How I optimize sleep
3 Steps for Better Sleep:
Create a healthy night time routine
Make a clean space for yourself
Journal - put your thoughts on
paper!
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of my health as an athlete (and a person in general!). But we all know getting sleep can be a big struggle not to mention getting good sleep. I am by no means an expert, but I want to share some of the few things I do to optimize my bed time and sleep quality.
Create a healthy night time routine. I guess this encompasses it all, but having a healthy hour-leading-up-to-bedtime is super important for the quality of my sleep. I try to make this consist of putting my screens away, or if I’m finishing schoolwork and that isn’t possible, I use my blue light glasses and turn off social media an hour before bed. This helps me wind down without the stimulation and stress of logging on to the virtual world.
Have a clean space. Your bedroom is your sanctuary. I don’t spend a ton of time in my room except to sleep, but it’s important that it’s a space you want to be in, and a space that makes you feel relaxed. My tip here is to keep your sleeping space tidy, so when you walk in to go to bed you feel refreshed and relaxed, not anxious because of that big pile of laundry on your bed!
Journal. Right before bed, I love to write down my thoughts from the day. This can be a short or long sort of brain dump. Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes it’s getting all the stresses out of my head and onto paper. You don’t need to go to sleep with that hanging out in your brain! When I do this, I feel like I can let go of everything and focus on sleeping without the worry and anxiety of life-things keeping me up.
It can be hard to implement all of these things (trust me, I know!), but I’ve found that just trying to do one can really help my sleep. We all want to have productive days, and for me that starts the night before.
Till next time, and happy sleeping!