Sleep Struggles Make My WellBeing Journey More Important, but Happiness Harder to Find
I've
been facing some frustrating sleep struggles. An active mind. An
overactive mind. A noisy mind. It feels like I'm always awake no matter
how tired I am. It makes it tough to keep up with my wellbeing journey and feel happy when I'm always zonked.
What is Causing My Sleep Struggles?
It started in December. It was already declining in November, but it got real in December. That's when my life got really busy, and I had to face a lot of change. I know it's not weird for things to get difficult in December, but I didn't want to just assume that January would fix it on its own.
Things have been so different lately compared to how they've been for the rest of my life. To me, this means that I can't just assume that my life will fix itself. There were layoffs at my work (which I survived...please knock on wood for me!), I've been separated from my family for over a year (I'm in Canada for school, but my immediate family lives in New York), and I have to go to school and see my friends online.
I felt so lucky to get to live alone - and I still feel that way - when I arrived here. I'm lucky that my job is online providing customer service remotely. But never seeing my friends and family in person - not even the local ones - is getting very, very old. It's taking its toll on my sleep.
Just like myself, I did my research and came up with a plan. I looked at how to sleep "the way grandma used to make" and combined that with today's science.
How I Overcome Sleep Struggles
As far as I can tell, the things that were done for sleep like grandma used to make were the following:
- Go to bed at a good hour every night
- Get up with the birds every morning
- Never go to bed angry
- Don't have sugar before bedtime
- Drink warm milk when you can't sleep
- Have a warm brandy if the milk doesn't work
I can see the logic and common sense in those points. I definitely won't be doing the last one because I stopped drinking on the last day of 2020 (I'll blog about giving up alcohol soon!). Still, I don't think I'm losing anything on that front since science clearly shows that while booze makes you sleepy, it wrecks the quality of your sleep.
That said, I can see why the rest of them might be helpful. So here's what I found in terms of modern recommendations from sleep experts:
- Exercise during the daytime, preferably outside in daylight
- Keep regular bedtime and waking times (even on weekends)
- Encourage melatonin production by keeping the lights dim an hour before bedtime
- Keep a dark, cool, comfortable bedroom
- Write a to-do list for the next day before bedtime
- Keep a note pad next to your bed to write down thoughts to let your mind off the hook with them.
- Meditate using breathing techniques and body scanning, as well as visualizations
While I think that the tips from grandma's time and from researchers are both helpful, I found that some have been more helpful than others in my case. I know that the longer they're maintained, the more effective they can become.
I did a little video about it on my YouTube channel:
I Plan to Try Some Sleep Aid Supplements
Though the tips I'm trying have made a big difference, I still find that I am waking up too early. I'm finding that my main goal is to sleep through the night and rest for longer.
Because of this, I'm going to try out a few sleep aid supplements that have been recommended to me.
I'm very picky about the products I'll be trying. I'm going to read the clinical studies done on their ingredients, I'll only try products from reputable companies, and I'm not looking for something that is going to make me groggy the next day.
I'll let you know which ones I like in a future blog. For more updates along the way, don't forget to follow me on social media:
