Lifestyle: A Good Nights Sleep

Sleeping is one of the things I’m not particularly good at. I’ve often struggled to drop off, spent the middle section of the night tossing and turning, waking up more tired than before I went to bed.

Since starting final year in September I’ve been determined to improve my sleep; I’m not going to let lack of sleep get in the way of getting what I want out of university. Pretty good timing really, as Silentnight recently got in touch encouraging a more mindful approach to sleep. They sent over a big box of goodies including this rather scary looking hippo (?!). Can’t say I’d want to drift off with that next to me…
They are trying to encourage the ideas behind writing down and interpreting dreams – something that if I’m honest hasn’t really worked for me. I rarely remember what I dream! Other than being stuck in an Excel spreadsheet or battling with equations when I’ve been working too late into the night…

So whilst I haven’t really gotten the main benefit of the box, it’s definitely helped me sort out some of the bad habits I’ve gotten into. Here’s how I’ve slipped into a better sleeping routine – I’m getting around an extra two hours a night now which is so much better than a few months ago!

Bed is for Relaxing

I used to have the really bad habit of studying on my bed, blogging in bed, basically doing everything in my room. Last year it was the only living space I had, but when I was studying I had no differential between study and sleep. By keeping study outside of my bedroom (not difficult when my room is so small!) I’ve found it much easier to drift off to sleep.

Warm Drinks Help

Avoiding coffee and tea of course, but hot drinks definitely help me drift off. I’ve been alternating between caffeine-free nighttime tea and fruit blends – Mango & Cinnamon is my favourite, but Twinings have been kind enough to discontinue it!

Fresh Linen

Is there anything better than slipping into a nicely made bed with freshly washed sheets?! I do miss having a cleaner who would iron them for me (the benefits of paying such an extortionate amount for our London flat!) but it’s still so relaxing to have fresh bedding. A bit of pillow spray finishes it all off nicely – though I use this on my curtains as anything lavender makes me break out horrendously!

Read not Watch

There’s nothing worse than sitting on a screen illuminating your room as you try to drift off. I’ve been making an effort to avoid watching or reading anything on my phone, but instead reading a chapter or two on my Kindle. Only thing is I’m so easily hooked into books so I can keep on reading for far longer than I should…

Reflect on your Day

Spending a minute or two writing in my One Line A Day diary is something I need to take up again, but what I do try and do is think about my day, write a to-do list for the next (so I don’t lie and think about what I need to do) and generally just think happy thoughts. It ends my day on a good note, always important!

Following these steps have really helped me – they aren’t huge changes but I’m definitely feeling a little better. If only my dark circles would start to fade…

How do you make sure you get a good night’s sleep?