Get a Good Night's Sleep – 10 tips for tired people
Dr Mark Houghton MB BS (Lond) MRCGP
Co-creator of The Choices Community
"Doctor if only I could sleep," I used to hear so often as a family doctor.
In my experience sleep problems are one of the nastiest forms of silent suffering. Thankfully, seven simple steps can change matters quickly.
"Our fully charged calendars and occupied minds mean sleep is being referred to as a new luxury item," said sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan,[1] even before the pandemic. [2]
Firstly, three facts:
1. The average amount of sleep for half of 18 to 60-year-olds in the UK is only 5 to 6 hours a night--at least an hour short of the recommended amount. We all do it – propped up on the pillows at 11 pm, we take "one last look" at the messages and emails – bingeing on that glow that someone wants me.
2. But we are programmed for more sleep: "The amount of sleep you need is genetically determined," says Prof Adrian Williams of the London Sleep Centre. “We need 8.1 hours." We need more sleep.
3. You cannot bank sleep. Trying to play catch-up at the weekends is too late. By then you have missed the vital phases of healthy sleep you should be getting each night, every night, through the week.
Seven simple steps
4. It is not just keeping a regular bedtime. Its what we do in the day that contributes, things like regular hydration and gentle exercise. Also, regular rests from technology to respect our natural 90-minute energy cycles, through the day. This way, when bedtime comes it will be easier to resist a frenzied trawl – consciously or unconsciously – through the e-mails and social media when we should be slowing our brain for sleep.
5. The aim is to avoid finishing "tired but wired" with adrenaline still pumping through. The smart phone has taken an hour off the average sleep time for a British adult, down to 6.5 hours rather than 7.5 hours. Technology leads to polluted sleep and an overload of the working memory. Ramlakhan advocates an electronic “sunset-switch off” from all technology an hour before you get into bed. This is to avoid “brain noise” invading our thoughts as we try to go to sleep.
6. Timing is everything. Aim to be in bed by 10 PM at least three times a week. "The sleep phase before midnight is incredibly restorative. Nature has designed our sleep cycle so that we get one of the most powerful 'hits' of sleep before midnight.” This phase rejuvenates the body physically, mentally and emotionally. Adrenaline levels drop. The body lets go of the day, which we may feel as a physical jerk while dropping off. [3]
7. If you wake in the night, resist the urge to check the time. It can send you into a world of calculations and make you “worry count” the hours of sleep you will get that night. Focus on breathing instead, deeply from the lower part of the lungs. If you cannot sleep then rest. If you notice the word 'sleep' popping up in your vocabulary try using the word 'rest' instead. It is a subtle but effective shift in mindset. [4]
8. Resist the urge to mainline caffeine, although there is no harm drinking it in the first two thirds of the day. Reduce noise and light in the bedroom as far as you can. Keep the bedroom for lovemaking and sleeping only.
9. Napping is not just for the weak. Companies like YouTube now view naps as giving staff a competitive advantage. It is because employees are more rested, energised, focused and creative. The afternoon nap unloads the brain’s working memory so there is less 'filing' to be done at night; this leads to deeper sleep. Even five minutes zizz can do the trick. Keep it to under 30 minutes.
10. Put faith in a permanent promise with no sell by date: “Come to me all who are burdened and tired, and I will give you rest.” [5]
Until this year I had night pain induced sleep problems for about 27 years. This can't go on, I decided, so I prayed specifically, “Lord, give me pain-free, pill free, peaceful, powerful and predictable sleep.” This summer it was granted.
Sleep well :)
[1] Dr Nerina Ramlakhan is a physiologist and sleep therapist. Nerina obtained her B.Sc. and Ph.D. from King's College London. She is the author of Tired But Wired: How to Overcome Your Sleep Problems: The Essential Toolkit. She is also Silentnight's "sleep expert". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerina_Ramlakhan accessed 15-11-21. 12:42.
[2] With acknowledgements to "Did You Get Any Last Night?" Susanna Butter in the London Evening Standard (19 October 2015, page 33)
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid
[5] Matthew 11:28-30. Holy Bible.