This Wednesday: Sixteen tips for getting good sleep.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Sixteen tips for getting good sleep.

There’s a lot of advice out there about getting good sleep -- it's VERY important. We quickly adjust to being sleep-deprived, and don't notice that we aren't functioning at a normal level, but lack of sleep really affects us. If you're feeling blue or listless, try going to sleep thirty minutes earlier for a week. It can really help.

Here are tips that have helped me get good sleep:

Good habits for good sleep:
1. Exercise most days, even if it’s just to take a walk.

2. No caffeine after 7:00 p.m.

3. An hour before bedtime, avoid doing any kind of work that takes alert thinking. Addressing envelopes—okay. Analyzing an article—nope.

4. Adjust your bedroom temperature to be slightly chilly.

5. Keep your bedroom dark. Studies show that even the tiny light from a digital alarm clock can disrupt a sleep cycle. We have about six devices in our room that glow bright green; it’s like sleeping in a mad scientist’s lab. The Big Man has a new pet, a Roomba (yes, he loves his robot vacuum) that gives out so much light that I have to cover it with a pillow before bed.

6. Keep the bedroom as tidy as possible. It’s not restful to fight through chaos into bed.

If sleep won’t come:
7. Breathe deeply and slowly until you can’t stand it anymore.

8. If your mind is racing (you’re planning a trip, a move; you’re worried about a medical diagnosis), write down what’s on your mind. This technique really works for me.

9. Slather yourself with body lotion. This feels good and also, if you’re having trouble sleeping because you’re hot, it cools you down.

10. If your feet are cold, put on socks.

11. Stretch your whole body.

12. Have a warm drink. Supposedly warm milk contains melatonin and trytophan and so helps induce sleep, but in fact, a glass of milk doesn’t contain enough to have any effect. But it’s still a soothing drink. My nighttime favorite: 1/3 mug of milk, add boiling water, one packet of Equal, and a dash of vanilla. A real nursery treat.

13. Yawn.

14. Stretch your toes up and down several times.

15. Tell yourself, “I have to get up now.” Imagine that you just hit the snooze alarm and in a minute, you’re going to be marching through the morning routine. Often this is an exhausting enough prospect to make me fall asleep.

16. If you still can't sleep, re-frame: re-frame your sleeplessness as a welcome opportunity to snatch some extra time out of your day. I get up and tackle mundane chores, like paying bills, organizing books, or tidying up. Then I start the day with a wonderful feeling of having accomplished something even before 6:45 am.

What am I missing? Are there some more great sleep-inducing strategies out there?

*
I’m going to start sending out a short monthly newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, click on the link in the upper-right-hand corner of my blog. Or just email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. No need to write anything more than “newsletter” in the subject line. I’ll add your name to the list.

Comments

[DT]

Nice list! I would adjust #2 to no caffeine after 3pm, but maybe that's just my sensitivity. And one more:

If you can't sleep after doing all of the above, give up. Accept that you are not going to get a good night's sleep. Remember that nothing truly terrible is going to happen. You'll probably be a little grouchy and a little less productive the next day. That's okay. Insomnia isn't fatal unless you have an incredibly rare genetic disease (and you'd know if you did), so don't worry about it.

I had insomnia for about 2 years, and being able to accept that there would be good nights and bad nights helped me tremendously. I still have insomnia once in a while. When that happens, I read a book and watch the sun rise in the morning.

[Breanne]

Those are definitely some really good tips and suggestions. I know that I often grab a book and just start reading when I can't sleep. In college, I'd grab the books that I hated to read for class because they'd typically make me fall asleep (and if they didn't, then sweet! I'm done with that reading).

[Debi]

I will definitely have to try the "snooze-alarm fake-out" as a mental trick. It's true - it's never so easy to sleep deeply as once I've hit the snooze alarm.

I second DTs comment - I can't have caffeine after 2 p.m. or it delays my getting to sleep.

I have so much trouble getting my mind to stop racing that I've resorted to herbal supplements to get to sleep. The formula I use, "Revitalizing Sleep Formula," has valerian root and several other herbs that do an amazing job of turning off my internal voice and encouraging sleep without making me feel as though I'm being drugged.

[Stephanie]

I find that wearing earplugs when I'm trying to fall asleep helps a lot. I tend to wake up at some point and take them out, but being able to block out noise in that crucial getting-to-sleep period makes a big difference.

Also helpful if I'm having trouble sleeping because I'm tense or keyed up: while laying on my back, start at my toes and consciously relax each body part individually (toes, feet, ankles, lower leg, knees, etc.).

[BJ Fischer]

Good advice, as always. I have no caffeine after 2 pm and it helps. I found a book called "Say Goodnight to Insomnia" by a guy at Harvard who has a drug-free program on insomnia. This is not a plug, but it is a great book. The habits you have when you are awake are the things which are keeping you from sleeping.

[Lunette]

With racing thoughts, I find it helpful to just mentally repeat "be quiet, be quiet, be quiet" to get them to stop. Sometimes mentally repeating "sleep sleep sleep" will help me get to sleep.

I go through periods where my eyes seem to pop open and it wakes me up. During those times, I wear a blindfold to bed and it helps a lot.

[His wife]

When my husband can't sleep I start discussing relationship issues. This puts him to sleep immediately.

Yes. Sad but true. Luckily, after 20+ years we simply chuckle about it and I discuss anything I want him to HEAR while we are seated and wide awake! (Driving is always a good time!)

[The 'Stute Fish]

1) Read a boring book. Or a book you've read so many times you don't need to invest any thought in it.

2) Tell yourself stories in your head about fictional characters you make up.

3) Count backwards from 100, visualizing each number in a different font or color or pattern (to help you count slowly).

4) Have an orgasm.

5) Earplugs and/or a white noise generator can help.

Good list, BTW - as a former chronic insomniac, I've tried them all, and even though nothing works some nights, occasionally a trick is the difference between rest and anxious wakefulness.

[maya]

ummm...don't have kids? especially kids of the variety that don't ever seem to sleep.

;-)

[Suzyn]

I used to have terrible trouble falling asleep - it would regularly take me an hour or more, after lights out, to fall asleep. Then I started to take really high-quality vitamins - that did the trick.

[jodi]

Take a warm shower -- I find this one very helpful!

[Tino Schwarze]

@Gretchen, you might want to get rid of all these devices. It not only saves power, but will make your sleeping room a lot quieter (both percieved and non-percieved like lower EM emissions).

When I'm going to sleep, the only active devices in my whole flat are the fridge and a radio-controlled clock in my bedroom which only emits light if I press a button. I don't actually use the clock, I use the alarm of my mobile which is turned off and lies beside my bed (so it's some kind of active as well).

I also found it useful to do a meditation. I'm often lying on my back, just focusing my whole body, perceiving how it feels. It only takes a few minutes and it get's pretty warm. I consciously relax.

Unfortunately, often my mind gets pretty clear and sharp, while my body relaxes. Hm, I need to work on that. :-) But I always had a good time and I often felt very rested the next day even though I didn't sleep very long.

Tino.

[kadavy]

I usually just sit in bed with a small lamp on, and stare at the wall - and think. Srsly. Not deep thinking, just sort of letting them "roll off" of my mind. Before I know it, my eyes are heavy and I turn off the light.

Since I have sinus issues, I think I sleep more deeply if I get my breathing going with this exercise: http://snipr.com/28ukb

That's an interesting idea about imagining getting up. I think after awhile you start to have a Pavlovian response to the sound of your alarm. What if you were to crank a music box every time you went to bed? I would guess the song would eventually have an effect of making you sleepy.

[Andrea]

As a lifelong insomniac for whom nothing works all the time--including sleeping pills--there is one thing that I've found very helpful: audiobooks on the ipod (or ohter mp3 device). You don't have to turn on a light, as you do when you're reading; you can set a sleep timer so it turns itself off when you doze off; and you can close your eyes and relax while someone speaks soothingly in your ear. It's just enough of a distraction to quiet the racing mind. It doesn't always work, but it's more useful than most other things I've tried.

Just make it a soothing audiobook. No thrillers or mysteries or romances. ;)

[Nicky]

Don't display any clocks, digital or otherwise. Knowing the time can make you panic - you start focusing on how little sleep you'll get.

I agree with the exercise tip, and something I'm working on - losing weight. Better health means more energy during the day to help counter those nights when sleep won't come.

[Maria Helm]

Excellent list...and I love everybody's comments.

Reframing works great for me. One caution, though. I've found it has to be something that doesn't involve a lot of energy, and which I can easily put down when the sleep urge hits. Tidying the house doesn't work, because there's always one more thing and I just keep going, plus it requires physical exercise and wakes me up. Often, just re-doing the bedtime routine works, and that's what I've taught my kids (preteens) to do...and not to worry about it.

[adora]

They sell Roomba "clothes" at this site. Very cool. "Sooshi the Goldfish" is super cool! http://www.myroombud.com/buy.html

It also helps if you dim the lights several hours before bed. Our body produce melatonin, a sleep induce hormone, when it is dark.

[Zyada]

These are the suggestions I usually pass out. I find that #5 one of the most effective tricks I've ever tried.

I had a bad problem with insomnia for many years, and did some research on it. Here are the things I’ve found that help the most.

1. Don't take the sleeping pills. Although they are not addictive in the way we tend to think (you won't jones for them if you miss taking them) they are addictive in the sense that once you have taken them for a while, you will have to take them to get to sleep, but they won't have the same effect they used too. This is because you tend to not get the necessary REM sleep you need to be rested. If you must take a sleeping pill, take it well before you go to sleep. For instance, I prefer to take sleeping pills 2 hours before I go to sleep, so that the pill can get into my system and make me drowsy before I get into bed, then get out of my system (hopefully) early enough that I get some normal sleep.

2. Try to go to bed at about the same time every night. You have some wiggle room on this, but if you stay out on Saturday night till 3, it'll be harder to go to sleep at 10PM Sunday.

(Which somewhat contradicts:)

3. If possible, don't go to bed if you're not sleepy. Note - one thing I have read and found to be true is that you have to be awake for 12 hours before you can go back to sleep. So if you sleep till noon, again, you won't be sleepy at 10PM.

4. Don't spend more than 15-30 minutes trying to get to sleep. If you notice that you've been in bed more than 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something for a while. Make sure what you do isn't going to make you more hyper; e.g. no exercising or energetic music or writing posts to online debates.

5. When you go to bed, choose a chore or some other task that you do not want to do and tell yourself that if you are still awake in thirty minutes you will do that task. Then, if you are still awake, get up and do your chosen task. This is my favorite suggestion, as it has worked nearly every time I've used it. .

Those are the most useful suggestions I have. Other things you can try:

Before you start getting ready for sleep, turn off high energy music and turn the lights down. I love R&R music, but I went through a period where I had to turn the radio off every night about an hour before I went to bed, or I would be too wired to sleep. And our bodies react to reduced light by producing melatonin which puts us to sleep.

Get plenty of exercise, but not right before bed. (Unless you're weird like me - exercise right before bed just puts me to sleep)

Another suggestion that might work is to relax your body, consciously, one area at a time, starting from your feet. You think about the ball of your left foot and relax it, then the ball of your right foot, then the arch of your left foot, etc. You have to concentrate (pretty hard) on what you are doing

[Ben]

EXERCISE EXERCISE
EXERCISE EXERCISE
EXERCISE EXERCISE
EXERCISE EXERCISE

I see you list it as #1, but it's just way more important than any of the others and cannot be understated.

No amount of magic potions, foot lotion or pills are going to help you as much as getting exercise during the day.

[Tim Noyce]

I apparently have a major resistance to caffeine: my espresso habit does not prevent sleep as far as I can tell... I do find that meditating, focussing on my breathing and letting the thoughts come and go as they please is a quick path to relaxation and sleep.

[Grant]

To calm the racing thoughts, I try very hard to keep my mind out of the recent past and the near future. No rehearsing what didn't go right in the day that's past, no fretting over all the stuff I've got to do the next day. Instead, I spend my drifting off to sleep time reminiscing about the distant past or the far future -- at least a couple years off in either direction works well for me.

Aside from that, I second the suggestion of an orgasm. Works fast, most every time.

[Helen]

My husband loves to talk about trucks, something that drives me crazy because I'm in no way interested in trucks. I then realized that snuggling up to him in bed and asking him to tell me the latest on trucks was the perfect way to bring on sleep for me. Unfortunately, he realized what I was doing and I lost my quick fix for sleep! Who knew that talking about trucks got him jazzed and he wouldn't be able to sleep after a good truck conversation? Anyway, my point is that sometimes our sleep problems might relate to how we are relating to our sleep partners. In these cases "identify the problem" is a necessary strategy.

[Helen]

My husband loves to talk about trucks, something that drives me crazy because I'm in no way interested in trucks. I then realized that snuggling up to him in bed and asking him to tell me the latest on trucks was the perfect way to bring on sleep for me. Unfortunately, he realized what I was doing and I lost my quick fix for sleep! Who knew that talking about trucks got him jazzed and he wouldn't be able to sleep after a good truck conversation? Anyway, my point is that sometimes our sleep problems might relate to how we are relating to our sleep partners. In these cases "identify the problem" is a necessary strategy.

[Helen]

One thing that has really helped me recently is establishing a bed-time routine. I put some water on to boil for a bedtime blend of herbal tea that I keep exclusively for bedtime (in the hope my brain will start to associate sleep with the flavour!), water my plants with the bucket we keep in the shower while it boils, make the tea and take it to bed, write five points in my Gratitude Journal for the day and put some clothes out for tomorrow while it cools, drink the tea, brush my teeth and fall asleep. (Well sometimes, I read a little first!) Establishing a pre-sleep ritual has had a really positive impact on my insomnia.

I'm totally with your husband on the Roomba love, by the way!

[Wendy Bussell]

I have trained myself to enjoy reading in the living room. When I go to bed, and start to read I have a hard time staying awake.
My biggest problem is staying asleep. So I switch venues. Sleep on the sofa,read blogs until the sand in the eye effect happens, clean house, pay bills, do mundane things until sleep happens.
If I am too tired the next day, I am great with power naps.