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Earlier this year, I went through several weeks of sleeping poorly. I was having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up. Add this to the hypnogogic fantasies that I experience about once a week, and you have a recipe for exhaustion and irritability.
One of the ways that I attempted to improve my sleeping was by focusing on my sleep hygiene—the habits that surround my sleep and impact it. These can include my schedule, stress level, activities done right before bed, and more. Limiting what you do in your bed is a big element of sleep hygiene. And because of that, keeping your bed for only things that are relaxing is key. You want to condition your body to recognize your bed as a place for rest, not for thinking, planning your day, or replaying that conversation with your boss.
In addition to trying to train my mind to focus on relaxing thoughts and images, I’ve also been experimenting with changing a lifelong habit: reading in bed. This goes back to my childhood when my parents or older siblings would read to me as they tucked me into bed. However, as an adult, the light in my iPad is probably not helping me sleep, and more importantly, the ideas in my books are keeping me awake. My bed is not a place for new ideas. So instead of getting into bed and reading, I’m experimenting with getting into bed and trying to go right to sleep. More often than not, I can do it. And if I can’t, I’ll get up and read on the couch, so that I continue training my body to recognize that my bed is for sleeping, not tossing and turning and reading.
Now if this sounds crazy, and like me, you really cherish that reading time in bed, you could always cut back to pretty easy-to-read books. No scary, stressful books that will keep you turning the pages and thinking about the plot. Books before bed—if you must—should be beach reads so they can ease you into checking out of your day and prepare you for a healthy night’s sleep.
How is your sleep impacted by stress and how do you deal with it?