[ad_1]
Welcome back!
This is addressed, of course, to the persons that actually implemented the first week of my step by step guide. The rest, you are not ready for this week’s changes. Not to discourage you but we’re going into the meat of the topic.
You know those simple enough pieces of advice that you never implement? Well, they start here. I won’t ask you just to make your bed or close curtains. You’ll have to work a bit harder. No too hard mind you. But a bit harder. And it might be just enough for you to never complete this guide.
After these very encouraging words (I hope you’re super pumped about today’s article now !), I’m going to make a very confusing move. I’m going to talk about your day. In a series about your sleep. Yes. You read right.
See, like I said last week : there’s a ton of factors at play when manufacturing your sleep. And your day is a big part of it. How you spend it, what happens etc. In the same vein of last week’s article, I’m not going to go all sciency about it. It’s just common sense. If you spend the day on the couch, getting up only to eat whatever junk food is lying around. Chances are, you won’t be ready to go to sleep at the end of the day. You will feel tired though. But not the good kind of tired. The sluggish kind of tired. We hate that kind.
So today, we’re taking a deep dive at your daily way of life. Fret not though. I won’t turn you into a paragon of health. But we’ll make some necessary changes. When night will come, you will be ready to welcome it.
Before we start, I want you to pick a bedtime. I’m not asking for a healthy bedtime. I want a realistic one. The time you usually go to sleep. It’s just so we can calibrate the new habits since they are time dependent. It will make sense when you’ll keep reading.
For the next week, I want you to implement those changes :
Don’t leave just yet. By exercising I don’t mean the heavy stuff. I don’t mean running. I don’t mean lifting. I don’t mean whatever it is that makes you fret the word “exercising”. It can be as simple as walking at least 30 minutes or as challenging as a 5 days workout every week. You got to be moving, that’s all.
The “what” is not important. The real question is : when ? Well, first of all, exercising 2h before bed might not be the best idea. Your blood is pumping, adrenaline is rushing: not the best way to prepare yourself to sleep. Of course if it’s your only window to practice, well, go for it. Sometimes we have to make compromises.
If you can avoid the night, here are some better ideas :
- Morning: Some people like it, some hate it. I am team hating it. Chances are you will be too. But maybe a morning walk isn’t that bad? Give it a try.
- Before/after lunch : If you have a decent break at work, it could be a good window of opportunity to exercise. It’s the one I take for my workouts.
- At the end of the workday : A good moment to wind down and put a barrier between your work and the rest of the day.
I know some of you have their pitchfork ready. But I am telling the truth. Caffeine takes a very long time to be totally removed from your system. The effect wears off fast but the chemical is still out there. If you drink a cup of coffee at 4pm I can guarantee you that during your sleep, the caffeine is still agitating in your body, resulting in a shallow mediocre sleep.
Coffee is a morning drink. Something to wake you up. Something you drink two cups of and then move on. Not something you drink all day like it’s a fuel to animate the dead rag doll that is your body. I know it is hard at first but stopping coffee at lunch will help you not rely fully on it to have energy and you’ll feel way better in the long run.
No, I’m not here to regulate every aspect of your life. But the thing is, eating too close to bed is disastrous for your sleep. Digesting while sleeping is just a nightmare.
We’ve seen last week how your body chills itself as a signal to start going to bed right? Well you negate the whole point as your stomach does all the heavy work of digestion and starts heating up.
As a rule of thumb, eat 3 hours max before your bedtime. Now that you roughly know your bedtime you might as well set an alarm three hours before so you know it’s time to stop eating.
Ah yeah. Another very obvious advice you practically never follow. Yet it is essential. We all know by now that blue light disrupts your sleep. Glasses and filters might help, but they won’t completely save your sleep. Jumping from the screen to the bed doesn’t let your brain power down properly.
Cutting the screens one hour before bed helps. Go ahead and put an alarm for shutting down your screens. I usually put an extra alarm 15 minutes prior to the real one because like a kid I need someone to tell me “It’s almost over, save your game and finish whatever you’re doing”. Yeah. Haven’t grown up since i’m 10.
Yes, it’s your mom again. After asking you to make your bed, I’m going to make sure you took your shower. This one is optional. Not that you don’t need to take a shower mind you. Just that depending on your habits you might take yours in the morning. So why am I talking about showers?
Well, a hot shower can make or break your sleep. The key is in the timing. By taking it one hour before bed you can raise the temperature of your body and let it drop for one hour as you power down. This will simulate and help the natural process already occurring in your body.
But if you do it too close to bed, you might very well just raise your temperature and have to wait to cool down and feel sleepy again. So it’s a powerful tool but one to use in advance, not just before bed.
Summing up : Your week 2 checklist
- Do some light exercise during the day : in the morning, at lunch or right after work. 30 minutes of walking is enough.
- Quit caffeine after lunch. Learn to manage your energy level without it for the afternoon. Some exercise at lunch or at 3pm could help in that department.
- Eat 3h before bed. Set an alarm to know when you can’t ingest food anymore (not even a tiny snack !)
- Stop your screen 1h before bed. And pick something else like a book for example (but don’t read it in bed, remember week 1!)
- Take a hot shower 1h before bed, right after you turn off your screen.
- Wake up, crack the window open and make your bed
- Never visit your bedroom during the day
- Do some light exercises (30 minutes walk)
- Stop caffeine at lunch
- Stop eating 3h before bedtime
- Stop your screen 1h before bed
- Take a hot shower if you want at this moment
- Open a window 5 min before bed to chill the room
- Good night.
Week 7 : Start walking 30min everyday either in the morning, at lunch or right after work
Week 8 : Stop caffeine after lunch
Week 9 : Set an alarm 3h prior to your bed time. Past this alarm, you cannot eat. You can only drink water.
Week 10 : Set an alarm 1h prior to your bedtime. Past this alarm, you can’t use any screen. Optionally, when this alarm rings, you can go and take a hot shower.
Here we are. Another week full of challenges that will bring you closer to the perfect sleep. Next week, we’ll finally talk about the night. And most of all, we’ll find out together your best time to go to sleep and wake up! So keep going with Week 1 and Week 2 habits and when we reach Week 3, you’ll have a strong basis to implement the new changes we’ll discover.
Feel free to share your experience in the comments, I would love to know how those articles help you and to know if you have some questions.
Good night.
[ad_2]
Source link
