This article is a direct continuation of the previously presented tips and tricks for better sleep and easier falling asleep from Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep”. In the first section, we saw the first six tips. Now we are moving on to part two. These tricks will help you if you have troubles falling asleep or keep uninterrupted sleep, however, even for those heavy sleepers out there, these tips and tricks can come in handy if you are ever faced with a sleepless night. The second half of the twelve tips, also found in his book are as follows:
- Try not to take naps after 3pm. Although naps can make up for lost sleep, and naps are amazing, napping after 3pm can seriously disrupt our sleeping schedule and make it more difficult to fall asleep.
- Relax before bed. This seems antithetical since sleep is there to help you relax. We do tend to overschedule our days though, and an activity such as reading or listening to music can help you unwind and fall asleep faster.
- Take a hot bath before bed. Especially if you have trouble falling asleep. The temperature of the bath will help your body temperature drop, which will help you fall asleep faster.
- The trifecta of gool quality sleep is – dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom. A distraction free bedroom is a healthy bedroom, and TVs, phones, even clocks on the nightstand can cause minor and major distraction from sleeping. Although not easy in today’s day and age – boundaries between our daily activities and the bedroom as important to be established.
- Have the right sun exposure. Everything in excess can potentially be damaging. Around 30 minutes of sun exposure a day, especially around the morning is ideal to fall asleep faster and sleep better. Not to mention – the vitamin D is very beneficial.
- And finally – do not lie in bed awake. If you find yourself being unable to sleep over twenty minutes or so – get up and do some relaxing activity before trying to fall asleep again. The anxiety of being unable to fall asleep is a vicious cycle of making you even less able to sleep.
Goran Stevanovski MD, MA
