Living an extremely busy life filled with appointments, meetings and dinners is all well and good however it has a huge impact on our mental health and our ability to shut off and unwind.

Scheduling our lives has become so much of a reality that most of us need to schedule time to relax. This lifestyle increases our stress levels and exhaustion. Ultimately, these factors decrease our productivity levels, resulting in wasted time due to lack of energy. The root of all these problems? Lack of rest. There are countless studies that have shown the positive effects an adequate amount of rest has on our body, mind and lives so we will not bore you with that. We are going to share the little things that end up greatly impacting rest & sleep routines for the better.

Simply put, sleep is the key to sufficient productivity and functionality at work, home and socially. Sleep does not just serve as a reboot function but time for our bodies to repair and recover from a busy day. There is a direct link to the amount of sleep we are getting and the response our bodies have during physical activity. Lack of sleep can cause our bodies to cling on to excess fat making it harder to tone up and lose weight. It can also hold onto water weight making us feel bloated and lethargic.

A Routine

As humans, we respond best to habit and routine. Everyone has a routine for something in their lives. As with all good routines, such as healthy eating and exercise, comes bad routines: working late, staying up until the early hours watching tv or the continuous social media zombie scrolling you seem to find yourself in. How do we get out of these habits? Start small!

Something as simple as a night time routine can help you adapt your mindset and train your body to begin to unwind and relax. Start by writing it out in the notes app on your phone with time slots of when you want your routine to start, when you want to be in bed and when you want to be turning the light off going to sleep etc. Once you begin to do this for a few nights you will remember the routine and eventually it will become habitual.

Screen Time

Because technology is such a large part of our lives, it is one of the top reasons why we struggle to go to sleep. Smart phones, tablets, and other devices all emit blue light which has an adverse effect on our sleep patterns. The light stimulates our minds causing it to be harder to shut off and relax. It is recommended to stay away from blue light emitting screens two to three hours before bed. A recent trend to combat the adverse light are blue light glasses. These glasses claim to filter out the light emitted from devices. Want to try some out? Start with a basic pair like these from Amazon.

Mindfulness & Meditation

Life can get noisy, many people are constantly on the go. Naturally, this can make it difficult to relax before bed. Sound machines and guided meditations are amazing options for an evening unwind. There are an array of free tracks on YouTube that are roughly an hour or so long, just enough time to get you off to sleep. You can find one for every situation, but most are based around topics such as: releasing anxiety, how to stop overthinking, positive thought and the law of attraction.

We have found these sessions life changing for our sleep. Naturally we are all sensitive to different voices and tones so I highly suggest pre listening to a few beforehand to find the one that is right for you as you drift off into your slumber.

Looking for a new app? “Calm” is the perfect resource for relaxation and meditation. It is highly regarded as the number one app for meditation and mindfulness. They have a range of resources available such as guided breathing exercises, sleep stories, meditation and soothing sounds.

Notebook

Our final trick to ensure a good night’s sleep is to keep a small notebook by the side of your bed. We all have those nights where we have thoughts racing through our minds at a million miles per second. There are times where it just seems impossible to shut off. Keeping a small notebook by the side of your bed is a great place to jot down whatever thoughts are in your head, allowing you to drift off without worries.