Has anyone told you you look tired lately? Have your coworkers compared you to a zombie? Is your significant other constantly commenting on your deep under-eye circles? Well, now is the time to do something about it.
We don’t all have time to catch 8 hours of Zs. So what do you do when you’re in a crunch? Try some of these clever sleep hacks to get higher quality shuteye.
1. Find a Routine
Sure, none of us want to fall into a boring routine, but if there’s any aspect of your life that you should routinize, it’s your sleep. Our bodies like predictability – that’s why your stomach starts rumbling at noon or why you can’t wake up in the morning without your typical cup o’ joe. Once you find a schedule that works for you, stick with it, even on the weekends. Remember, even if you stick to your routine all week, you’ll throw your body back off if you sleep until 2 in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday.
2. Count Your REMs
We all experience REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycles while we sleep. These cycles are typically 1.5 to 2 hours long; at the start of the night of sleep they are shorter and they get gradually longer throughout the night. We generally need 4 or 5 of them per night, so it’s usually a good idea to get a number of hours of sleep that is divisible by 1.5 hours – so, for instance, 6 hours of sleep or 7.5 hours of sleep would be ideal, but 8 hours might throw you off. There are apps that claim to be able to track these, but don’t give them too much stock if you try them for a while and they aren’t improving your quality of sleep.
3. Respect the Alarm
It’ll be hard at first, but one of the best ways to get better sleep is to actually get up on the first ring of your alarm clock. It seems counter-intuitive; I mean, if you reset it for later and it rings again, you are actually getting more sleep… right? Well, sort of, but it’s not high quality sleep at all – the whole time, you’ll be waiting for the alarm to ring, so you’ll be sleeping lightly and on edge. Not to mention that if you reset over and over and share your bed, you’re not making it easy for your partner to get nice shuteye, either.
4. Avoid Bright Screens Before Bedtime
Bright screens kick our brains into gear. Instead of making us sleepy, they make us want to be awake and doing stuff. This is one of the reasons I hate that the default iPhone alarm clock is now bright white, but I digress. If you want to get higher quality sleep, set your alarm and finish up on the computer at least an hour before bedtime, then chill out with a book or something.
5. Go to the Dark Side
Along the same lines, you will dramatically improve your sleep if you make sure you are sleeping in complete darkness. If you have a digital alarm clock with glaring digital numbers shining on your closed eyelids, how are you supposed to get to sleep?
6. Stop Your Midnight Snacking
Your stomach may be rumbling, but you must ignore it! Snacking before bed not only wakes you up right when you actually want to be tired, but it can lead to heartburn and obesity.
7. Down a Cup of Coffee Before Your Nap
About to take a 20 minute nap? Good for you! Chug a cup of coffee and then lie down to recharge. In 20 minutes, the caffeine will have kicked in and you’ll wake up ready to face the rest of the day.
8. Channel Your Inner Morning Person
Some people find that shifting their sleep cycle earlier results in more productive days and an easier time getting to sleep when they need to. Your wake cycle will align more with daylight, which is healthy for you. Plus you can get so much more done before work, when you’re still bright eyed and bushy tailed.
9. Stop Staying Up All Night
You’re not doing yourself any favors by staying up all night – just throwing off your sleep-wake cycle. Just go to bed, already.
10. Incentivize Waking Up
If you have trouble waking up in the morning, take a moment to consider why that might be. Is there something you dread doing in the morning? (Your morning jog in the cold, perhaps?) You may not be able to avoid it, but you could start doing something in the morning that you look forward to. Start your day off with a hot cup of tea or a bowl of oatmeal and blueberries. You’ll be jumping right out of bed!
