Health Tips

Strategies to Promote Sleep

1. Get up at the same time every morning.
2. Avoid napping during the day.
3. Avoid caffeine (i.e. coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, Excedrin) after 12 noon.
4. Create routines for going to bed i.e. Take bath/shower, brush teeth, brush hair, then to bed.
5. Plan a consistent time to go to bed and go to bed at that time.
6. Use your bedroom for sleeping and not other activities, such as reading T.V. etc.
7. Ideally, enter your bedroom just prior to lying down.
8. Your bedroom should be cooler than other rooms. Your body should go from warm to cool.
9. It is sometimes helpful to have an alarm to remind yourself to get to bed if you tend to get caught up in activities.
10. Try a sedating snack before bed such as turkey, warm milk or cheese.
11. Avoid electronics for at least an hour before you plan to go to bed.
12. Avoid engaging in activities that "wake you up" before you go to bed.
13. Avoid problem solving thinking while in bed. You probably won't remember the solution the next day anyway.
14. If you are plagued by thoughts of things you "have to" remember or are afraid you will forget, then keep a note pad and pencil by the bed so that you can jot the thought down and then put it out of your mind.
15. Aromas such as lavender can help you relax.
16. Decrease external light sources.
17. White noise
18. Relaxation breathing: Breathe from your diaphragm. Exhale for twice as long as you inhale.
19. Progressive relaxation.
20. Relax your tongue.
21. If you don't go to sleep within 20 minutes, get up, do something in another room (i.e. Read, play a board game, or word puzzle) for twenty minutes then go back to bed to sleep. Repeat as necessary.