Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep….3 Tips for Better Sleep
Poke, poke. “Sharon! Turn on your side. You’re snoring”. I rouse from my deep sleep, turn on my side and fall back asleep, only to have a repeat some time later - poke, poke. “Sharon, turn on your side. You’re snoring.” This time I’m annoyed and cannot fall back asleep so I lay awake only to hear snoring a few minutes later. He was now sound asleep AND snoring, while I lay awake, miserable. Whenever he chose not to wake me, however, he would lay awake for hours after being awakened by my snoring, and then the next day would be tired and miserable.
We tried sleeping with our heads on opposite ends of the bed, wearing earplugs, propping up on extra pillows, and elevating one end of the bed (which just made us feel disoriented). I even ordered a device online which only made my nose sore. Nothing we tried worked. We were unable to get a good night’s sleep as we would both have our sleep interrupted either by the other’s snoring or being awakened to change position to stop the snoring. We were both experiencing irritability and weariness, and losing our patience with each other.
Eventually, since my snoring was waking him and not the other way around, I went to my doctor. I was referred to an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist who had me do a nasoendoscopy. I was further referred to a sleep specialist for a sleep study to ascertain the extent and cause of my snoring. The conclusion was mild sleep apnea. I was prescribed a nasal spray for decongestion and medication for acid reflux which I took for weeks to no avail. The snoring persisted.
We had to get a good night's sleep so we did the only thing left - sleep in separate rooms. It sounds drastic and some may think it heralds the death of our marriage, but trust me, sleeping in separate rooms may in fact save our marriage. We simply must get adequate sleep.
Likewise, you need to sleep. Like me, do whatever you have to do to get enough sleep. Use your weekend to ‘catch up’ on your sleep.
According to Gillian Butler, Ph.D, and Tony Hope, M.D. in their book ‘Managing Your Mind’, there are 3 main sleep problems - (1) difficulty falling asleep; (2) wakefulness during the night; and (3) waking too early in the morning. They believe that two key questions can help you decide if you have a sleep problem: (1) Do you regularly feel tired throughout the day? (2) Does sleepiness interfere with your daily activities? They give some good news however. For 9 out of 10 people the problem is easily solved with 2 steps - (1) learning some facts about sleep to settle worries about getting enough sleep; and (2) learning simple but effective solutions.
On average, adults sleep 7 ½ hours each night. Two thirds of the population sleep between 6 ½ and 8 ½ hours. A few people feel fine on 4 hours a night and a few need as much as 10 hours. You need less sleep as you grow older. Experiments on sleep deprivation show that the occasional night of poor sleep may make you feel tired the next day, but has little effect on your performance. You cannot make a drastic cut in your sleep on a regular basis, however, without suffering bad effects. A reduction by more than one hour may have a bad effect on your mood, concentration, memory, and on the more creative aspects of your thinking. We experienced these effects first hand.
Apart from snoring, sleep is affected by many things including but not limited to exercise, food, medications, alcohol, illness, mood, stresses, and worries, so you may be able to solve your sleep problem by changing any of these. Depending on the source of your sleeplessness, you may need, like I did, to consult with your doctor to tackle physical problems such as pain resulting from arthritis. You may also want to consider your alcohol consumption, and when you drink your fluids, to prevent waking up frequently at nights to urinate. Consider the state of your mattress or pillow if you are uncomfortable, or whether you are too hot or cold. What about your consumption of stimulants such as coffee, tea or tobacco or other caffeinated substances. If you are having them too close to bedtime that may be the culprit.
Here are 3 tips for better sleep:
1. Establish regular times and routines for going to bed and waking up
2. If worries are keeping you awake, control your thoughts by for example taking 5 minutes before bedtime to write down all the possible ‘worries’ so you can worry about them the next day, and keep a notepad by your bed to write down anything that occurs to you during the night.
3. Learn how to relax by for example gentle stretching, turning off all electronic devices before bedtime, meditation, counting (sheep) games, listening to music, deep breathing, or reading - experiment to discover what works for you.
Weekend Reset Tip:
Expose yourself to natural light (outdoors, if possible) in the morning or earlier in the day. Getting enough natural light during the day will also keep your body clock on a healthy sleep-wake cycle. This weekend, how about having a picnic at Hope Gardens, Emancipation Park, Devon House, or the beach?
My upcoming ‘Recharge and Reset’ course
designed to help busy women to reprogramme and learn how to consistently and sustainably recharge and reset their lives. Drop me a comment and let me know what you would like to learn about in my course.
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Sharon Carruthers, the author of the ‘Weekend Reset’ blog is a child of God, wife, mother of 3, a Human Resource Management and Development Consultant, and owner of the firm, ‘Bold Consulting’. She is sharing from her own experiences for women who are holding back, or living on autopilot; who believe their identities are in others and, or in what they do; or who neglect themselves while sacrificially taking care of others. She hopes that together Christian women can embrace the future with the beautiful hope of transformation one step at a time.