For a long time, I sucked at sleep.
But a handful of years ago I started to wonder if I might be capable of learning to sleep better: I started thinking it might be a skill I could work on rather than an external variable over which I lacked any power.
There are still nights, every once in a while, when my internal processes are in flux and no matter how mightily I struggle I can’t make it work; I’m a zombie the next day and it sucks.
Much of the time, though, I feel pretty confident I’ll get around eight hours of shut-eye each night and that those hours will be productive in the sense that I wake feeling rested and regenerated rather than sluggish or drained.
Reaching this (still imperfect, but way better than before and still-improving) point has taken a lot of time and effort. It’s also required semi-regular recalibrations and experimentation; everyone’s different, and those differences extend to how we optimally prepare for and undertake the process of putting ourselves to sleep.
In general, though, it helps to turn down lights, set aside screens, turn down the thermostat, and engage in calming, winding-down activities in the hour or so leading up to your planned bedtime.
I personally find (and there’s some research to back this up) that reading fiction in bed (on a non-backlit Kindle screen, but a soft reading light and tangible book works, too) puts me in the right state of mind for a restful segue into drowsiness. I also find that reading a bit of poetry before heading to bed amplifies that effect (this is a relatively new habit, but it’s been really enjoyable so far).
Blackout curtains are magical, and if you can avoid working where you sleep and either remove or cover all sources of light in your bedroom, you’ll tend to have better slumber-outcomes (there’s research for that latter point, as well).
A little meditation (or pseudo-meditation, like calmly sitting and thinking without distraction for five or ten minutes) can help too, I find. It’s useful to untangle our minds and bring worries and concerns to the forefront so they can be addressed before getting into bed (which in turn helps ameliorate those “can’t conk out because my mind won’t shut up” sorts of sleeplessness).
It can also be beneficial to stop eating and drinking (anything but water) by 8pm. Your timing on this will vary, but the idea is to stop consuming stuff an hour or two before you begin segueing toward sleep so your stomach’s activities don’t keep the rest of your body from fully shutting down.
None of this is revelatory—and again, I’m still working on this myself after years of not thinking anything sleep-related was within my power to tweak—but getting consistent, quality sleep (and knowing I can get it) has been such a value-add to my life that I like to periodically bring it up in the hope that these little tip tidbits might help spark positive change (and sleep-empowerment) in someone else, as well.
Sleep is a skill like any other. That means you can get better at it, train yourself, train your body and mind to do it more proficiently.
It takes time and effort and experimentation, but in my experience at least it’s an investment worth making.
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