Last time, we looked briefly at dealing with insomnia. One of the bits of advice given was to develop a sleep routine to help program your subconscious to get it to shut up and go to sleep. I’d thought I’d flesh out a bit about what I meant. But remember — insomnia needs to checked out by a doctor. Please don’t use this article in the place of your doctor’s advice.
Stick To Your Bed Time
One of the joys of being an adult is that you can go to bed when you feel like it. Many of us have childhood memories of being yelled at for “staying up past your bed time.” We then stay up for another ten minutes just to spite those memories. But revenge can only go so far. Choose a practical bed time and go to bed as close to this time as you can. By “bed time”, I mean in the bed, covers drawn up and lights out.
Get Any Pets Involved
After a couple of weeks, your pets can pick up really quick when you are settling down and thinking of going to bed in a couple of hours. They can help — especially dogs and cats. They will even stare at you when you go off schedule as if to remind you that it’s time for bed. Although it takes about two weeks for a human to pick up a new habit, dogs seem to be able to pick up a habit in a few days.
The Big Chill
Some people only need an hour to chill out after a hard work day — I need two. This is where you relax physically and mentally. You use this time to indulge in relaxation (but not through chemical means). I like to have herbal tea, listen to some music, read with my feet up and peek over the pages to watch my dog on my bed staring at me. About a half hour before I actually turn out the light and cuddle up with my dog, I watch my goldfish for a while.
Play around with a sleep routine to find out what chills you out and gets your body to physically relax.
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Write a Comment»Noise a cause of insomnia environment such as traffic, airplanes, television, and other noises can disturb sleep even when they don’t cause the individual to wake up.
I definitely think getting a good sleep routine is important. I never thought about getting pets involved (or them involving themselves) but you make a great case
Nice blog!
I always wondered why my Pomeranian gave me these looks late at night. That’s great to know. Even my dogs keep me in check!
For good sleep always person should be relax and fresh mind help for deep sleep by which fresh morning will lot help for person to do work.
Sleep routine is important. Our bodies love it and work much better that way.
Consistency works best. Go to bed and wake at the same time very day, including weekends.
Toughest part for me is going to bed and turning off all the ‘noise’ (tv, computer). I have to remind myself that it all will be there in the morning and how much better I will be feeling.
Pick a routine that works for you and stick with it!
I totally agree, a routine is incredibly important when it comes to sleeping because we all have internal biological clocks. We have a certain rhytm that we get used to and if we sleep at irregular times the body is not prepared and therefore cannot fully recover itself in the time of sleep.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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I think the lack of routine is my problem. I work from home so I’m usually on my computer from the time I wake up from the time I go to bed, and it always ranges in time. Sometimes I’ll work till midnight, sometimes 4am and I generally wake up anywhere from 9-10am. Most of the time I’ll over sleep and still feel horrible but when I get <8 hours of sleep a night, I feel awesome when I wake up.
Hello , Good article I really enjoy reading this article. Thanks for the post.
Usually a good exercise program will help you get the sleep.
The question is do we establish a single wake up time, bed time, or both? Ideally, its both but having one or the other should work.
Another question is how much sleep is enough? The general consensus is 8 hours but new research is proving otherwise.