3 Overlooked Pre-Bedtime Rituals for Better Sleep
Discover three unconventional pre-bedtime rituals that can significantly improve your sleep quality. Learn how to prime your body for sleep, designate a personalized "bedtime activity," and off-load your thoughts for a restful night's sleep. Start with these simple steps to create a soothing and effective pre-bed routine.
You know the drill: you should already be asleep, but you're still wide awake. Your mind is racing. The more you try to “calm down” and “relax,” the more frustrated you become. It’s a vicious cycle and rapidly becoming a regular occurrence. Sound familiar?
Well, here are 3 overlooked pre-bedtime rituals you should be doing for better sleep.
No, it's not about avoiding your phone, drinking sleepytime tea, or murmuring sleep-positive affirmations to yourself (although those can't hurt).
Let's skip the surface-level tips and get to the good stuff. It's time to step up your pre-bed routine. These three things are rarely talked about but have a dramatic effect on the quality of your sleep.
1. Go “Lamp Mode”
We've all heard how we should be limiting our screen time at night. The blue light emitted by our devices tells our brain that it's daytime—even when it's not. So we put down our cell phones and log off our computers in an attempt to zen out.
Except every overhead light in the house is blazing.
Sure, you're not looking at your screen, but that light shining in your face is doing the same thing.
Instead, think about matching the level of light in your home with the light outside: When the sun is out, the lights can come on. But when the sun goes down, start turning off those lights. Try switching to "lamp mode": instead of overhead lights, set a chill, romantic vibe by using only lamps. Nightlights are also a great option.
A funky alternative: Switch to red lights in rooms you know you'll be in at night (think: your bedside lamp or your bathroom).
Your circadian rhythm (the system that regulates your sleeping and waking) is less sensitive to the long wavelength of red light.
Whatever you choose, both of these methods will have a softer effect on your eyes and will signal your body to prepare for sleep.
If you're one of those people who likes going all in, you can go completely dark. Turns out you don't actually need the light on to brush your teeth. Who knew?
2. Designate a "bedtime activity"
No, not that kind of bedtime activity.
We're talking about something that puts your brain in a sleepy state of mind.
Now, this is where you have a lot of freedom.
It's not about what should work (meditation) or what you think you should be doing (bedtime yoga). It should be individualized. Just think about what you usually need to do before bed and make it your "bedtime activity."
You've got to do it anyways, so why not use it to your advantage?
There's only one caveat here: choose something undemanding and do it SLOWLY.
Exercising right before bed is just going to jazz you up (duh). So is work, cleaning, taxes... you get the point. Choose something that requires minimal thinking and slow movement.
It doesn't matter what it is. You just need something that you'll do every night so that your brain eventually realizes, "Hey, we do this thing and then we sleep."
It's similar to the habit stacking that James Clear talks about in his book, Atomic Habits. By associating two events, eventually, when you do one, you automatically do the other. You've created a beneficial sequence of habits.
Once established, when you do Activity X, your brain and body are already halfway down the road to Sleepytown.
3. Off-load your thoughts
This one slightly contradicts the previous one because it does cause you to think a bit, but it counterintuitively results in fewer things on your mind by the end of it.
One common challenge that keeps us awake at night is our racing thoughts, reviewing the past day and anticipating the next. These thoughts noisily demand attention because they don't feel addressed. You can tackle this issue by organizing your next day tasks in your digital scheduler or task management system of choice. Make the process as simple as possible.
Identify and prioritize your main tasks (Tasks that will move the needle on important projects. Think: The One Thing)
Schedule them (Think: Time-blocking)
Task dump the rest (I use the streamlined and aesthetically pleasing, Todoist)
Be regimented in your approach. We’re not planning the entire week and month. This is short-term and quick.
This next-day planning lets you offload what's on your brain and make room for sleep.
Where to start
Sometimes adding a bunch of things to your routine is overwhelming, so just start with one.
I recommend starting with #1 on this list: dim your lights. It seems so simple—too simple, really—but it's truly effective.
It prepares your body physiologically, and also serves as a mental cue. Each time you walk into another dimly-lit room, you're reminded that you're supposed to be winding down and the sleepy state is reinforced.
So start simple and switch to lamps. Your body and mind will thank you.
Sweet dreams.