Go to Bed. Get Up. Repeat.

I’ve never been one of those people that can fall asleep anywhere at any time, and I’ve always been a bit jealous of those who can. In fact, I have never been that great at sleeping. But, lately it’s been much, much worse. For the last couple of years, I have regularly had one or two nights a week where I really struggle to fall asleep. For the last week, though, I’ve been averaging about 3-4 hours per night. Previously, I could brush it off as just a bad night here and there, but I’m pretty convinced, now, that I have full-blown insomnia, and that little sleep is just not sustainable for me.

Of course, my mind jumps to wanting a quick, effective solution like sleep aids, but I know that’s not a good long term solution, so I’m going to need to make some major changes.

Social Media #

Today, I deleted all social media apps from my phone. I know this will be hard for me, and while social media is not a significant source of stress for me, it does lead to me using my phone a lot more than I need to. My hope is that not having those dopamine hits to reach for will lead to a little less stress overall. I’ll also, hopefully, spend more time reading or playing games or… Literally anything but scrolling.

Screen Time #

Along with removing social media apps, I’ve set a couple of limits on my screen time:

1. A limit of 30 minutes per day in the News app
2. Only a few select apps allowed after 9:00PM

My hope is that these limits, combined with the removal of social media, will force me to seek other, more relaxing things to do both throughout the day and close to bedtime.

Along with limits on my phone, I’m also going to try to stop using my computer at least 30 minutes to an hour before I go to bed. If that’s no enough time, I’ll increase it as needed. I watch a lot of YouTube, and I’m often in bed for almost an hour before going to sleep just watching pointless videos. That’s a habit I think I finally need to stop.

Circadian Rhythm #

One thing I’ve noticed is that, on the weekends, I’m frequently going to bed at 11ish, but not falling asleep until 1AM or so. I’ll then naturally wake around 7:30 or 8:00AM. This makes me think that A. my nature circadian rhythm is later than my typical weekday schedule (10:30PM - 6:00AM). To try to “train” my rhythm, I’ll start going to bed closer to midnight for a couple nights, see how that goes, and then work my way earlier to find a balance between getting a full night’s rest and falling asleep quickly. This may require eventually pushing my wake time back a bit. We’ll see!

Sleep Hygiene #

Some of the other points on this list are already considered sleep hygiene, but the aspect I’m highlighting here is the idea of making your bed a sacred space for sleeping. Basically, don’t do anything in bed that isn’t sleep-related.

Additionally, if I’m struggling to sleep for more than 20-30 minutes, I need to get up, do something relaxing for a while, and then try again. Right now, I hate this routine, especially since I’m constantly worried about waking Jess up, but if it works long term, I’ll keep at it!

Daily Exercise #

During a typical week, I try to walk at least 20-30 minutes per day and do a workout at home at least twice. However, I may try increasing those numbers just a bit in an effort to make sure my body is nice and tired. I also need to try to keep those rhythms going on the weekend.

Diet #

Last, but not least, I need to rein in my diet. I’ve been eating a little worse, lately, in part due to increased stress and anxiety. It’s no surprise that diet has a significant affect on sleep quality. Basically, I’m using my calorie counter again and will be paying more attention to eating more proteins, veggies, and fruits, and less fast food and ice cream.

Anyways, wish me luck! And if you have any other tips, send them my way.