5 tips that you can try today to improve your quality of sleep!

So, as a fibromyalgia fighter, my sleep is often not very good quality. I wake up feeling unrefreshed and some days I don't see why I wasted 8 hours trying to get a good sleep, when I wake up feeling even worse in the morning!! I have put together 5 tips that really help me to get better sleep and I hope that they can help you too!

1. Make a routine and stick to it daily (as much as you can!)

I have made a graphic to show my routine for bedtime and mornings. I try to stick to this as much as possible but obviously sometimes this just doesn't work out and that's ok! As much as it is important to establish a routine and stick to it when you can, life sometimes gets in the way and we need to be kind to ourselves during these times and allow room for mistakes and change.

2. Turn your devices and screens off at least half an hour before sleep time and don't turn them back on until you've been awake a little while.

This has to be the hardest part of the routine for me! I like to go on my phone right before bed and then as soon as I wake up I like to see what I've missed on social media and check my emails and messages. However, this can really affect sleep quality and make me really fatigued! Giving myself a break from devices for 10 hours every night is a great way for me to get back to reality and spend some time focusing on myself and the world around me rather than being glued to my devices 24/7 and relying on screens for everything in life. It gives my husband and I quality time to chat without distractions and it also gives me time to spend with God each day.

3. Take some time to wind down every night

Life can be super busy and it's really good to take some time each day to relax and be still. This is also really beneficial for sleep because it gives you time to get into the right frame of mind for sleeping so you spend less time trying to get to sleep and more time actually sleeping, doesn't that sound great?! One thing that I read when researching into this is that having your wind down time in another room, not the bedroom, can really affect sleep quality in a positive way because our brains will begin to associate our bedrooms with just sleeping. We like to go into our spare room where we have bean bags, candles and dimmed lights and my wind down time includes: praying, reading, colouring, having conversations with Pete and anything else that can be done calmly and without a screen. Doing this in another room means that my brain associates that area with wind down time and my bed with actually sleeping. 

4. If you struggle to get to sleep, listen to some music or talking to help you

I have found that on those nights where I really can't get to sleep, if I listen to someone reading a story or some gentle relaxing music, I can get to sleep in no time without even realising! The things that I have found to work the best are Progressive Muscle Relaxation and stories - Both of which can be found on YouTube! Things that really didn't work for me were having music on that I knew or that has lyrics because I just end up focusing on the music rather than falling asleep. An exception to this is worship music, which really calms me and does help me to fall asleep. Pete and I have an app called 'Calm' and it will read you a story to fall asleep to and I promise you, we've never reached the end of a story, we always fall asleep way before the end!!

5. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day

This is a really important point in sleep hygiene because as your body gets into a routine, it begins to learn when it's time to sleep and when it's time to be awake. This is beneficial because it will make it easier to fall asleep at night and easier to stay awake in the day after some time of creating a set routine. Apparently it takes an average of 66 days to create a habit, so what are you waiting for? Get started on your new routine today and get one step closer to better quality sleep!

Recently, a lot of things have got in the way for me to be honest, and I haven't always been sticking to this routine but I am going to try even harder to stick to it now, will you join me?

KP