How to sleep better

Did you know that we spend a third of our lives sleeping? That's why it's important to make every hour of sleep count by optimising our rest.

Our need for sleep is ingrained in our DNA. In 2017, it was discovered that circadian rhythms, our body clocks, exist in every cell of our bodies. Wow!

This means that we are programmed to carry out activities during the day and recover during the night. Sophie Bostock, PhD , the founder of The Sleep Scientist, confirms that disrupting this cycle puts stress on our bodies, emotions, physical health, and cognitive function.

This means that regardless of what aspect of health, happiness, or performance you look at, sleep deprivation will have an impact.

To learn more about the science of sleep, listen to episode 111.

How do you assess the quality of your sleep?

Sophie Bostock, PhD says that

if you rely on an alarm clock to get out of bed in the morning, that's a sign that maybe you're not quite getting enough sleep.?

If you want to dive deeper into your sleep quality, this month I have been exploring the SATED scale, which assesses five key dimensions of sleep that have been consistently associated with health outcomes.

You can use the SATED scale to understand what aspects of your sleep can be improved.

These dimensions are:?

• Satisfaction with sleep
• Alertness during waking hours
• Timing of sleep
• Sleep Efficiency
• Sleep Duration

Listen to episode 113 to learn how you can use the SATED scale to asses your sleep quality.?

How to optimise our sleep?

Ever wonder why your sleep quality varies across the week?

There are three key sleep impactors which if influenced, can optimise your sleep quality.

1. The level of stress throughout the day. It is unrealistic to have a highly stressful day and expect our body to relax and sleep at the end of it.?

IDEA FOR ACTION: Incorporate a selection of calming, playful, and mind-resting activities throughout the day to make falling asleep at the end of the day easier. Try gratitude, meditation, or journaling.?

1. Type of bedtime routine: any drinks with caffeine last up to 6 hours in our body, intensive exercise that energises us will wake up the body for up to 4 hours, and any screen time with new stimuli to deal with will produce cortisol and adrenaline in our body that will prevent sleep.?

IDEA FOR ACTION: Implement a simple bedtime routine to relax your body before bed. My three favourites are a before-bed yoga flow, an evening walk, or a hot bath.?

1. Consistency of waking time: Having varied times of going to bed and waking up means that our internal body clocks are not synchronised.?

IDEA FOR ACTION: Get consistent with your sleep by going to bed and waking up at the same time, even at weekends.?

Listen to episode 112 to dive deeper into the factors impacting sleep quality

How manage your sleep if external factors disrupt your routine?

It's important to be understanding when we find ourselves in situations where we can't get enough sleep due to external factors such as working shifts, parenting, travel, or health issues.?

When we're sleep-deprived, our emotions can become dysregulated, making us more irritable, anxious, and impulsive. It can be helpful to reach out to others and ask for support.

Sophie Bostock, PhD also shares that?

Taking a nap can also be a good strategy to help get through the day. Even a short nap of 20-30 minutes can boost mood and alertness. If you are extremely sleep-deprived, such as having only gotten three or four hours of sleep during the night, a longer nap of two hours in the mid-afternoon may be beneficial.

Hope you are enjoying this month’s Happiness Challenge.?

What helps you to sleep better? Join the conversation.?

Klaudia