Improve Your Sleep
Sleep does not come easy in modern life. A million notifications, dinging and ringing and grabbing every thread of attention you have left. Fast paced scenes. Screens. Big ones, small ones, Gas Station TV. Screens on billboards, screens above urinals, screens at the ball game. Monitors, displays, and loud commercials. Pharmaceutical commercials. Gambling commercials. Ruining any semblance of peace and quiet we had left in this country. A never ending carousel of noise and clatter.
Artificial light pours in from every nook and cranny. We can’t have beautiful lamps filled with the warm, romantic glow of lightbulbs of times past. No, no, good people. We need bulbs capable of producing enough light to keep the third-shift road crew moving along.
And let’s not get started on your phone, with the scammers, hawkers, warranty extenders, and the American Red Cross calling at all hours of night and day.
It’s too much! Now is the time for your reset.
So many patients come in for anxiety and depression. It happens to everyone at some point. How much of that comes from poor sleep? Anxiety and poor sleep are closely linked together.
I have a personal history of poor sleep, and my wife can back me up on that. Since I was a teenager, I have been a sleepwalker. In my life I have woken up… outside on the lawn (completely sober, mind you), in the shower, eating a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table, ripping my closet door completely off due to an unfounded threat of home invasion. I have kicked straight through a 3-gallon terra cotta planter which held a beautiful poinsettia, leaving my foot bruised and bloody, called 911 at least a dozen times, and the final straw was waking up with a chair overturned in my bedroom with several burnt matches underneath, of which I have zero recollection. ZERO. My father observed the chair situation and quietly yet firmly said "You burn the house down, I'll kill ya." Heard and understood, Dad.
I’ve been through at least two overnight sleep studies, tried several medications, a dental device, and a CPAP. Want to know what really helped? Like, really set me up for a quality night’s sleep? Treating my underlying anxiety. Working with a therapist helped me build coping skills and a mental framework for handling life’s stressors in a healthy, productive way.
Now, my basic rules for sleep are as follows....
Manage screen time. I charge my phone on the opposite side of the house. I don't even want the threat of checking my phone. The sports scores and text messages and Instagram reels can wait. I aim for sleep between 9:30 and 10 p.m. I try not to look at my phone starting around 8 p.m. I use my Apple Watch as my alarm clock.
Some days I take a magnesium supplement. I use Max Calm (Not sponsored), which is flavored and dissolves in hot water. Calming. Soothing. Delightful.
Around 8:30, the kids should be in bed at our house. I have developed a mental trick for myself where I treat my brain like a computer and slowly start shutting it down. I slow the gears in my head one by one almost methodically and with purpose. Tumblers in an old lock clicking neatly into place. My wife knows not to have a serious conversation with me after 9 p.m. I’m in the zone, man.
Books! Magazines! Tangible reading goods! I do my reading at night, which significantly assists in the shutdown process. Nothing heavy. I’m not studying Euclidean geometry. I’m not contemplating the heavens and my place in them. I’m slowly working through Stephen King at the moment. Specifically, The Stand.
I wear a sleep mask. What about it? Helps keep the light out and is sort of a comfort blanket hugging my face.
Keeping my sleep time and wake time consistent. I understand this is not doable for some folks, but I promise your body craves it. I am down by 9:30-10pm and up at 6:20am.
These are just a few of the techniques I have used in order to achieve better sleep. Your mileage may vary. But part of the adventure is finding out what works for you. Experiment! Change up routines, trial new techniques, alter schedules. I want you to feel in control of your health, and managing your sleep is one of the most efficient ways to accomplish that.
If you would like more information, I would love to set up a time to discuss a personalized sleep plan for you. We also have a referral network of sleep medicine physicians for sleep studies and ongoing care.
Great article!
Thanx!