I love sleeping. Napping is one of my favorite hobbies and my bed is probably one of my favorite places in the world. Up until high school, I was asleep by 9:30 PM every night, and starting from 9th grade I extended that to 10 PM.
That being said, my sleep was thrown out of whack this year. Some combination of school responsibilities, work, and other life changes have thrown a wrench in my normal schedule. I have days I can’t sleep, and other times I fall asleep, only to wake up at 2 AM and toss and turn until my alarm sounds. As of this moment, I’m writing this blog at 5 AM having been awake for a few hours.
Considering how much I love to sleep, this change has been disheartening, to say the least. So, I took matters into my own hands: I did quite a bit of research on how to sleep better, and tried out dozens of different tips. With these techniques, my sleep has been improving, and hopefully, I’ll soon go back to sleeping like a rock again.
Here are some of the tips I’ve been trying!
Nap less: 4/10.
This one was not fun for me, since napping is one of my favorite pastimes of all. However, for the sake of my sleep, I tried it out: avoiding naps or limiting them to 20 minutes if necessary. Honestly, it was quite helpful: I felt much more tired by nighttime and slept considerably more soundly. However, one major drawback was that I’d be exhausted by late afternoon: there were times when, without my nap, I was pretty much rendered dysfunctional. On these days, I feel like the benefit of a quick nap outweighed any negatives. Overall, I think I’ll try limiting naps on days they’re not needed, but if I’m zombie-like with fatigue, I’ll still be taking one.
Get more natural light 8/10
I can’t stand the cold, so in the winter months, I avoid the outdoors like the plague. I’m outside for at most 30 minutes a day to walk my dog, and even that excursion seems too much for me when it’s windy and freezing. However, it has been getting warmer recently, so I’ve made a conscious effort to go outside more often. I think it’s been really beneficial! Scientifically, bright sunlight works to regulate your internal circadian rhythm, and I do think it’s helped with my sleep. Plus, the warmth and sun just make me happy in general, and I probably do need that Vitamin D as well. In the coming months, I’ll definitely strive to go outside more!
Exercise earlier 6/10.
I’ve found that, as a whole, exercising helps me sleep more soundly. However, I used to work out at 8 PM most days, which scientifically isn’t a great idea. Recently, I’ve been moving my workouts earlier in the afternoon, which has been quite nice. I don’t feel too energetic right before I sleep, which helps me relax. Honestly, though, the difference I’ve noticed hasn’t been large, and there are days when nighttime workouts are most feasible. Generally, I’ll make a conscious effort to exercise earlier, but it won’t be a huge priority.
Block out light & minimize noise: 8/10
This was one of the most obvious tips that I tried out: I removed any nightlights and closed my door, both of which created a considerably more relaxing environment. Unsurprisingly, it was pretty helpful! In the same vein, I also tried eye masks, but didn’t like the feeling of something pressing on my face, along with white noise, but it didn’t seem to have any noticeable effect.
No electronics 4/10
This is a tip everyone gives, and though it wasn’t the most appealing, I had to try it out. I stopped using my phone for half an hour before sleeping and instead did something relaxing, like writing out my goals for the week or doing my skincare. Was it helpful? Honestly, not really: since I try to keep busy after school, whether with homework, extracurriculars, volunteering, or work, I don’t check my phone too often. So, the time right before I sleep tends to be when I reply to unread messages, talk to my friends, and catch up on socials. Not using my phone honestly just gave me FOMO and lots of piled-up messages, which didn’t improve my sleep much. However, I think that might say more about me than the validity of this tip: I know others who have had success, but it didn’t work for me. That being said, I have found it beneficial not to check my phone when waking up in the middle of the night. When I do, I tend to start scrolling, and the brightness makes it hard to fall back asleep. Cutting out that habit has been extremely helpful!
Blue light blocking 6/10
Something else I see all over the internet is blue light blocking, whether that be glasses, apps, or more. Personally, I got a Chrome extension (Screen Shader) and fiddled with the Night Mode settings on my phone. I’m not sure if it helped much with my sleep, since I didn’t observe any large effect. However, I do think it reduces the strain on my eyes, since the yellow tones are less harsh than bright whites. Since it makes my eyes feel better, I’ll continue doing this, regardless of whether it’s improving my sleep.
Overall, that’s about it! It’s been interesting experimenting with these various ideas, and I do think my sleep has been getting better recently. Hopefully, it’ll continue the upward trend until I’m back to my normal sleep-filled self.
Claire, I love the research based examination on the effective strategies of achieving great sleep. It sounds like you are on the right track if you sleep is improving. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject.
Claire, your blog post was super interesting to read because I’ve also struggled a lot with sleep this year, but for different reasons. I am probably the #1 user/victim of revenge bedtime procrastination. Even when I’m completely exhausted and literally have nothing to do, I’ll stay up on my phone instead of going to sleep. This means that I’ve also taken an unreasonably large amount of naps in the past several months. I almost never took naps before this school year, but staying up way too late has meant that I’ve taken up napping as a complete necessity rather than just a hobby.
Even though we have different sleep-related difficulties, I feel like some of the tips you mentioned might also help me a lot. For example, not having my phone or laptop nearby when I’m in bed would be amazing, since electronics are probably the main reason I’m even able to stay awake when I’m really tired. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I’m willing to give up my phone in bed time, so I’ll have to try something else.
I’m glad your sleep is improving—hopefully you get a lot of rest over spring break!
Claire, I absolutely love this blog post. I used to hate napping but recently it has become one of my favorite things to do, arguably my power naps have become the best parts of my day. However I completely agree with what you said; my sleep schedule has been so messed up this year. As far as your tips on improving your sleep schedule, I think that getting more natural light is a great way to regulate your sleep, along with exercising. I have found that when I exercise earlier in the day, even better when it’s outside, has helped me to fall asleep easier in the evening and at a more reasonable time. I also completely agree with the no electronics tip… While definitely very difficult to implement, I feel like at this point it might be necessary to try. Overall, I loved reading your blog, and will definitely be taking your tips into consideration to implement as the year goes on!
Hi Claire, your blog was so relatable! I didn’t know that sunlight was so crucial for someone’s rest! I should be getting outside more then lol. I’m glad that this has worked with you so I’ll consider it! I love that you included some science as well! I didn’t even know about sunlight contributing to sleep, I only knew it was good for the body but not how. I didn’t know that blue light could affect your sleep in the slightest. Though it didn’t significantly impact your sleep, I love that you still recognized it. Overall, you have inspired me to fix my sleeping habits. I admire your determination, I really do. It’s something that would take me ages to do.