I know what you're thinking - "but I never go to bed early!"
Don't worry, you are not alone. I spent most of my nights staying up until silly o'clock, and when my dreaded alarm went off at 7:30am I regretted my decision and promised myself that I would not do the same the next night. I broke my promise...
Don't worry, you are not alone. I spent most of my nights staying up until silly o'clock, and when my dreaded alarm went off at 7:30am I regretted my decision and promised myself that I would not do the same the next night. I broke my promise...
However, eventually it was time to banish my habit once and for all - exam season was approaching, and we all know that we need to be fully charged before an exam. I tried and tested various techniques and I'll be showing you the ones that worked for me, and if they work for you also, awesome! Hopefully tomorrow morning you will wake up like this...
instead of this...
Trick No. 1 - Use your energy.
I don't know about you but sometimes when I get ready for bed, I suddenly have bundles of energy as if by magic (like, why didn't I have this energy when I needed it this morning?) so what I decided to do was to try and use my energy throughout the day so when it came to going to bed, I was more tired and therefore get to sleep earlier. What I do most weeknights is go to the gym but honestly I don't blame you if you won't do that because...well...its the gym. You can literally do ANYTHING. Walk home instead of taking the bus. Study for that test, I know you don't want to hear it but I'm looking out for ya. Walk your dog. Do some housework, wait no, that was a terrible idea I'm sorry. Even something like singing in the shower, I bet you didn't know that singing in the shower can burn an extra 10-20 calories per song, depending on the volume and pitch of your voice. If you did know that then I feel pretty stupid right now. A word of warning however, if you workout or something right before you go to bed, it is actually counterproductive, according to science.
Trick No.2 - Drink up.
Okay so what I like to before I go bed is make myself a nice warm drink, it can be anything you like, I personally use green tea because I think its yummy and the herbs in green tea have relaxing properties which helps to rest nerves, perfect to help you sleep. However, if it is like 40 degrees where you are then have a cold drink like milk, it doesn't even have to be cow's milk; I really like drinking hazelnut milk before bed in the summer. Another one of my favorite 'before bedtime' drinks is a good ol' hot chocolate. If you decide to have a hot chocolate, don't go crazy on the chocolate because a lot of sugar may keep you up , but a tiny amount will sure help your brain to shut down orexin, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for keeping your body awake. Whatever drink you choose, make sure you have it about an hour before you go to sleep because you don't want to be waking up at 3am needing a wee, because that will disrupt your sleep cycle and when it'll be time to wake up, you won't be fully refreshed.
Trick No.3 - Get into your zone.
If you got that Kanye reference, then I love you. For me, when I want to fall asleep, I try and think of a blank space ( not the Taylor Swift sort of blank space but I think of nothing). Just trying to clear my mind from the thoughts/events of the day just relaxes me. If you have some difficulty at attempting this, then write everything you are thinking of down, as that helps you declutter your brain, ready for you to have a good night's sleep
Trick No.4 - End of the day, end of the shows.
Warning, This is a very hard trick, as you can tell. I love watching many tv shows just as the next person (currently re-watching season 3 of OITNB), and its always a temptation to watch one more episode of your favorite shows (darn you cliffhangers!), but if you wait until the next day to watch it, it will benefit you in more ways than one. Firstly, if you were to watch that episode, you wouldn't actually be able to recall 40% of what happened in that show, as your mind is preparing you to sleep, it doesn't retain as much information as it would during the day, and what is the point of that? Also, as the time passes by before you watch your next episode, your excitement will build up and will make your overall experience more enjoyable. But back to the topic of this post, watching a screen for a long period of time, whether it is a tv or laptop screen, will cause a strain on your eyes due to the light bouncing from the screen to your eyes, and as we all know, eye strain can cause bad eyesight in the long run. And last but not least, with the 60% of information you did retain from the show, will most likely stay in your mind for a while, making it more difficult to carry out Trick No.3, and making it longer for you to fall asleep.
Trick No.5 - Sweet reads, sweet dreams.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I would never have considered doing this, not because I don't like reading, but because I never thought it would relax me and prepare me for sleep as much as it did. Believe it or not, it actually helps reading before you fall asleep, it helps you to focus while keeping the atmosphere peaceful to go to sleep. Personally, I think its a great substitute for watching a tv show.
So, those are my 5 tricks to help you to fall asleep, these are what helped me and maybe hopefully they can help you too! Feel free to put in the comments if these tips helped or not, and maybe add what you find whatever helps you fall asleep...and I'll talk to you soon!
Lots of love,
Yasmin
xxx