet. If it doesn't make you examine your lifestyle, I don't know what else will (don't watch it in bed!). Good luck, and happy sleeping!
Click to view