The Beginner's Guide to Better Sleep
The Beginner's Guide to Better Sleep When Your Life Won't Cooperate
I have two kids under three. In my house, sleep is inconsistent…at best. Shoutout to my wife (we’re doing it). Sleep hygiene feels like advice for someone with life different than my own.
So this isn't a lecture about hitting eight hours every night. Many of us can't fully control that right now. What you can control is what happens in the hours you do get.
Sleep is muy importante
Sleep is critical to how well we function. It's when your body repairs muscle, regulates hunger hormones, and consolidates everything you learned or trained that day. Want more energy? Faster recovery when you're building strength? Fewer midday cravings? Less mood swings? An easier time remembering things?
All of it improves with sleep quality.
So for someone like me who's getting fewer hours (quantity) of sleep… I need my quality of sleep to be HIGH. and thus…. This week’s topic:
How you can maximize your sleep quality:
Sleep Setting, Pre-Bed Routine, & Sleep Timing
Sleep Setting
Keep your room cool, somewhere around 65 to 68°F is optimal.
Dim the lights in your home for the last hour before bed.
Keep the TV out of the bedroom and a no phone zone around your bed.
Pre-Bed Routine
Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes of winding down before bed. Reading, stretching, a warm shower, anything that isn't a screen please.
Try to keep your wake time consistent, including weekends.
If you have a rough night, resist the urge to sleep in a lot to "catch up." Oversleeping has a ripple effect that makes the next day(s) even more difficult.
Try to finish eating 2 to 3 hours before bed. Close enough to "eat your dinner at 5:30, you're welcome."
Give yourself a no phone zone in the hour or two leading up to bed. (clean your house, read a book, go for a walk, WORKOUT, work on a personal project, journal, be bored)
Timing
Cut caffeine 8 to 10 hours before bed.
Get outside for a few minutes of natural light in the morning. It's the single best thing you can do to anchor your body clock for the day.
Alcohol should be reserved for great celebrations with great people. Otherwise, it’s crushing your sleep.
Sleep is a lagging metric:
You're not going to control every variable, especially when life throws stress, schedules, babies, hormones at you. But the room, the routine, and the timing are yours to work with regardless of what else is going on. Just like anything. Apply what you can, do your best with what you have.
This will not transform your sleep overnight (lol-nice). Sleep is a lagging metric. Stack up these protocols and your sleep quality will gradually increase.
If you want the fuller breakdown of strategies to use to get BETTER sleep…