You can be tired all day, look forward to bed from lunchtime and then, the moment your head hits the pillow, suddenly remember every unfinished job and mildly embarrassing thing you’ve done since 1987.
Sleep can be annoyingly uncooperative.
While we can’t simply order ourselves to fall asleep, the way we spend the last part of the day can help prepare our bodies and minds for rest.
And it doesn’t require an elaborate bedtime ritual involving twelve steps and a collection of expensive products.
A simple evening routine may be all you need.
Give Your Day a Finishing Line
Modern life doesn’t always have a clear end to the day.
We finish work but keep checking emails. We sit down but continue scrolling through our phones. There’s always another job we could squeeze in before bed.
Creating a rough finishing time can help separate the busy part of your day from the restful part.
It doesn’t have to happen at exactly the same time every night.
Simply decide that at some point, you’re done.
The washing can wait.
Tomorrow is allowed to have jobs too.
Lower the Pace Before Bed
Going straight from a busy evening to bed can leave your mind racing even though your body is tired.
Try making the last hour of the evening quieter.
Turn down some lights. Put away anything work-related. Make a warm drink if that’s part of your routine. Read, listen to something relaxing or watch something that doesn’t leave you wound up.
Think of it as changing gears rather than slamming on the brakes.
Give Your Phone a Bedtime Too
Phones are useful little things.
They’re also remarkably good at turning “I’ll just check something” into forty-five minutes of scrolling.
You don’t necessarily need to ban your phone from the bedroom forever. But putting it down a little earlier can remove one source of stimulation when you’re trying to wind down.
If you use your phone as an alarm, place it somewhere you can’t automatically reach for it every few minutes.
Whatever happened online will almost certainly survive until morning.
Make Your Bedroom Feel Like Somewhere to Sleep
Your bedroom doesn’t need to look like a luxury hotel.
Comfort matters more than perfection.
A room that is reasonably dark, quiet and comfortable can make settling down easier. Fresh bedding, comfortable pillows and a little airflow can also make the room feel more inviting.
Try not to turn the bed into an office, dining room and entertainment centre if you can avoid it.
Let it primarily be somewhere your brain associates with rest.
Keep a Fairly Regular Rhythm
Bodies tend to appreciate routine.
Going to bed and getting up at roughly similar times can help create a natural rhythm, although real life obviously won’t cooperate every single day.
There’s no need to watch the clock obsessively.
Aim for consistency rather than perfection.
A late night here and there isn’t going to ruin everything.
Empty Your Head Before You Get Into Bed
Sometimes it’s not noise outside keeping us awake.
It’s the noise inside our own heads.
If tomorrow’s jobs start marching through your mind the moment you lie down, try writing them down before bed.
Once they’re on paper, you don’t have to keep mentally rehearsing them so you won’t forget.
Tomorrow’s problems can wait for tomorrow’s version of you.
Tonight’s version needs some sleep.
Don’t Turn Sleep Into Another Job
Ironically, worrying about getting enough sleep can make falling asleep even harder.
You don’t need to create the perfect evening routine.
Choose a few habits that make your evenings calmer and see what works for you.
Maybe it’s reading for twenty minutes.
Maybe it’s having a shower, making a cuppa and turning the television off earlier.
Maybe it’s simply putting your phone down and allowing the house to become quiet.
The aim isn’t to perform bedtime perfectly.
It’s to give your day a gentle ending.
Because sometimes sleeping better starts long before you actually climb into bed.
