Here our Occupational Therapist tells you all about how to get better sleep (and it’s not just about avoiding caffeine and blue light!)
Lots of us have probably heard about how to get better sleep such as don’t eat late at night, don’t look at your phone and don’t drink caffeine late! But is it really that straight forward?
Everybody’s sleep patterns, routines and habits are different including how many hours sleep we need to what prevents us from falling asleep or what causes us to wake up in the night.
Our Occupational Therapist gives a fuller oversight into some of the sleep tips that may not be as well known, but are equally as important!
- Foods high in fibre and protein are known to help our sleep, whereas ultra processed (junk) food is found to worsen our sleep.
- How busy we are during the day can impact how easily we can switch off at night. Try learning to ‘switch off’ during the day and learn to just ‘be’ and not ‘do’ i.e. stop and rest for a few minutes without doing anything else or just find times to slow down a bit!
- Spending time in nature has proven to help sleep, whether that’s green or blue spaces so going for a walk really can help!
- And if you don’t have time to go for a walk in nature as such, just getting outside in the daylight as early as possible tells your circadian rhythm that it’s time to wake up and in approx 16 hours time, it will be time to sleep. Artificial lights, the winter season and not getting outside confuses our brains in not knowing when is bed time. If you can’t get easily outside or wake up in winter before the daybreaks, then a 10,000 LUX Seasonal Affective Disorder lamp does a good replacement to the sunlight and can often help people through the darker months.
- Alcohol may help you get to sleep (A.K.A. ‘pass out’) but it actually worsens the quality of sleep you have, so ideally don’t rely on alcohol to aid sleep if you want to wake up feeling refreshed.
- The bed should be associated with bed related activities i.e. sleeping and maybe intimacy with a partner. Don’t be tempted to get your laptop out or scroll on your phone (or atleast not for long periods of time, a quick scroll isn’t the end of the world).
- Wake up the same time every day. Don’t get tempted by laying in at weekends as it will impact your sleep routine (and that circadian rhythm we’ve already mentioned). A (roughly) consistent bedtime is as vital too.
- Exercise helps our body to wake up, so it’s good to do it in the morning. Don’t do intense exercise before bedtime.
- The blue light in our devices, isn’t necessarily the only problem which is affecting sleep but it is how busy our devices make us. As mentioned above, how busy we are (even if just scrolling on our phones, on our work laptops etc) mean that are always ‘wired’ and less able to truly relax.
- Did you know it’s not important to consider the amount of hours you sleep, but the time you go to bed makes a difference too! The optimum time to go to bed would be between 10-11pm which is when your natural circadian rhythm’s recognise it’s dark and therefore bedtime.
- Also, remember that for some of us, the more we worry about sleep and analyse it, the more it doesn’t help.
- Overall, we need to remember to prioritise our sleep, not letting other tasks get in the way, as sleep is vital for our overall wellbeing.
- And remember, that what works for one person, may not work for someone else. You might need to experiment with options… different bedtimes, darker rooms, less caffeine, cooler bedroom. None of these may work for you, but they also… might. So give it a go and if you need anymore help with your sleep routine, then you know where we are!
You can contact our team to arrange an Occupational Therapy session either face to face or online where we can discuss your individual routine, habits, challenges and make an action plan.
Everybody is different and this advice is generic, so always seek medical advice or that from an appropriate professional to give tailored advice to you.
For some further advice, see https://thesleepcharity.org.uk/information-support/ or to book an Occupational Therapy appointment see Reclaim Mobility | Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy in Essex