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Have you ever felt that you were “running on fumes” or that you couldn’t make it through the day without a pick-me-up due to fatigue?
Sleep deprivation is no joke, and many of us know the importance of sleep for our overall mental and physical well-being. Yes, there are times when your day feels so jam-packed that before you know it, it’s way later than you planned on going to bed and there’s not much you can do about it. But the good news is, with a bit of scheduling and effort, you too can aim for those 8 restful hours of sleep every night!
MaryRuth’s The Art of Health for Busy People outlines 12 steps that anyone can do to support their wellness — whatever that means for you — and one of those steps is to get 8 hours of sleep every night.
Although you may be thinking that your busy lifestyle or your sleep patterns could never allow you to get 8 hours, there may be hope! As MaryRuth always likes to say, “structure creates freedom,” and if you get yourself into a great schedule and structure, that could be the first step to being on your way to supporting those zzz’s.
If you’re spending a few nights out of the week tossing and turning, struggling to get the rest you need, it’s time for a change.
Sleep deprivation, poor sleep patterns, and even getting too little sleep are real problems that may sabotage one's everyday well-being.
Not getting enough healthy sleep can seriously interfere with your daily life, making it harder to work, spend time with loved ones, and accomplish daily tasks without feeling exhausted.
Luckily, there are practical, simple ways to support better and more ideal amounts of sleep! However, it’s not just the quantity of sleep that matters – quality of sleep counts, too.
Getting a certain amount of hours of sleep per night doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll wake up feeling rested. The quality of your sleep plays a major role in how much energy you have when the morning comes, and may be even more important than total sleep time.
There are two major types of sleep — REM sleep and non-REM sleep (which is further broken down into three categories: Stages 1, 2, and 3 of non-REM). Though all stages are important, and sleep researchers are still studying to learn more about what happens when we sleep, non-REM Stage 3 is the deepest sleep that we experience.
During non-REM Stage 3 sleep is when your body repairs and builds tissues, bone, and muscle. This is also when your body strengthens your immune system.
Another very important stage of your sleep cycle is REM sleep, which typically follows non-REM Stage 3. This stage is also important because REM sleep is linked to more balanced emotions; it’s especially important to get enough of it to handle the stress of everyday life.
In addition, getting quality sleep each night is even linked to better weight management. When you don’t get enough good sleep, your metabolism and natural glucose management can slow down, making it harder for your body to digest your food and burn calories while you are resting. When you are not well-rested, your resting metabolic rate tends to be lower, meaning you’ll burn fewer calories throughout the day.
Did you know that certain vitamins and minerals help support our sleep quality?
It’s not just about when you go to bed and when you wake up, but also what you’re putting in your body throughout the day and before bed!
Vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, and calcium are all nutrients that support relaxation and sleep. Magnesium especially is known to be important for normal sleep regulation.
That’s why our Liquid Nighttime Multimineral is a great go-to as a part of your bedtime routine. This liquid is formulated to help the body fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and support sleep quality.
What’s the last thing you do each night before bed?
If you’re lying on your back scrolling through your favorite app one more time before you go to sleep, or catching one more episode of your favorite show, you might be sabotaging your slow-wave (non-REM stage 3) sleep. The blue light that emanates from the screens on your devices may disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythm, making it harder for you to get deep, restful sleep, even on the best sleep schedule.
Your body is wired to get tired and need rest based on certain cues. One of the key signals that lets your body know that it’s time for bed is darkness, which releases melatonin to make you sleepy (think of it almost as your body's natural sleep medicine).
When you are bathed in blue light from your phone, tablet, laptop, or TV screen, your body’s sense that it’s time to go to sleep can get interrupted.
To keep the sleep-disrupting effects of blue light at bay, consider powering down your devices an hour before bedtime. If you need to do work on a screen after sundown, wearing blue light-filtering glasses or using a blue light filter app may be a big help.
Another big disrupter of your body’s natural cycle of sleeping and waking is a very popular stimulant. You guessed it – caffeine!
Caffeine, found in coffee, tea, and even dark chocolate, is a stimulant that can induce wakefulness, alertness, a surge of energy, and even a short increase in blood pressure.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious cup of coffee or tea, and that extra boost of caffeine can be a big help in maintaining your focus throughout the day. However, the timing of your caffeine consumption might make a big difference in the quality of the different stages of your sleep.
When you drink caffeine later in the day – for most people, that means any time after noon – the stimulant might have an effect on your body’s ability to settle down when it’s time for bed.
Caffeine sensitivity varies from person to person, and knowing how coffee, tea, or other caffeinated drinks affect you may play a major role in keeping the stimulant from messing with your brain activity in the PM, and thus, your sleep.
To potentially avoid any sleep issues, it may be helpful to try cutting off caffeine consumption after the middle of the day.
However, once the afternoon hits, it might be better to just stick with water, herbal tea, decaf coffee, and other drinks that have little to no caffeine content.
Hopefully you’re already taking a quality multivitamin in the morning to also support your energy levels throughout the day!
Sticking to a consistent exercise regimen may help your body get the rest it needs once you hit the pillow at night.
When you move your body daily for at least 30 minutes, you may get better-quality sleep. Try to get in at least 30 minutes of movement at some point, preferably not too close to the time you plan to go to bed.
Working out too soon before bedtime could make it more difficult to get to sleep. But working out earlier in the day may help to wake your body up the same way that morning light would.
To potentially avoid disrupting your sleep, aim to work out at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed.
Set up your room to promote healthy sleep. For example, make sure that there is enough darkness, as this can aid in falling asleep.
Try limiting light from your computer, phone, or television and controlling the temperature as well. A cooler room, between about 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit, has been found to be best for sleep.
To support better sleep, it may be helpful to take steps to settle down in the evening.
While each person’s process of calming down and relaxing before bed may look different, there are plenty of peaceful, calming habits you can cultivate to support your relaxation at night.
As MaryRuth says, “structure creates freedom,” so creating a bedtime routine and going to bed around the same time every night may help you to settle into sleep more easily.
If you need to, set an alarm about an hour or thirty minutes before you’d like to be asleep as a reminder to start your nighttime routine and get into bed. Just like you set an alarm to wake up, setting an alarm to keep you in a healthy routine and remind yourself it’s time to start “shutting down” could be quite effective.
Having your own personal bedtime routine could also help you to de-stress and increase relaxation. Some of our favorite things to do before bed are to practice a calming skincare routine, listen to a relaxing music playlist or guided meditation, or read a chapter of a book with low light nearby.
Here are a few suggestions for routines to have before bed:
Take care of your body throughout the day to help you get the restful sleep you need at night.
Timing might just be everything — light, exercise, caffeine, work, and relaxation. Try to find the right times to fit these thighs into your schedule in order to help your sleep find its place as well.
If you choose to work toward all these changes, it may take time, and that’s okay! Start where you are and keep moving forward.
And don’t forget that MaryRuth’s is here to help you move forward too! See our Art of Health for Busy People; we want to help you be the healthiest you that you can be!
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