Few months are bleaker than January. With the absence of a looming silly season and the reality of a new year starting to sink in, it can feel impossible to motivate yourself to do anything at all, let alone get a good night’s sleep. It’s far more tempting to dive under the covers each night to binge a new Netflix series until 2am, or doomscroll through people’s cleverly booked winter-sun holidays and picture yourself there.
Such activities, of course, will only hinder how much shut-eye you actually manage to get. And with colder climes already putting a strain on your physical and mental well-being, it’s crucial to ensure you’re getting as much sleep as you can.
After all, studies have shown that a solid night’s sleep can improve your concentration levels, keep your heart healthy, reduce stress, and boost your immune system. So, how to go about it? Read on for our expert tips.
Start taking magnesium
Studies have found that taking magnesium before bed can help send you off into a sound, uninterrupted snooze. This is primarily because of the effect it has on our muscles. “Magnesium’s role in muscle relaxation further boosts its sleep-enhancing capabilities, telling your nervous system it’s time to take a break,” explains Dr Naomi Newman Beinart. You can either consume magnesium through a supplement, or you can get it naturally by eating leafy greans, nuts and seeds.
“Or, take a bath,” suggests Dr Beinart. “Immersing oneself in a bath infused with magnesium chloride flakes offers relaxation benefits and a vital health boost. The warm water opens up pores, enhancing the absorption rate of magnesium. Moreover, the entire body gets exposed to the mineral, ensuring ample uptake.” This range of magnesium products from Better You is particularly helpful.
Establish a bedtime routine – and stick to it
It’s easy to romanticise the perfect bedtime routine: candles, calming music, a whimsical trail of fairy dust swirling around the bed. The reality, though, is that most of us come to bed exhausted, stressed, and on the brink of collapse. Adjusting this, however, is crucial to getting the shut-eye you need. First up: get a regular bedtime.
“Keeping a consistent general bedtime and wake time helps sleep become a habit that your body comes to expect,” says Dr Ari Manuel, respiratory, sleep and ventilation consultant at Spire Healthcare. “However, flexibility is key in order for sleep to fit around a varied lifestyle, so if you decide to stay out later or travel it doesn’t matter from time to time as long as you have that solid foundation in place.”
Once you’ve set a time, the best thing you can get into the habit of doing is reducing exposure to blue light (yes, that means not using your phone) and allowing time for screen-free relaxation before hitting the pillow.
“It sounds simple, but having a good attitude towards sleep, viewing it as beneficial and restorative rather than a punishment or struggle, is particularly important in helping you to relax and wind down,” adds Dr Manuel.
Exercise more
It’s January, so chances are someone has already tried to tell you how exercising will help you get through the month. But did you know it could help you sleep, too? “As well as being essential for overall health, exercise directly impacts your need for deep sleep at night,” says Dr Lindsay Browning, psychologist, neuroscientist and sleep expert at And So To Bed. “The more you exercise, the more deep sleep you will have.”
Exercising regularly can lead to deeper sleep— (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
However, timing your workouts carefully is important if you’re going to reap the benefits of this in the bedroom. “Make sure that you exercise during the daytime and not too close to bedtime,” adds Dr Browning. “Exercise in the evening can sometimes be disruptive to sleep, due to the release of endorphins and adrenaline.”
Monitor your light exposure
You know the no-phone rule, but did you know that our circadian rhythm (the 24-hour internal clock in our brain that regulates our cycle of alertness and sleepiness) is mostly influenced by light exposure? “We should expose ourselves to lots of light (natural if possible) when we wake up to kick start this clock,” suggests Luke Cousins, Regional Physiology Lead at Nuffield Health. Ideally, you’d do this by going for a walk outside within 30 minutes of waking up.
At night, it’s best to reduce the amount of light in your bedroom as much as possible, sticking to low-lit lamps where possible.
Create a warm, comfortable environment
Small things make a big difference when it comes to sleep. The way your bedroom looks and and feels can be tantamount to getting you off to a good rest. “The colour of the bedroom can help you feel more relaxed and ready for sleep,” says Dr Browning. “Neutral colours like earth tones and beige are more soothing, and research has found that blue was associated with feelings of calm.” Harsher primary colours are best avoided. “Researchers found that bedrooms that are decorated red may be overstimulating for sleep as the colour red stimulates the fight or flight mechanism,” she adds.
Getting yourself some comfortable sheets – we love these ones from Piglet in Bed – and some even more comfortable, warm pyjamas can make a huge difference. In the winter, sleeping in warm clothing might help, too, though you want to avoid anything too tight-fitting as this might cut off circulation. These thermals from Uniqlo are particularly cosy, as are these leggings from Adanola. Also, everything from Skims and TALA is especially comfortable.
Cut down on alcohol
This is one you’ll have heard before but it’s no less important. While you may think having a pre-bedtime glass of wine is the thing that’s going to help you wind down, this is not the case.
Cutting out the booze can also help you stay asleep for longer— (Getty Images)
“Alcohol is a sedative and can help with falling asleep,” says Dr Browning. “However, as the alcohol is metabolised, it promotes wakefulness in the latter half of the night – meaning that you wake frequently in the early hours. Also, alcohol affects the normal progression of the sleep stages we go through each night, meaning that the sleep we do get is not as restorative.”
If you are going to drink, it’s best to do so at lower doses and not too close to bedtime. “Consuming it that way has less of a disruptive effect on sleep,” says Dr Browning.
Buy an alarm clock
The majority of us may use our phones to wake us up in the morning, but starting and ending your day with a doomscroll is unlikely to benefit your sleep, or much else. One study found that one in five of us are kept awake by our phones. “Smartphones emit blue light which is the same as daylight,” says Dr Browning. “This tricks the brain into thinking it is daytime, which can make it difficult to transition into sleep mode when bedtime rolls around. Try reading a book or meditating before you sleep instead.”
There are a wide range of alarms on the market that include high-tech features, such as sleep cycle monitors or settings to wake you up in accordance to your cycle. This one from Lumie even mimics an actual sunrise and sunset to help your body naturally adjust to day and night.
