Stress Part II: Sleep It Off

This is one of the most difficult strategies surrounding stress – getting proper sleep. It often becomes a vicious cycle – the sleep stress pattern. When many of us are under stress, one of the first things to go is proper sleep. Your mind does not settle, and it keeps you awake, or all the things in your mind that are causing the stress awaken you during the night.

Getting a good night’s sleep is a major component of good health (in partner with healthy eating, exercising, and not smoking). Sleep allows our body to go through two types of restoration: mental and physical. During certain sleep cycles, our body restores itself physically and allowing the body to re-energize (and yes, still burn calories). During other sleep cycles, our body restores itself mentally, allowing the brain to compartmentalize everything from the day and put it into memory. Think of it filing everything from the day. Generally, when we fall short on sleep, it is the mental restoration that is shortened, since the body must physically function to keep going.

So, when we are stressed and we are having trouble sleeping, and wake up even more stressed, what can we do?

Before turning to sleeping pills or alcohol, consider these tips:

1. Set your bedtime: plan what time you are going to go to bed tonight. It could be 10 pm or mid-night or even 2 am. Regardless of when it is, plan on it and set it.
2. Set a time limit: shut yourself off or shut things out after a certain time. Make it your own, and be firm. You need to relax before heading to bed – ideally a couple of hours, but realistically, let’s make it an hour before your bedtime.
3. What are you shutting off? Everything – the computer, phone, Blackberry, television… you are beginning a relaxation time before bed, which will be a ritual for you from now on. The iPod/CD player may remain “on” if it is playing relaxing music.
4. Setting your ritual: This can include your cup of (decaf) tea, washing your face, brushing your teeth, writing down (with a pen and paper) something you need to do tomorrow (do not touch that computer or other electronic gadget), taking a bath, or reading a book.
5. Don’t exercise: Please don’t take this literally, but take it to mean not to exercise within a 2-3 hours before you plan to go to be. Raising the body temperature and the heart rate doesn’t help you be calm for bedtime.
6. Avoid caffeine, food, and alcohol: These disrupt sleep if consumed too close to bedtime. Eating right before bed does not cause weight gain unless you are eating too many calories, but it can cause sleep disturbances if you have too much food in your belly.

Setting the Room:

• Sex and sleep: You’ve heard it before and you have it here. The bedroom should be used for only two things, and blogging or twittering isn’t one of them. Keep it to what it was meant for, and nothing more.
• Dark and cool: The room, not your partner. The room should be dark, and ideally cool. Not too warm – that’s what the covers are for.

While planning these sleep rituals may seem like they are taking away from “important” tasks that you need to accomplish, consider this: will you accomplish those tasks more efficiently after you have a good nights sleep, or just accomplish them and miss out on good sleep? Either way, they will get done, but will they be done better when you are in better mental shape?

Work on these things. It may take time and practice, but it is helpful to have these rituals to get you to bed on time and peacefully.

Sleep well tonight – or very soon.