6 things I do to help get a good night’s sleep

Many of my counseling clients in Berlin have trouble with sleeping. Most of us know what we ‘should’ do, but getting into good habits that support you to have a good night’s sleep can be difficult. Today I’ll share what I find helpful.

1. Keep my phone and laptop on silent and away from my bed
Both the hardest thing to do and by far the most beneficial. It’s so much easier to drift off when I know I’m not going to check my emails one last time.

2. Exercise in the mornings
Exercise is a great way to sleep better but it can disrupt your sleep if you exercise in the evenings. I feel good when I’m more active in the mornings, and more slow and calm and gentle in the evenings.

3. Stop working 2 hours before bed
I’m often tempted to keep going with work late into the night when I get into the flow. But I find that if I do that my mind is still in ‘work mode’ when I try to sleep. I try to make the last 2 hours of my day peaceful and relaxed.

4. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day
I like to keep a regular rhythm where I always go to bed at the same time without thinking about it. The hard part is getting up at the same time every day even when I don’t have any appointments. That’s where point 5 comes in:
5. Leave my alarm on the other side of the room
This one is surely not for everyone, and does feel like a form of torture sometimes. But I find that the pain of having to get straight out of bed to turn off an alarm is worth it because after 2 or 3 minutes I feel awake and ready to start my day. The downside is that I miss out on the joy of a nice snooze in the mornings.

6. Use light
I use a sunrise lamp to help wake me up just before my alarm goes off. Then I try to either go outside or use my light therapy lamp to get some sunlight within the first hour of the day. This helps your bodyclock to know that it’s morning, and therefore also know when it is time to sleep. In the evening I turn the main lights off and use soft lighting.

Those are my habits which help me to sleep well most of the time. Get in touch if you would like support to find your own healthy sleep habits.

Katie