A Year of Rest

As someone who has had insomnia and studied sleep and how to fix sleep patterns for 17 years, I've had a lot of reasons to make a resolution for sleep in 2022. With all of the crazy, busy, and stressful events of the last few years everyone I know is getting less rested and more stressed but maybe that's just in the service industry I work in. Bartending is an unforgiving job at the best of times, but recently with no one knowing whether we'll be shut down again and with people getting sick and needing to pick up the slack stress has been at an all-time high and sleep has been at an all-time low. It's time to dedicate the new year to fix that.

There are a lot of really simple steps to take when it comes to getting more sleep and better rest, but like most simple things they can be hard to commit to because they aren't convenient, and fixing sleep patterns is a lot like committing to a new diet. The easiest step in today's world to commit to is just not having screen time for at least two hours before going to sleep, which is hard for me because I usually use my phone or computer to wind down but I know that the blue light they emit tricks your brain into thinking it's still daytime and makes sleeping near impossible. As a first step to meeting my resolution of more sleep and better rest, I'm choosing to give up the screen time and focus instead on meditation and reading, two things that strengthen the mind and lead to being more rested and more relaxed throughout the day.

The second step for me is actually a dietary option, which is cutting out caffeine after 5 pm. We all know that caffeine is excellent for keeping us up, if you have a big project for school or work binging coffee or energy drinks is common practice, but it also wreaks havoc on your sleep schedule because it makes it hard for your body to maintain a consistent rhythm in your sleep-wake cycle. The best way to help yourself on the way down from this is to take melatonin about two hours before you go to sleep, and less is actually more here because too much melatonin, too often can stunt your ability to naturally produce the chemical so you just want a really low dose to start the process and then relax to let your body take over the process.

My hardest commitment here is going to be solid exercise on a daily, or at least semi-daily, basis. I have a really active job, bartending has me running around and dealing with stressful situations almost constantly day in and day out, so getting exercise that is specifically suited to elevate heart rate and growth on a regular basis will help deal with the stress and cut down on all of the negatives of my active job. When you take the time to elevate your heart rate in a healthy and driven way it makes it far easier to fall asleep at night because your body has used up all the energy that would normally be stored in excess.

The last step on this commitment to better rest is to stop using my bed for anything other than sleep. Your brain is basically a computer and the patterns you set for it become like an internal program if your brain sees your bed as something just for sleeping then every time you get in bed it will trigger that response. I'm someone that spends most of my time in bed researching or watching tv, but I need to take the plunge and reprogram my brain to associate my bed with just sleep.

There are the four main ways that I'm committing to better sleep and a more restful 2022. Cut out screens 2 hours before bed and replace them with reading and meditation. Quit caffeine several hours before bed and stimulate my body's sleep with melatonin. Exercise regularly to burn off excess energy and reduce stress. Finally, making my bed about sleep because how the brain associates objects is a powerful force in our lives, and making one association with bed makes sleeping easier. Happy New Year everyone, let's make in peaceful and healing because we could all use it after the last couple of crazy years.