Sleeping Routine

akafful
akafful Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys, what is your routine for sleeping? How do you get enough zzz’s?

Replies

  • Terytha
    Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
    I saved up and bought a weighted blanket. So far it's the only thing I've tried that actually helps me fall asleep and stay asleep.

    I also cool the room down as much as I can, and make it as dark as possible.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    I go to bed early enough to get the sleep I need.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    edited July 2019
    Put the dogs in their crates for the night. Set the a/c in the bedroom to 66. Read my kindle for a bit. Sleep. 😴
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,281 Member
    Finally (after 30 years) went to a sleep specialist who diagnosed sleep apnea. Got a CPAP 4 years ago and now sleep 8 solid hours/night :)
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    • Hot Shower
    • Salt Lamp on
    • Yoga/Meditation for 10 mins
    • Take Magnesium/Potassium/Calcium/Vit D complex
    • Write journal up
    • Schnooozze
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I go to bed...and then I get up in the morning.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited July 2019
    I turn off the TV, computer, and phone about half an hour before. I get ready for bed. Then I read for a few minutes. I also use a white noise machine as I live in an apartment complex, it was maybe $20 or so at Walmart and was a game changer! I use the "crashing waves" setting, it kind of sounds like napping on the beach <sigh>.

    If you have a tough time turning off your brain, sometimes simply writing down all the thoughts you can't turn off can help, it's like a brain dump. I guess it helps you sub-consciously feel like now you know it will be there waiting for you in the AM, so you can let it go for now.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Dinner at 6-7, night time animal chores and then I do my last things: set the coffee pot, lay out clothes, floss and brush, wash my face, PJs on, get in bed. I surf the internet for half an hour then read for half an hour or an hour and turn off the lights by 10.30 with alarm set for 6.30. If I am trying to get up and do something early, 9.30 lights out is about the earliest that I can manage. I find if even if I can fall asleep early I won't stay asleep, so just sacrifice an hour or so if I have to, once in a while.
  • generallyme2
    generallyme2 Posts: 403 Member
    Terytha wrote: »
    I saved up and bought a weighted blanket. So far it's the only thing I've tried that actually helps me fall asleep and stay asleep.

    I also cool the room down as much as I can, and make it as dark as possible.

    I have a weighted blanket too. It's helped a lot in that I go to sleep by 1am instead of 3am.

    I try to wind down a couple hours before. Sometimes reading helps. A lot of mine is anxiety related and it's harder to predict that. I do try to avoid caffeine and talking about or looking up things that I know will keep me up. Sometimes I put a heating pack on my stomach and for some reason that helps settle me.
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    No caffeine after 2pm unless I have an evening outing that requires me to be up late and interactive, make sure coffee maker is set up if I work in the morn(if I don’t work I fire up the espresso maker or spend more time fancying up my morning coffee routine), animals fed and dog watering bowl checked, kitchen clean, morning meds in a cup on my bedside table, half an hour reading in my warm pjs or a soak in the hot tub, then into bed by 11pm, alarm set for 6am.
  • akafful
    akafful Posts: 69 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    I go to bed early enough to get the sleep I need.

    Any potential distractions? If so, what do you do to mitigate them?
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    I don't have a TV in my bedroom; I never did.
    No tablets or lap tops. PC in the office.
    No cell phones in the bedroom; just the regular phone for emergencies.
    I don't read in bed.
    I stop eating between 7:30 and 8 PM. I don't like to go to bed with a full stomach.
    I do have night lights thru the house because I get up to use the loo in the middle of the night. Age does that. And because I don't like darkness.
    I go to bed between 11:30PM and midnight; sometimes a little bit early, and I am up a 7AM (yoga classes a 9AM), or later. I don't take naps in the afternoon, unless I am sick, because I go to the gym.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I don't get enough. At least not right now. Maybe in 5-8 years.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    White noise machine since silence tends to ping my anxiety and prescription sleep meds due to insomnia associated with my autism. If I'm having trouble stilling my mind, I'll run through a guided meditation on the Stop, Breathe, Think app to help me get there. I try to go to bed and wake up at consistent times to help me keep a rhythm (plus a fixation on routine due to the aforementioned autism). If you're having chronic sleep problems, might be worth talking to a doctor. Medication has been a game-changer for my quality of life.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I'm not sure how much my weighted blanket helps me sleep, but I LOVE it. I got it last year when it was $100 off.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how much my weighted blanket helps me sleep, but I LOVE it. I got it last year when it was $100 off.

    I like mine, but then toss it off as it gets too warm.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 702 Member
    Watch something interesting on tv and have green tea. Have a shower, in bed by 10pm reading.
    Lights out by 11.

    I rarely have a problem, but if I am struggling to sleep listening to BBC radio 4 dramas helps me.
    I often end up hearing the first half of something several times!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm not sure how much my weighted blanket helps me sleep, but I LOVE it. I got it last year when it was $100 off.

    I like mine, but then toss it off as it gets too warm.

    Ya, I'm too cheap to lower the AC enough to be able to use it this time of year :(
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I try to make sure I am in bed before 11 pm and wake up at 6 am. Usually I wind up sleeping almost 8 hours.
    On weekends, I sleep 9-10 hours. I've always needed a lot of sleep...I cannot function on 5 hours for more than a day before I get back into a good sleep routine.

    NO screen time in bed. No TV or music, no phones, I even have an old school alarm clock so that my phone's not right there as temptation. It's in another room all night. Sometimes my husband will lie in bed listening to a podcast but that's it.

    Basically, not having kids is the way I get good rest! I don't say that to be a snarky jerk - but all of my girlfriends have many children and they complain about their sleep, either waking up with babies or worrying about their older kids or just having a lot of stuff to do at night and in the mornings.
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
    edited July 2019
    akafful wrote: »
    Hey guys, what is your routine for sleeping? How do you get enough zzz’s?
    • I'm usually always keen on winding-down, tuckered from my rigorous outdoor workout
    • I follow it up with my extensive and necessary post-workout skincare etc protocols, which kickstarts my slower-paced therapeutic bedtime routine
    • When I'm at complete rest, I then work on my full-body deep tissue massage before my end of day meditational bed yoga, committed to *8 hours sleep, listening to my sleeptime essentials, securing the minimum of at least *4 hours daily (5 days a week), which I then make up for, applying my sleep shift for the needed power naps for an hour or 2 the following day when I can, depending on my load and my efficiency.
    • On my active rest days, I try to sleep-in for one morning, then I'll commit to one afternoon's nap time possibly throughout the duration of my intensive beauty course treatments.
    • No alcohol. No smoking. No coffee. No gadgets. No air condition/No heater.
    • Fresh and light linens, fresh breeze and cool temperatures.

    ETA: I've also had days each month where I can only manage 2 hours sleep (international time zones sensitive), which I then follow-up with my sleep shift, which has proven to not be doable some days, with how life is sometimes, so I'll then save it until the rest days one morning sleep-in and one afternoon naptime.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    akafful wrote: »
    lorrpb wrote: »
    I go to bed early enough to get the sleep I need.

    Any potential distractions? If so, what do you do to mitigate them?

    Eye mask and ear plugs have worked wonders
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    Simple answer is "I don't get enough sleep" but that's not new because I never really have and for the most part it's not been too much of an issue as I see to able to function effectively.

    Every few months, when things get too out of whack I have a melatonin prescription from my doctor. I take a dose about 1 hour before I want to get to bed and find that I'm able to drift off. I do this for 4-7 nights and that's usually enough to get me back into a regular enough rhythm.

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