If you pretty much have no problems in getting a good night’s sleep most of the time you may wonder what all the fuss is about. 

On the other hand, if you are one of the around 30% of UK adults currently having some kind of difficulty in sleeping, or the 10% with chronic insomnia, celebrating sleep might seem like a bad joke.   

As a recovering insomniac, I want to let people know that they don’t have to suffer with poor sleep. 

Here are my 5 tips to improve your sleep schedule and quality of sleep: 

Tip 1 — Understand your own sleep cycle and work with, not against it.

 Understand your own sleep cycle and work with, not against it. Whether you are a night owl, or an early bird doesn’t matter but if you try and swim upstream against your natural sleep cycle you are in for choppy waters.

Tip 2 — Maximise your sleep drive

Your brain naturally produces wake hormones to get you up and out of bed in the morning. These levels then gradually fall throughout the day and are replaced by sleep hormones to help you drift off – this is your sleep drive. Things like not having a regular sleep schedule, taking daytime naps, and not getting enough natural light or too much blue light reduce your sleep drive and make sleep more difficult.  

Tip 3 — Your bed is only for two things – sleep and sex

Your brain will struggle to associate it with rest if you do things like scroll on your phone, eat, or watch TV there. I can’t over-state the importance of this one! 

Tip 4 — Routine, routine, routine

Your brain loves routine as this makes it feels safe. Routine doesn’t have to be a chore though. Build yourself an evening wind down routine of lovely, relaxing things that make going to bed a pleasure not something you dread. 

Tip 5 — Learn to manage your thoughts

When our physical bodies come to rest it leaves the door open for our mind to be active with thoughts instead. Thoughts are the enemy of sleep but what if you can’t just switch them off? There are some simple but effective mindfulness strategies you can learn to ‘manage’ your thoughts rather than trying, in vain, to push them away. Contact me for more help with this. 

Ultimately, we are all individuals and that means our sleep is individual to us too. Whilst taking these generic tips on board will start to tip the sleep balance in your favour, one to one personalised support is your best chance of taking back control of your sleep long term. 

I hope you sleep well tonight!