5 Tips For A Good Bedtime Routine

An often neglected habit is to wind down before bed. Having a good bedtime routine will help with this and can actually help you prepare for falling asleep, as well as better your sleep quality!

Lets explores why it's important to have a routine and we will share 10 tips that you can choose to include in your bedtime routine.

The Importance of a good bedtime routine

Everyone is busy these days, our fast paced lives have us constantly active and involved in something or another. Work, home, family, friends.. Do we even have enough time in the day? The problem with this is when it comes to rest we can never truly switch off. So what happens? The next day begins, again busy as always but we never really feel right do we.

How can we tackle the week if we don't recharge properly! If we want to make the best of our days we need to give ourselves time to rest. You might say, "Well when i do try to sleep I can never get a good sleep". This is why a sleep routine is important. How can we expect to have a good sleep when our mind and body is still alert and active after a hectic day? We need to train our minds to get ready to sleep, rest and recharge.

5 Ways To Wind Down

Your wind down routine can be personalised to your needs and preferences, however, here are 10 suggestions or ideas which you may wish to include to help you get a better night’s sleep.

#1 - Sleeping & Waking up at the same time

Having a regular, set, bedtime and wake time will help our circadian rhythm to make us sleep at night and alert in the morning. If we are constantly sleeping & waking at random times we confuse our mind and in essence, we give ourselves jet-lag. We need to train our body and mind to know when to switch off and when to wake up.

#2 - Get Off Ya Phone

Do we really need to explain.. *sigh* go on then lets briefly discuss:

It's 10pm, been a long day, you're getting tired. It's time to hop in to bed and go to sleep. Right? Right?? Yeah.. Not before a couple of scrolls on Instagram & TikTok and a few minutes of YouTube and before you know it, it's 2AM and you're currently watching a video on how to fix a rusty hole on your car using Ramen noodles and a some toothpaste...

The distractions these devices bring are just not worth the lack of sleep. Maybe we think we need to reward ourselves with some scrolling after along day, but we can assure you, it's a lot more rewarding to give yourself a good nights rest!

Secondly, the light emitted from our devices suppress our Melatonin production. What is Melatonin you ask? It's that thingy-majig in our body which helps promote sleep. Our body and minds are very clever, when we see darkness, we start to produce this Melatonin, helping us to feel sleepy and this bright light shining a few inches from out face is stopping that process. Making us feel like it is still daytime, and hence, not feel as sleepy..

So, come bedtime, give yourself some rules and limits. If you do need to use a device keep the lights on so you don't confuse your mind! And try not to use it too much. Once the lights go off, put it away.

#3 - Warm Bath Or Shower

Having a warm bath or shower before bed is an excellent way of raising our body temperature. The temperature is important here, although not too hot.

When we get out of the warm bath or shower, we will start to cool down, which mimics what happens just before we fall asleep. This ‘condition’ can then make us feel more sleepy and ready for bed.

#4 - Reducing or carefully timing your caffeine intake

Caffeine has a six-hour half life. So, six hours after your last cup of tea or coffee, half of that caffeine is still in your system, and it can stop you from sleeping.

If you reduce how much caffeine you have in the day or stop drinking any caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, tea or fizzy drinks, a few hours before bedtime, you will find yourself feeling less alert when it’s time to sleep.

#5 - Gentle exercise and stretches

Yoga or stretching before bed are both great wind down activities. This is because they help to calm your brain and also relax your body before bed.

On the other hand, more strenuous exercise can actually have the opposite effect – increasing adrenaline and making it harder to sleep, even if you feel physically exhausted. So, just ensure that any exercise immediately before bedtime is gentle.

The Bottom Line

Sleep plays a key role in your health. One large review linked insufficient sleep to an increased risk of obesity by 89% in children and 55% in adults. Other studies conclude that getting less than 7–8 hours per night increases your risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. So, If you’re interested in optimal health and well-being, it’s recommended that you make sleep a top priority and follow some of the above tips!