I wish... I went to bed earlier (part 5)

I wish... I went to bed earlier (part 4)

Do you want:

• decreased dependence on coffee?
• increased memory?
• decreased inflammation?
• decreased fat?
• increased creativity?
• longer life?
• decreased risk of depression?
• lower stress?

Yeah, me too. 

Want to know how?

No, it's not dress up as Scooby Doo or pass out on the Tube.

It's sleep for 7 hours or more every night.

Today somebody very special to me sent me a link to this: A Report On Sleep by The Do Lectures. I read it and I loved it and I read it again. It reassured me in so many ways that my wish of the month is important.

Here's why...

According to the report, the average amount of sleep per night is 6 hours. With increasingly busy lives and more distractions online than ever before (ahem), sleep is being sacrificed.

Have you seen the Virgin Media advert, Introducing Night Owl? The owl sits in bed watching box sets on a laptop whilst her partner sleeps. Apparently that's OK and perfectly normal. 

Worrying, isn't it.

The report goes on to say that 72% of people don't sleep well after alcohol. I can testify to that! You'll know why if you read my last blog post. 

Furthermore, 88% of sleep problems are caused by stress and anxiety. Perhaps many of those people see their GP about it, because the report goes on to state that 24% of people in the UK were prescribed sleeping pills in 1 year alone. That's 15,300,000 people!

So, as a nation, we're either downing caffeine to stay awake, popping pills to go to sleep, or watching Game of Thrones until the early hours. No wonder we're all so bloody tired. 

And I haven't even mentioned children or neighbours or jetlag... Let's not go there.

So what's the answer?

The report lists 6 tips:

1. Take 3 deep breaths before you close your eyes (to reduce worry and stress).
2. Before you sleep, write down what you will do when you wake up (to ease your mind).
3. Invest in some top notch ear plugs (to block out disruptive sounds).
4. Exercise in the day (to get rid of restless energy).
5. Set a sleep schedule and stick to it (for consistency).
6. Set a timer before you nap for 15 minutes (to avoid long naps).

Do those 6 things, plus switch off your gadgets as much as possible, give alcohol and caffeine a miss, and go to bed a bit earlier... and you might get those magic 7 hours of sleep.

There are only a few more sleeps left this month. I intend to make them good ones.

(This blog post contains information interpreted by me from A Report On Sleep by The Do Lectures. I suggest that you read the original report for accuracy.)

Still awake? What do you wish you could do? Do it in July. It's only a few days away.

I wish... I went to bed earlier (part 2)

One week into my new wish, am I going to bed earlier?

During the week (AKA school nights), yes. Lights out by 11:15pm on average.

At the weekend? Awful! Awfully late, I mean (the weekend was brilliant). Saturday and Sunday bedtimes were respectable; midnight or just after. But Friday... I didn't sleep until 4am!

Oh well, it was a fancy dress party; it would have been rude not to.

I don't mind staying up late at the weekend, as long as I don't have big plans for the next day (i.e. a shift at work, a wedding, or another late-night social occasion) and as long as I feel OK (i.e. not desperately tired, ill or tormented by a thumping headache). 

Fortunately, that was the case this weekend. Despite going to bed five hours later than planned, I slept deeply and felt fine on Saturday. 

Sure, I felt tired by the early evening. But I stayed awake. I didn't nap. I got back into a relatively normal sleeping pattern as soon as possible.

This week, if all goes to plan (yeah right), I'll go to bed at 11pm on six consecutive nights. I've got a new trick up my sleeve: An alarm on my mobile phone to remind me to switch off gadgets so I can properly unwind before bed. My friend Jo Robinson suggested it, and I reckon it's worth a shot.

After all, lots of us set an alarm to wake up. Why not set an alarm to go to sleep?

Do you wish you went to bed earlier? What time would be ideal for you?

I wish... I went to bed earlier (part 1)

On the whole, I sleep well. I feel tired when I go to bed, I fall asleep fairly quickly and I usually don't wake up again until my alarm goes off in the morning. 

I'm lucky, I know. Some people struggle to sleep every night of their life (hopefully they're bankers).

Sometimes I don't sleep well. I'll lie awake, rolling from my left side to my right and back again, and flipping my pillows over to find the sweet spot. Normally wedged between my knees!

I know what causes me to sleep badly:

• staying up late the night before and sleeping in too long
• working late into the evening, especially on my computer
• watching TV before bedtime (just one more episode of Peep Show!)
• worrying about something that's going to happen in the next few days
• a strenuous cycle late in the evening (combined with high sugar energy foods)
• being too hot or too cold
• sharing a bed with someone who snores or fidgets (I'm a total hypocrite, of course)
• too much noise outside my bedroom (I said form an orderly queue...)
• an uncomfortable mattress or bedding.

Knowing these things means that I'm quite good at avoiding them. Except for one...

I stay up too late.

I am a total sucker for squeezing in a little bit more work or a bit more tidying up or more TV whilst I make a sandwich for tomorrow (and, while I'm at it, a late night snack).

Even when I do go to bed at a reasonable hour, I can't resist picking up a book and reading to the end of the chapter. And then peeking at the start of the next chapter. And then reading half of that until my eyes can't stay open any longer.

It's not unusual for me to go to sleep well after midnight.

Every time that happens, I know what will happen the next day. I'll struggle to wake up, press the snooze button too many times, and I'll be grumpy because my head aches and everything feels like an effort. Heaven forbid there's a quiet spell during the day. That's when the eyes start to droop...

Commence the most boring battle in the world; the battle to stay awake.

I don't always win. Occasionally I'll have a 'little lie down' after dinner, which accidentally turns into a two- or three-hour slumber. I'll wake up feeling wobbly and woozy and then, a few hours later, when it's time to go to bed again, PING! - I'm wide awake.

So, this month, I will go to bed by 11pm as often as I can. And when I say 'bed' I mean lights out for sleepy time, not sexy time, or reading-in-bed time. Sleepy time.

How will a regular early-to-bed sleeping pattern affect me? Hopefully I'll feel more awake during the day and have more energy. Fingers crossed I'll get more quality work done. You never know, I might even feel happier. Anything is possible. :-)

Do you have a regular sleeping pattern? What tips can you give me for a good night's sleep?