If you’re not getting enough sleep you will feel it throughout your day and eventually it is going to catch up with you. There are a few new habits you can adopt to help you with this.
Waking up and going to sleep at the same time every day. Our bodies really enjoy routine, if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, it can adapt to this and get into the rhythm of it. When your body knows what time you are going to go to bed, it will start the winding down process on the same schedule. How can you set yourself up to be sleeping and waking at the same time?
Have a night time routine. Helping your body know when it is time to start winding down is going to really help you fall asleep when your head hits the pillow. Get ready for bed at the same time every night, your night time routine can include a herbal tea, reading a book, taking a shower, journaling, meditating. Anything that works for you. What do you like doing before bed that winds you down? How can you do more of that to help your sleep habits?
Stop pressing the snooze button. When your alarm goes off you break your sleep cycle, if you press the snooze button, you are restarting the cycle and your alarm going off again is interrupting that and creating more tiredness. Pressing the snooze button is not giving you more sleep, it is actually making you more tired. How can you stop yourself from pressing the snooze button in the morning?
Get your blood pumping. It is really easy to crawl back under the covers, especially now that the weather is starting to get colder. You can put your alarm clock in a separate room, or just enough away from your bed so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Movement creates energy, this doesn’t have to involve running a marathon, some stretches, walking around a bit, a few quick exercises. Just to get your blood flowing and that energy moving. What seems like a feasible exercise for you to start doing when you wake up in the morning?
Avoid screens before bed. The lights on our devices are affecting our bodies melatonin production, melatonin is your sleep hormone and what signals your body to get ready for sleep. If you avoid your screens up to 2 hours before bed, your brain will be able to shut down a lot quicker when you are trying to sleep. What can you do instead of staring at a screen in the time leading up to your sleep?