Hacking My Way to Better Sleep

Have you ever met someone who says they’re ok with five or six hours of sleep a night? I happen to be married to one, but personally, I don’t get it. There was a time in my early 20s when I would be fine and fully functional on little sleep, but now as a 40-year-old with a toddler, good sleep is the foundation of everything I do.

But unfortunately, I’m currently not a great sleeper. Falling asleep comes easily to me (usually around 10pm), but I tend to wake up anywhere between 3am and 5am on a regular basis, often feeling energized and ready to start the day at that time. When this happens at 5am, I rejoice because it means I’ll have a solid two hours of quiet before the rest of the house wakes. But 3am wakeups? No, thank you!

So in the pursuit of a better night’s rest, I’ve spent the last few months trying out new routines and rituals as a way of hacking my way to better sleep. Here are the top 9 things that have worked well for me. Do you have any sleep hacks you swear by?

1. Sleep in a Dark and Cool Room

One of the keys to deep restorative sleep is setting up your room to be a cool and dark space. The ideal temperature should be between 60 to 67° F (though my personal sweet spot is 72° F) and with absolutely no light. Our bodies run on a circadian rhythm, which is our internal clock that signals when it’s time to wake and time to rest. Light is the biggest cue we receive externally to indicate that it’s time to wake, so sleeping in the dark helps our bodies know it’s time to rest.

Blackout curtains can help block out any lights coming from the street, but if that’s not enough, consider a silk eye mask like this one.

If you happen to be trying to conceive, darkness is another key factor! Apparently, when we’re exposed to light during sleep, it affects our melatonin production and normal hypothalamic function, which disrupts our cycles and fertility. Share this with anyone you know trying to conceive as it may be helpful.

2. Use a sound machine

When Raffi was about five months old, we learned all about sleep training for babies. It was one of the best things we did as new parents and I am so grateful because Raffi is now a (mostly) great sleeper. One of the tips we learned while sleep training is how a sound machine can lull a baby to sleep because it mimics the white noise they were hearing while in utero.

It turns out, adults respond well to white noise too. This is the Hatch noise machine we have and love.

3. Move your body during the day

When I go through periods of bad sleep, I’ve noticed that it happens more often when I am bottling up all of my energy inside without an outlet. But on days when I do more cardio movement, like a SoulCycle class or a long walk, my sleep tends to be better. So it’s no surprise that studies show how beneficial exercising (even better if it’s outside) can help us get a better night of sleep.

4. No blue screens half hour before bedtime

Yes, this is a hard one! But the blue light from screens messes with our melatonin levels, making it hard to fall into a deep slumber.

If you’re game, try putting your phone farther and farther away from you when you sleep. I used to check my phone often in the middle of the night to see the time, but that would usually lead me to see and read all of the notifications that had since appeared on the home screen, and even if I didn’t read them fully, it would trigger my mind alert and make falling back asleep much harder. Now I sleep with my phone on the bedroom desk which is a good few feet away. If I wake up during the night, it doesn’t really matter what time it is, I tell myself. If it’s still dark, it means to close my eyes again and relax back into sleep.

5. Read a book

So if you’re not scrolling before bed, and not watching any screens for that matter, I find reading a book to be very effective in getting me to sleep. Something about reading words on a page in low light makes me drowsy and want to shut my eyes. Lately, I’ve been reading health-related books in bed. They’re interesting but not really page-turners like a mystery novel would be. I enjoy reading the information, but it tends to be fairly neutral so I’m usually fine to close the book after about ten minutes or so.

6. DECLUTTER YOUR ROOM

Have you ever heard the expression, “A cluttered space is a cluttered mind?”

From my own personal experience, this statement rings so true. We have a typical NYC (aka small) apartment and our bedroom tends me bear the brunt of our clutter. We never seem to have enough storage space so it’s common to see piles of clothes, books, and toys strewn over our bedroom furniture. It’s anything but Instagram or Pinterest-friendly!

However, we recently hit a breaking point and I spent a good few hours recently doing a major decluttering of the space. It’s resulted in me feeling way more calm and chill and it makes me actually look forward to being in our room more. Whereas before it was a bit of an eyesore and I’d feel stress and chaos amongst the mess. Cleanliness feels so good!

7. Use a linen Spray

Once your room is clear of any clutter, add a calming vibe with a touch of linen spray to your pillows. Your room will feel like a hotel and a nice non-toxic spray will help you relax and feel more zen. This Vagus Nerve Pillow Mist from Osea is a nice option.

8. Limit your liquid intake

I have a hard rule for myself. Unless I am feeling dehydrated and really thirsty, I cut off my liquids to 8pm, ideally even earlier. As a frequent middle-of-the-night bathroom goer, this has helped me so much! Water intake is super important to me, so now I just front-load all of my drinks to the early morning and afternoon. I also like to start off my day with a big glass of water, so I’ve been thinking of adding this beauty to my nightstand.

9. Give yourself permission to rest

This last tip for hacking your way to better sleep is both the easiest and the hardest.

On the nights when I am tossing and turning with feelings of excitement, anxiety, nerves, sadness, fear, worry, etc (all the feelings), I often have to stop my frenzied mind and tell myself, “Stop. This is your time to rest. Nothing else matters right now and everything can wait. You have permission to rest.” Something about telling myself this feels authoritative and reassuring. I may still go around a few times in my head with last-minute thoughts, but as I fully embrace the notion that nothing else needs to be done or taken care of at that very moment, I let my shoulder relax, I take a few deep breaths, and truly sink into my bed for a good night of deep and restorative sleep.

How about you? How’s your sleep these days? I hope you’re getting the good quality rest you (and all of us) deserve.

Top photo by Liz Vo on Unsplash.

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