Switch off your cell. Table your tablet. Close your computer.
( WAAAAAAIT!!!! Read this post first, please. )
It's 10 pm... 11... 12. How can your brain power down at night if your electronics are still buzzing and bright until the latest possible moment before your head hits the pillow? Studies have shown it takes time for the effects of the light rays to wear off, those light rays that keep your brain active and awake.
This week, I dare you to pick a "shut down" time, at minimum, 30 minutes before bed. Make it 60 for bonus points. After that time, give your mind and body time to relax before bed. Read a book, talk to your family, tidy up your room, wash and brush, etc. Do anything that does not require an on/off button. Even better still, make sure the 'off' electronics are not leaving hints of light in your room! Best to sleep in complete darkness.
Personally, I find folding and putting away laundry strangely relaxing. Write a (pen and paper) to-do list or schedule for tomorrow, so you can free your mind of planning anxiety as you lie in bed. My favorite wind-down activity is reading. It gets my mind off the low points of my day or the to-do list for tomorrow. Then, when my eyes begin to close, I put down my book, close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.
I find shutting down helpful. Maybe you will, too. Give it a try, I dare you. We'll follow up in one week, so take note of how you're sleeping!
Say, "Goodnight, iPad"... (click and watch:)
What helps you fall asleep at night? What tips or tricks have you learned for getting a good night's sleep?
PS: Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway for a month's supply of PopChips!
( WAAAAAAIT!!!! Read this post first, please. )
 |
| source |
It's 10 pm... 11... 12. How can your brain power down at night if your electronics are still buzzing and bright until the latest possible moment before your head hits the pillow? Studies have shown it takes time for the effects of the light rays to wear off, those light rays that keep your brain active and awake.
 |
| source |
This week, I dare you to pick a "shut down" time, at minimum, 30 minutes before bed. Make it 60 for bonus points. After that time, give your mind and body time to relax before bed. Read a book, talk to your family, tidy up your room, wash and brush, etc. Do anything that does not require an on/off button. Even better still, make sure the 'off' electronics are not leaving hints of light in your room! Best to sleep in complete darkness.
Personally, I find folding and putting away laundry strangely relaxing. Write a (pen and paper) to-do list or schedule for tomorrow, so you can free your mind of planning anxiety as you lie in bed. My favorite wind-down activity is reading. It gets my mind off the low points of my day or the to-do list for tomorrow. Then, when my eyes begin to close, I put down my book, close my eyes, and drift off to sleep.
I find shutting down helpful. Maybe you will, too. Give it a try, I dare you. We'll follow up in one week, so take note of how you're sleeping!
Say, "Goodnight, iPad"... (click and watch:)
 |
| Goodnight iPad / video source |
What helps you fall asleep at night? What tips or tricks have you learned for getting a good night's sleep?
PS: Don't forget to enter this month's giveaway for a month's supply of PopChips!
Ugh! I so need to do this more often!! Good reminder!
ReplyDeleteI blogged about this recently as it changed my life (and yammer about it more tomorrow :)) for me treating myself like a TODDLER and making myself have a winddown routine has worked wonders!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear it's working well for you!! Keep it up :)
Deleteplease make me do this. i'm the worst about checking email right before bed and having it keep me up.
ReplyDeleteOK: I dare you, Nicole :) You can still check your email last thing, but just 30 min earlier. Then make another 'right before bed' routine.
DeleteI get off of work at 10:30p so it's so hard to have a night time "shutdown" routine since I want to get to bed ASAP. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThat is tough. Just try letting your undressing, tooth brushing, and such be the last things you do, rather than checking your phone once more before crawing into bed. Those must be long days.
Deletei really need to get better at this. i use my phone and computer right up til bed..but i do try to read for a bit before falling asleep.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! I'm with you, reading is the best way to relax at night. I make an effort not to go back to the computer, phone, etc. once I've got my kids in bed around 8:30. Of course, being exhausted at the end of the day helps with nodding off rather quickly, too!
ReplyDeleteIts funny because I've blogged about how to get sleep, benefits of sleep yet they've been do as I say not as I do type of blogs!
ReplyDeleteI sleep 3 maybe 4 hrs max a night and use my ipad right up til the minute I go to bed, but once I lay down I'm usually out til around 4-430 then ready to go again ... I'm odd like that but have been this way for 30+ years (since I was 10)
Wow, I can't imagine living on such little sleep! To each his own? :)
DeleteTHIS. I need to do this so bad.
ReplyDeleteReading is the best thing for me. If I can read for 20-30 minutes, I usually fall right to sleep. Also, being careful what I eat for dinner, that also can have major reprucussions!
ReplyDeleteOooh, Great point, Ericka! I notice that too, sometimes. I've tried not to eat in the 2-3 hours before sleep so that I digest before lying down. Thanks for the addition!
DeleteSuch good advice!
ReplyDeleteI'm so bad at this. I literally lay in bed and am looking at my phone right before I fall asleep, and first thing when I wake up! As part of the Game On! Diet before my vacation in September, that was the "bad habit" I tried to curb, giving myself an hour before bed and an hour after waking to be "facebook free" - it didn't last beyond the game...
ReplyDeleteWell the game proved to you that you CAN do it, so try again! Make a new 'game' of it :) Dare you!
Delete