We often tend to think we can skimp on sleep to save time. But if you’re relying on coffee or other stimulants to get something out of that time, in the end, what is it actually worth?
1. Move. Any way of moving your body during the day naturally will naturally make it tired. We humans are made to move, so ride your bike to work, do some gardening, dance, take a walk in the woods or do whatever counts as fun exercise for you. Yoga or pilates are both good options if you need to move after a period of stress.
2. Sleep in the dark. Make sure it’s very dark. Set up some blackout curtains or blinds, so no light gets in. It confuses the body if any light gets in. I usually say that it should be so dark as to make you feel like a mole. Personally, I go all in and I also sleep in dark bedding. Brown connects you to the earth.
3. Turn off your phone or set it to flight-mode and put it far away from your bed, if you use it as your alarm. Signals are bad for our quality of sleep. If you use it as your alarm, select a pleasant noise to wake up to. I find the wake-up sounds from “bedtime” settings so much nicer to wake up to than the usual ring-ring-ring.
4. Don’t eat after 8 pm. Give your digestion time to do its work. Instead, you can plan a delicious breakfast. If you get hungry after 8 pm, then you can try having a cup of cocoa or tea – you can use my recipe for filling cocoa. Sleep is the time during which your organs restore and cleanse themselves. If the body needs to dedicate energy to digestion instead, well then it slows down the other processes.
5. 8 hours. Yeah… it’s kind of a myth to think that you can do just fine on 5-6-7 hours of sleep per night in the long run. It’ll most likely be fine if you do it every once in a while, when you can just catch up on lost hours right afterwards. However, making it a lifestyle to consistently suppress your need for sleep is no good. Sleep is an investment, in your mental wellbeing, mental resources, etc.
6. Take a nap. If you, for some reason, have slept less than you usually do, you can take a well-earned nap during the day. It resets your brain and gets you ready to go again.
7. Light. Go outside every day. A minimum of 1 hour is optimal, and this goes year-round, for all seasons, even if the sun isn’t shining. Go outside every day. It can be a good idea to combine it with nature trip –visit the ocean or the woods.
Sleep well.
Agna Johannesen has an education in public health from the University of Copenhagen, has researched young adult welfare and is a specialized psychotherapist with Gestalt Institute of Scandinavia. With a thesis regarding students and stress, she has a special focus on making student life and career fun, informative and exciting.
