Sleep is often hard to come by, especially if you’re suffering from at least one of the common types of non-economic damages. There are many nights where you toss and turn frustrated for hours before succumbing to a short dream interrupted by the need to pee or the blaring of your alarm.
It’s best to avoid waking up for the day feeling tired, grumpy and even decreased reaction times. Luckily, much of the advice below will help you do just that.
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Daytime Exercise
It may be surprising to hear that exercising early in the morning can help you fall asleep, but it’s true. Consider all of the times where you’ve spent your day doing a lot of physical labor. You felt exhausted by the end and managed to get a good night’s rest. That’s because the exercise reduces your stress and anxiety, raises and then lowers your body temperature and helps you use up your energy.
Our bodies weren’t meant to sit in one position for over eight hours a day, yet that is what modern life demands or encourages of us. If no exercise is added to your routine to combat this sedentary lifestyle, you’ll find yourself mired in anxiety and stress. Combine this with any anxiety disorders and stress from other sources and it’s no wonder you struggle to sleep at night.
You can start it slow if you’re not used to exercising yet; just do somewhere between fifteen and thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day until you can handle more, then try to slowly bump it up to an hour or two every few days.
Relaxation Hour
As the sun falls and the day is coming to an end, you need to prepare to set aside some time to relax. Roughly one hour before bed, sit down somewhere that isn’t your bed and sink into the seat. This is a great time to mediate, read or perform any other clang action that doesn’t involve a screen.
This is a great time to just let your mind wander and close the chapter on the day. Let the anger of any fights or the sorrow from any bad news slide off your shoulders; feel the joy of good news or the excitement of doing well on your presentation one more time before letting it dissipate into the air alongside every other emotion of the day.
Acknowledge any thoughts that bring you anxiety and maybe make a list so you can think them through tomorrow because they’re likely about important decisions you’ll have to make. Turn all of the clocks around if you find yourself glancing at them; time doesn’t matter right now. Only gentle relaxation does.
Calming Music
Whether it’s your relaxation time or you’ve found yourself tossing and turning in bed for an hour, you may need to consider listening to some peaceful music to try and relax. This doesn’t mean you should immediately turn on your favorite songs. These tend to be sad or exciting and pump us up. While this is nice during the daytime, it’s not very helpful when you’re trying to sleep.
Instead, search for a playlist that especially says it is full of calming music. Smooth jazz, lo-fi and more can all be present, though some playlists get even more specific and focus on a single genre or even instrument. Find a playlist during the day and give it a listen. If you like the music and it seems to ke you calm without song changes or notes that may be startling, consider using it to relax before bed.
If music isn’t helping or you’re struggling to find the right playlist, consider turning on some white noise, rain or other relaxing sounds, especially if you already know you can’t sleep without turning a fan on. These are all so popular that your options of what to listen to are incredibly vast so it shouldn’t take you too long to find one that fulfills your needs.
Serene Scenes
The most common example of imagining a serene scene for sleep is counting sheep. While it can’t hurt to try this method, many find that it doesn’t help them because it’s still super easy for their minds to wander away from the fluffy farm animals. If this is you, then consider imagining a more in-depth scene.
Maybe the sheep aren’t helping, but what about the farm they live on? Now the sheep bleat and munch on grass in the distance. The sun shines brightly above you as clouds drift peacefully across the bright blue sky.
As you walk through a golden wheat field, the breeze picks up and sweeps across your face as the grain waves. You eventually reach the small dirt path between your crop fields and pet the farm cat who just jumped up onto the fence. This is just an example; you can imagine any scene that you find relaxing.
Maybe you smell the salty sea air as the sand of the beach settles between your toes, or you crunch on a cool carrot while having a hillside picnic. As long as it’s relaxing and engages most of your senses, it will help you relax.
Less Screen Time
Earlier, it was mentioned that you should avoid relaxing with a screen. If you know you’ll find yourself mindlessly scrolling a social media website or frantically checking one website for hours, then you should set your phone aside at least one hour before going to bed.
When you do need to use your phone before bed, make sure it helps you relax instead of fueling stress. Many phones have settings to make the screen a warm color between certain times. Turn this on and it may make falling asleep a bit easier. You can also use it to assist in meditation, scene visualization or listening to white noise or calming music.
You may even find yourself using a relaxation app or two. Just make sure that you put it down when you feel tired or you may find yourself exhaustedly tossing and turning for hours.
