I always had a hard time getting to bed. Either on time or completing everything I wanted to do before bed. Finally, after months of not having a good sleep schedule and not being able to sleep through the night (I sound like a newborn), I decided to listen to all those studies about “blue light” and “winding down before bed.”
I followed a strict nightly routine for a few days, which included (not limited to) the following:
- Not being in bed when I wasn’t going to be sleeping
- Turning off computer/ tv half an hour before bed (as for my phone… just turned that non night shift. Lets be honest, I wasn’t going to turn it off)
- Not getting ready for bed until 8 hours until I have to wake up (this was difficult, I like to sleep more than that. A lot more than that)
- Setting an alarm for when I had to get up (also, making sure each day this time was consistent)
- Brushing my teeth, putting clothes away, etc.
- Finally, time to get into bed
Doesn’t seem like a lot, right? HAHA. Wrong. When you try to do this and put these steps into motion for multiple nights you start to realize how much (or little) you were doing before. I could never settle my thoughts and calm down enough to sleep unless it was LATE. Following the strict 8 hour rule, I would get into bed and wait to fall asleep… Not looking at my phone, but also checking the time every few minutes worried I was losing precious sleep time. On the third night of this strict schedule, I realized it was not working. I was tired in the morning and still had a hard time falling asleep. I took to Pinterest to find good ways to fall asleep. It was that night that my troubles would be eased. I found a FREE app that would make me sleep like a baby.
I had fun going through all the sounds and laughing at the ones that were just gonna make me either have to pee all night or make me kinda scared. I settled on Cascade. The perfect level of running water. I also like Rain Rain 3D which is the perfect background storm sounds. I would set a sleep timer and I was out like a light. I woke up the next morning so excited to be well rested and awake! I’m not saying this app puts you to sleep but listening to it helped soothe my thoughts and everything I was thinking about, worried about, or drifting to. It took about 10 minutes to fall asleep instead of 30. The next night I said screw it to my routine of strict timing and just using the app. I slept all night, for 10 hours.
I cannot explain the difference it has made overall for my levels of alertness during the day. I am sure most people know the value of a good sleep, but I didn’t until I was able to knock out for a whole night.
There is nothing wrong with a sleep schedule, but for people who are too busy or too tired to follow it every night, things like this app can really make a difference. Also the different sounds are comical. I might just have to play the waterfall while my brother is sleeping and see what happens… (I’ll keep you posted on that one later)
toes in the sand 