Cover Story


How To Create A Bedtime Routine By Gretchen Kast


You know the statistics. More than a third of all adults in the US are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You know the facts. Lack of sleep contributes to heart disease, weight gain, weakened immunity and even memory and mood issues. But knowing the facts doesn’t make it any easier to get the sleep you want and need—and trying to wade through the myriad life hacks and miracle products can sometimes feel impossible.


T


he truth is, when it comes to forming better sleep habits, there really is no such thing as a quick fix. The most ef-


fective solution is to build a better sleep rou- tine—and then really stick to it. “Most of us cannot sleep on command, but routine helps the brain know that it’s preparing for sleep,” says Rebecca Scott, research assistant pro- fessor of neurology at the NYU Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy Center—Sleep Cen- ter. “Our sleep system, along with most other neurophysiological systems, likes predictabil- ity and consistency.” We’ve gathered some of the best, most practical sleep advice and used it to craft a detailed, daily practice that will set you on the right path towards better sleep.


Make a plan to go to bed at the


same time every night Our bodies are regulated by our circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle that operates as a sort of internal clock for our waking and sleeping hours. When our lifestyle is properly in sync with this rhythm, not only is the qual- ity of our sleep higher—but all of the body’s functions work better as well.


Sleep experts agree that the key to main- taining the proper circadian rhythm is going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day—no matter what. While it can be tempting to try to make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping in on the weekends, this can actually further disrupt our natural circa- dian rhythm.


Determining the best bedtime for your life- style depends on when you want to get up in the morning. Conventional wisdom says that we should be aiming for eight hours of sleep every night—though newer research has pos- ited that this might not be a hard and fast rule for everyone: anywhere between seven and nine hours is fine (and it’s ok to have more or less every once in a while). When developing your own sleep schedule, be sure to budget time to get tired. Even at our most exhausted, it is unrealistic to expect to conk out the second your head hits the pil- low. Sleep scientist Daniel Gartenberg sug- gests padding your targeted amount of sleep by half an hour. So if you want to wake up at 7am, that means going to sleep at 10:30pm. Once you have your target bedtime set, you can start to reverse-engineer a healthy


sleep routine—and that begins long before the sun even sets.


2:30 PM : Start Avoiding Caffeine 8 hours before bed


Does this sound familiar to you? You spend the night tossing and turning, and find yourself hitting the wall around 3pm the next day. So you pour yourself another cup of coffee for a quick pick me up. Fast-forward a few hours, and you’re once again tossing and turning. According to sleep scientist Dr. Michael Breus, caffeine is a stimulant with a “half- life” of roughly eight hours. So even though its effect dwindles over time, it is still in your system long after you’ve taken your last sip. While skipping your afternoon caffeine fix may be arduous at first, the reward is more quality sleep—which will, over time, lessen your reliance on caffeine entirely.


6:30 PM : Stop Exercising 4 hours before bed This doesn’t mean cut out exercising en- tirely. In fact, research has shown that get- ting your body moving during the day has a positive effect on your sleep. Exercise spurs


sleepretailer.com/sleep-shopper 3


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