Mental Fitness Toolkit - The Ultimate Guide to Sleep, Rest and Mental Health

Are you getting enough sleep?

Very often, when you ask someone how they are going, their first response is “tired” or “busy.” Across society, we are caught in a vicious cycle of exhaustion, overstimulation, and lack of focus. Many of us realize something is amiss but often feel powerless to do something about it given the constraints of our work, families or social pressures. 

What we lack is an appropriate balance between exertion and effort on the one hand  and  rest and recovery on the other. Many of us don’t get the recovery we need because we pack too much into our days. For many people, it’s not that we are doing too much. Instead, we are not getting enough recovery to match and replenish our energy expenditure. Too commonly, we think we’re getting more recovery than we are, while engaging in activities that seem replenishing but which actually are not. 

While sleep might seem the obvious place to start to replenish our energy (that’s what this article is about) there is more to recovery than merely good sleep. We also need good rest throughout the day, not only to maintain energy levels to stay productive and engaged but also to create a habit of winding down for bedtime. Too many of us get into bed unready to fall asleep. We’re overstimulated and overthinking. Very often, this creates a downward spiral of caffeine uppers the next day and alcohol to take the edge off at night.

Sleep, a crucial component of rest, stands alongside movement, nutrition, connection, and mindset as one of the five Foundations of the Resilience Agenda Mental Fitness Toolkit. These are the essential elements of our health that affect us regardless of our awareness of them. To achieve optimal physical and mental wellbeing, we must prioritize these foundations. 

If you’re struggling to sleep well or simply want to improve your overall health, this guide is for you. Whether you're overwhelmed by work, parenting, or a demanding boss, overcoming the persistent brain fog and low energy of poor sleep can be game-changing for your happiness, sense of fulfillment, and success. The hard part is to make it a priority. 

This is the Resilience Agenda Ultimate Guide to Sleep and Rest. It is meant to be a practical tool to help you make changes fast. If you want to know the science behind good sleep, we suggest you read the highly accessible books listed at the end of this article.

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Why Sleep Matters

Try this thought experiment. If sleep were not critical to our survival, wouldn’t natural selection have eliminated this seemingly vulnerable state from our life? When we sleep, we are vulnerable to predators and the elements. It takes up roughly one-third of our lives; time which theoretically could be used for other human needs. However, if it weren’t important for some reason, it wouldn’t have survived evolution. No doubt, there is an evolutionary advantage to sleep. T

The problem is that sleep as a wellbeing and performance tool seems so basic…and so we overlook it. As a result, the lack of sleep that so many of us experience day to day is costing us performance at school and work, and ultimately contributing to chronic disease. 

In our pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, we are commonly encouraged to focus on eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise (though we rarely do these as well as we’d like). While these aspects of lifestyle are crucial, emerging research now positions sleep as the third fundamental pillar of good health. High-quality sleep is to mental and physical health what core strength is to physical health: essential but often neglected.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in three adults report getting inadequate nighttime sleep (meaning they feel tired and unrefreshed the next day). And according to the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 40% of people have fallen asleep unintentionally during the day. As global sleep expert Matthew Walker notes, “the physical and mental impairments caused by one night of bad sleep dwarf those caused by an equivalent absence of food or exercise.”

Studies are now showing strong links between insufficient and poor quality sleep and adverse health outcomes, from an inability to fight off everyday coughs and colds to an increased chance of dying of heart disease. Poor sleep also affects our ability to digest and metabolize food, which affects diabetes. Interestingly, new research is revealing the crucial role sleep plays in regulating our emotions, helping us focus at work, and managing our mental health. Poor sleep is both a cause and outcome of mental health conditions such as anxiety disorder, major depression, and bipolar disorder. 

While every human needs sleep, understanding how vitally important it is to so many aspects of our lives can motivate us to prioritize it. The problem is that our culture doesn’t value sleep. So how do we make time for sleep when our lives are so busy, stressful?, and there’s just so much to do! 

How Sleep Affects Our Health

The modern world has drastically altered our relationship with sleep. We stay awake later, technology conspiring to stimulate our minds late into the night, and our schedules are tightly packed with never-ending to-do lists. The advent of artificial lighting and the ubiquitous presence of screens have disrupted our natural sleep patterns, leading to widespread sleep deprivation and its associated health issues. In effect, we’ve lengthened the day and shortened the night. 

Most of us know the difference between a good night’s sleep and a poor night’s sleep and how it makes us feel. Yet we often feel powerless to make changes to sleep better. Some of us neglect basic sleep health and hygiene, while others try for better sleep but focus on approaches that don’t work while ignoring the solutions hiding in plain sight. Yet there are numerous lifestyle factors, many of which are within our control that we can take action on to improve our sleep. 

Sleep supports our physical health by strengthening the immune system, thereby reducing our risk of illness. By contrast, when we sleep less than seven hours per night, we get more colds. Good sleep plays a crucial role in pain management and physical recovery after exercise or long work days. Likewise, quality sleep lowers the risk of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke - conditions that might seem far off for otherwise healthy people but correlate with fatigue, lack of focus, and low energy. Over time, poor sleep affects our productivity and creativity, which can lead to cynicism, isolation, and burnout. 

When we prioritize sleep, we wake feeling rested, refreshed, and energized. Though most fail to see the connection between a lack of sufficient sleep or rest and interpersonal or physical health problems, people who sleep well are more motivated to exercise, perform better at work, and maintain better relationships. In contrast, lack of sleep makes us irritable, impacting our relationships and overall well-being. It’s a vicious circle. 

When we don’t sleep well, we also tend to overeat. Sleep deprivation reduces our levels of a hormone called leptin, which helps us control food intake. When tired, we tend to eat more sugar and fats, creating a downward spiral for our health. When we don’t get enough sleep and work for long hours without breaks, we also tend to rely on caffeine, sugar, and other low-octane, short-acting stimulants. 

By contrast, good sleep enables us to regulate our blood sugar, helping us control hunger pangs, maintain energy levels, and reduce our diabetes risk. Even people without diabetes benefit from reducing major blood sugar spikes, which cause inflammation and brain fog. 

Sleep is more than a good way to rest our bodies. It also nourishes our brains, helping us process the day’s events, manage stress, and form long-term memories. By helping us process our thoughts and emotions, sleep fosters mental health and emotional regulation. 

Lack of sleep impairs cognitive functioning, increasing the risk of mental health disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. Even one sleepless night can impair cognition, affecting work performance, relationships, and problem-solving abilities.

Good sleep, on the other hand, improves our ability to make logical decisions and respond effectively to daily challenges. As Peter Attia, author of Outlive says, “We now know that even one sleepless night can create a state that is the functional equivalent of being legally drunk.” 

Factors Affecting Sleep

While many people think that good sleep starts the moment we jump into bed, in fact, a good night’s sleep starts the moment we get up. The habits and lifestyle choices we make throughout the day are vitally important both to our ability to get to sleep, and our ability to stay asleep and get good quality sleep. 

This means that how much coffee we drink in the morning, how much exercise and sunlight we get, how we interpret and manage stress, how we interact with technology, and how we wind down for bed all contribute to how easily we might nod off. 

Caffeine 

One of the most commonly cited lifestyle factors for improving our sleep is to manage or limit our consumption of caffeine, particularly late in the day. This includes coffee, tea and of course energy drinks, which are also high in sugar (another thing that doesn’t help good quality sleep). 

When we drink caffeine throughout the day, we are often artificially overcoming sleep deprivation. In the words of one of the world’s foremost sleep experts Matthew Walker: “Most people do not realize how long it takes to overcome a single dose of caffeine, and therefore fail to make the link between the bad night of sleep we wake from in the morning and the cup of coffee we had ten hours earlier with dinner.”

The half-life of caffeine (the amount of time it takes for half the caffeine in your system to be absorbed is roughly 5-7 hours). That means that a cup of coffee at midday will still leave you with half the caffeine at dinner time, and one quarter of the original amount at midnight. 

While decaffeinated drinks can help, decaffeinated often doesn’t mean caffeine-free. Decaf can contain 25% caffeine, which adds up. Nevertheless, switching one coffee a day to decaf is a great way to start reducing overall caffeine intake while still keeping the habit. Be mindful also that as we age, our caffeine absorbsion tolerance reduces, which can mean overnight waking. 

Technology and the Online World 

Most of us know the feeling of zoning out on the couch, watching Netflix until midnight, and then wondering where the evening went. This is also a familiar scenario: a late night of work followed by a quick check of the phone before bed, which somehow spirals into a lengthy scroll-fest or heated online debate.

Recent evidence suggests that technology significantly impacts our sleep. Beyond the well-known effects of blue light on melatonin production, there’s also overstimulation. Constant engagement with screens and digital content can leave us too wired to fall asleep easily. Using our devices moves us from the present moment into the news, arguments, or concerns about work. Overthinking and an inability to quieten our mind before bed can prevent us from falling asleep. 

As Russell Foster, a professor of neuroscience at Oxford University says, “The bottom line is that devices should not be used for at least 30 minutes before bedtime - not because of the light they produce, but because of the alerting activity they induce within the brain.” 

The solution? Make those late-night Netflix binges the exception, not the rule. Otherwise, we risk disrupting our sleep.

 

Revenge Bedtime Procrastination

Given today’s longer work hours and the ever-increasing expectations to “do it all”—whether childcare or supporting elderly parents—more and more of us are sacrificing valuable sleep hours to other activities.

There’s even a scientific term for staying up later than we know we should: bedtime procrastination. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a related term was coined: revenge bedtime procrastination (RBP). It refers to delaying sleep due to a sense of having too little free time because of longer working hours or increased responsibilities. 

People who engage in RBP realize they need more sleep but are unable to get to sleep earlier. This procrastination mirrors other intention-action gaps, such as eating unhealthy foods and skipping exercise. 

The best way to overcome sleep procrastination? Know and then apply the basics of good sleep fitness. Keep reading to learn how.

Work Culture and Sleep

Modern work culture is a significant factor influencing our sleep patterns. Many of us work long hours, often flexibly, which often means late into the night. This perpetuates a sense that work is never “finished” and exacerbates stress levels, particularly for knowledge workers who always have another task waiting.

Poor sleep creates a vicious cycle where diminished focus and performance at work lead to increased reliance on alcohol, caffeine, and other stimulants, further disrupting sleep. Companies and managers often underestimate the importance of sleep, adhering to outdated practices of “pushing through,” which can be detrimental to long-term performance and employee engagement. 

As a result, we find ourselves in a downward spiral that makes us even more stressed. Tasks take longer, which leads to more stress and risks burnout. It doesn’t help that many companies and managers don’t understand the importance of sleep and consider a desire to sleep a weakness or lack of commitment. 

Matthew Walker puts it well: “People often tell me that they do not have enough time to sleep because they have so much work to do. Without wanting to be combative in any way whatsoever, I respond by informing them that perhaps the reason they still have so much to do at the end of the day is precisely because they do not get enough sleep at night.”

One of the best things we can do to get our work done and reduce stress is simply to stop - or at least pause from time to time. Sometimes, this can be as simple as knocking off early one night, even when - or especially when - an important project remains uncompleted (provided it’s not due the next day). 

Managers should recognize that overtired employees are less productive and engaged and that consistent sleep deprivation over a long period can lead to interpersonal issues within teams and increase time off due to burnout. If you’re seeking a new job and value work-life balance and your health, inquire about your prospective manager’s views on sleep. Their response will be telling.

You May Not Need More Sleep, You Might Need More Rest

Quality sleep begins the moment you wake up. Often, when people feel unfocused, distracted, or low on energy, they attribute it to poor nighttime sleep. However, the root cause may be insufficient rest and stress recovery during the day, not just inadequate sleep at night. In other words, our entire ‘daytime lifestyle’ and general approach to managing our energy and stress through movement and nutrition can carry over into our sleep. 

Stress itself isn’t the problem; it's the inability to recover from it. Getting stressed isn’t inherently bad. But staying stressed when we should be recovering or entering into a cycle of chronic stress and staying there is a problem. 

We sleep better when we move throughout the day, eat properly, and make time to disconnect from stimulating activities like work, news, and TV. Balancing passive overstimulation (often via digital devices) with active rest is crucial. Engage in hobbies, take walks, create art, play music, or connect with others. These activities not only enrich our lives but also help us process stress and build resilience through distraction, mastery and community building. Achieving better rest throughout the day prevents the need to collapse onto the couch each evening in exhaustion.

As Peter Attia sums it up well, “The overarching point here is that a good night of sleep may depend in part on a good day of wakefulness: one that includes exercise, some outdoor time, sensible eating (no late-night snacking), minimal to no alcohol, proper management of stress, and knowing where to set boundaries around work and other life stressors.” 

Sleep FAQ

One of the biggest challenges people face in getting better sleep is confusing fact with fiction, sometimes relying on folk wisdom instead of science. Many of our preconceptions about sleep come from a period before modern science revealed many of its mysteries, such as what our brains do while we sleep. As we now know from fMRI scans that almost as much happens during sleep as during wakefulness!  

Here are some answers to the most common questions people have about sleep.  

How much sleep do I need? 

Your mother was probably right on this one. Most adults need between 7 and 8.5 hours of sleep each night. It is totally normal, however, for teenagers and young adults to sleep more and to want to sleep in later. While some people claim to function well on less than 7 hours of sleep, this is rare. Chances are you aren’t one of them. It’s good to know that we need (and easily get) less sleep as we age. As Matthew Walker notes, if you feel like going back to sleep mid-morning or can’t make it to lunchtime without a coffee, you aren’t sleeping enough. 

When it comes to sleep, quality is as important as quantity. Deep, uninterrupted sleep provides restorative benefits that poor-quality sleep cannot. Modern fitness apps can help monitor sleep, giving us insights into how much and how deeply we are sleeping. Whether you use an app or simply write down how you feel, a core component of good health is monitoring sleep quality and quantity with the same level of devotion as you do your weight, blood pressure, heart rate, or other chosen marker of physical fitness. 

What about naps?  

Napping can be beneficial provided it doesn’t significantly delay or interrupt evening sleep. Short naps (20–30 minutes) can enhance alertness and performance without significantly affecting nighttime sleep. You may need to engage in trial and error to determine how well you sleep after napping. If you think napping might be an issue, try avoiding naps after 3 p.m. 

To optimize the effect of a nap, try taking a coffee nap, which involves having a caffeinated drink beforehand instead of after waking (of course, take into account the impact of caffeine overall). Because it takes roughly 20 minutes for caffeine to infuse through our bloodstream, you may feel more awake after a coffee nap. 

I can’t sleep. Do I have insomnia? 

We often use the term “insomnia” to refer to any situation that prevents us from getting to sleep. In such cases, we are referring to sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation results from external factors that prevent adequate sleep, whereas insomnia, a clinical condition with a strict definition, is the inability to sleep despite opportunity and is often due to internal factors like stress or anxiety. In other words, insomnia is often caused by being anxious about getting to sleep. 

Jade Wu, author of Hello Sleep explains that sleep deprivation is a lack of opportunity to sleep, such as when caring for young children, pulling an all-nighter, or experiencing sleep apnea. With insomnia, however, there is adequate opportunity to sleep. In fact, as Wu notes, “people with insomnia are usually working really hard to perfect their sleep hygiene and sleep environment, and they have all the right setups and all the time in the world, but then something internal is keeping them up.” 

In such cases, improving our ability to wind down after work, manage stress throughout the day, and get more active rest can help us sleep better. 

Does alcohol help me sleep? 

Unfortunately not. Remember what we said about sleep quality? Nightly alcohol to “take the edge off” a stressful day isn’t good for encouraging deep, restful, high-quality sleep. 

Although alcohol may help you fall asleep faster by reducing overstimulation, it disrupts deep sleep, leading to poorer quality sleep and next-day drowsiness. As Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep says, “the best but also most annoying advice I can give you is abstinence.” If we choose to drink, especially too much or too late, science shows we are likely to get a bad night’s sleep.

Drinking alcohol prior to bed means our deep sleep cycle is interupted with micro-awakenings. Therefore, it isn’t as restful as deep, continuous sleep. The problem is we don’t remember them. However, the next day, we often feel sluggish. 

Should I use sleeping pills?

Sleeping pills are great for those who simply cannot sleep at all, impairing their ability to function safely throughout the day. However, it is important to note that these pills often induce a superficial form of sleep that lacks the restorative qualities of natural sleep.

If you aren’t already taking sleeping pills, there’s probably a host of other strategies to try before resorting to them. Taking sleeping tablets regularly without examining the underlying causes of your poor sleep is a recipe for continued exhaustion. 

Of course, always consult a doctor if you are concerned or planning to change your sleeping tablet regimen. Don’t start or stop taking a prescribed medication on the basis of reading this or any blog. 

Habits for Better Sleep 

Understanding the importance of sleep and what impacts it is the first step toward getting on top of feeling exhausted and run down. Implementing realistic and sustainable behavior changes is the next. Rather than making drastic changes, however, focus on amplifying the basics and gradually building better habits step by step. Making Mental Fitness a lifestyle means changes must be sustainable so we avoid ‘giving up’ when life gets busy or hard later on.  

Reducing arousal before bed is an essential first step. Physical tiredness alone doesn’t guarantee good sleep if the mind is overstimulated. Often we are overstimulated by worries, or by replaying (recent, and especially digital) conversations in our heads. Techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation exercises, and journaling can help calm the mind and prepare you for restful sleep.

In our busy, technology-driven lives, we often overlook the need for mental processing time. With constant inputs from podcasts, social media, and work, our minds need time to catch up. If the only quiet time your mind gets is when you lie down to sleep, that is precisely when it will take the opportunity to process everything. No wonder your mind decides that the best time to do this is when you lie down in bed without distractions. It’s the only chance you’re giving it! 

This is why periods of rest throughout the day are so crucial, and why taking a break means more than just stepping away from your computer to go play on your phone. Even though we are ‘not working’, we are still experiencing ‘cognitive load’ which takes energy and mental focus.  

Incorporate more “input-free” moments throughout your day to think and reflect. Initially, this can be uncomfortable, as our minds are less used to being ‘bored’ or simply observing our surroundings or internal experiences than in the past. Journaling can be an effective way to offload thoughts, organizing them outside your mind so you can sleep without the burden of unresolved thoughts. As productivity expert David Allen says, “The mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” Go for walks, without listening to music or making calls. When you eat alone, eat mindfully, which means not watching videos. 

Finally, build a good wind-down ritual into your day. Even something as simple as floor sitting or mobility exercises on a yoga mat can prepare your body and mind for rest. As performance coach Kelly Starett says, “We all know how to go, go, go; not many of us know a healthy way to bring the day to a close.”

By making such adjustments, you can improve your sleep quality, enhance your overall wellbeing, and break free from the cycle of overstimulation and exhaustion.

Essential Strategies for Better Sleep

We’ve created the following checklist to encourage you to develop better sleep habits. Often called “sleep hygiene” - a term we find uninspiring - we prefer “sleep fitness” - good sleep habits can help you consistently achieve adequate and high-quality sleep in combination with the other foundations from the Resilience Agenda Mental Fitness Toolkit. 

The following strategies shouldn’t require major purchases or major home renovations, and you can implement most of them fairly quickly! 

Prepping your body for sleep

• Habitually avoid caffeine after noon. Make it a rule. During this transition, try decaf (which contains some caffeine) or green tea. Have caffeine alternatives ready when it gets hard and you’re under pressure.
• Double down on moving and eating well. As Dr Peter Attia says,: “even one night of horrible sleep cripples our ability to dispose of glucose the next day.” When we’re struggling to sleep well, eating and moving well become paramount. Try to always have at least one area—movement, sleep, or nutrition—under control.
• Realize that your daily diet, especially food eaten right before bed, plays a crucial role in how well you sleep. When possible, eat lighter meals, eat an early dinner, and skip late night snacks. Eat enough protein so you feel full and satisfied. 
• Be conscious of portion sizes, especially when eating late at night. Note that late night eating and high carbohydrate consumption (especially sugary juices, desserts, and snacks) can impact sleep even more than caffeine.
• Wear an eye mask during sleep. Darkness facilitates good sleep, and eye masks block light. They can also be comforting. 
• Be evaluated for sleep apnea, especially if you are male and over 40 or overweight. This is a chronically underdiagnosed issue, so consider talking to your doctor or a sleep clinic.
• Take a hot bath before bed (if you have a tub and the weather is right). Hot baths can increase deep NREM sleep by 10 to 15% in adults. 

Prepping your mind for sleep

• To distract yourself from intrusive or repetitive thoughts, try simple mindfulness techniques, such as body scans, or slow out breaths. Focusing on physical sensations such as what we can feel, hear or smell can halt racing thoughts. The ability to deliberately return focus to a chosen object is the skill honed by mindfulness exercises.
• Accept self-critical thoughts and don’t catastrophize a failure to fall asleep. For example, ruminating over how tired we will be tomorrow if we can’t sleep can keep us awake is unhelpful. Accept that if you don’t sleep, you might be tired but will likely survive. Counterintuitively, such a mindset can help you get better sleep!
• Deliberately schedule worry time. For example, deliberately worry between 6 and 7 p.m. on your way home from work. At other times, remind yourself of this planned worry time so you can focus on what you’re doing.
• Understand the difference between active rest (e.g., crafting with your hands or walking gently after dinner) and passive rest (e.g., watching TV), which is less restful. Science shows that the feeling most frequently reported when watching TV is boredom!
• If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep but your blessings. To overcome anxiety at bed time, practice gratitude for specific good things in your life. It's impossible to be anxious and grateful at the same time. Notice things that went well that day and remember that not everything must be going well to find things to appreciate.
• If you can’t fall asleep, get up and do something else until you feel tired. This prevents you from associating sleep with frustration. Never spend more than 30 minutes lying in bed trying to get to sleep. You may think that getting up will make you more tired the next day, but if you aren’t sleeping, lying in bed is no good. Getting up will help you avoid developing insomnia habits.

Prepping a space for sleep

• When falling asleep, block out as much light as you can, sleeping in darkness if possible. Eliminate flashing and bright lights so your sleep environment mirrors a dark sky.
• Remove technology, including TVs, from your bedroom. Get an alarm clock and join the growing group of people who do not use their phone to wake up. At the very least, don’t keep your phone by your bedside where you are tempted to touch it when you can’t fall asleep.
• Don’t fall asleep on the couch at night. It's that simple. If you’re tempted to fall asleep on the couch, go to bed.
• Set the temperature a bit cooler for sleep than daytime - about 18 degrees instead of the usual 22 (65-70 degrees Fahrenheit). As Matthew Walker says, “You will always find it easier to fall asleep in a room that is too cold than too hot.”
• Get a low-light lamp for your bedside. If you are lucky enough to have dimmers, use them throughout the house after dinner, so your body can adjust to reduced light which prepares you for sleep. 
• Keep a “dump pad” or notebook by your bedside for emptying your mind of any repetitive or stressful thoughts or to-dos.

Prepping for sleep throughout the day

• Get as much sunlight as you can throughout the day. Sunlight prompts our bodies to create melatonin, which increases our nightly sleep drive. If you live somewhere that is frequently dark, consider getting a sleep lamp. For most people, however, taking an outdoor walk each day will do.
• Getting more organized is a surefire way to get better sleep. One practical tip is to use a to-do app (e.g., OneNote) to keep track of to-dos and ideas. Knowing you’ve actioned (written down) small tasks makes it easier to fall asleep.
• Develop a work wind-down routine, particularly if you work in an office, to let your mind know that work is over for the day. This might involve planning the next day, so you can feel well prepared for what needs to be done (assuming there are no fires to put out). This is doubly important if you return to work after dinner. Practice what is called the Hemingway Bridge: stop work before it’s finished and take notes on where to start the next day. This prevents anxiety when lying in bed later.
• If you find it challenging to get enough exercise during the day, make do with a fake commute or fresh air snack either before or after work. 
• To avoid worrying about tomorrow, set out what you’ll need to get going in the morning. Packing bags, making lunch, and laying out clothes are gentle, non-stimulating activities to do before bed that help you feel organized, allowing you to sleep better.
• Find ways throughout the day to reduce your racing mind (e.g., limiting screen time and caffeine). This means actively destressing during the day. Simply stop from time to time, allowing yourself to be unstimulated by podcasts, social media, radio, Netflix, or other people’s opinions and to process your thoughts in peace. Driving, sitting on the train, or waiting in line are great times to do this. Become okay with the discomfort of short bursts of boredom.

Creating a sleep routine

• Set regular daily bed and wake times and stick to them (ideally, even on weekends). At the very least, set a bedtime that permits 7 to 8 hours of sleep. If you’d like to get to bed earlier, you don’t need to change your schedule abruptly. Try moving bedtime forward in small increments, perhaps 15 minutes earlier each night. 
• Remind yourself of bedtime with an alarm so you don’t procrastinate (you can set gentle alerts, such as a Spotify song, on your smartphone). Though hard to implement, maintaining a regular bedtime is commonly cited among the most crucial sleep ingredients.
• Develop a simple pre-sleep routine that doesn’t involve going straight from work to bed. Schedule time to process thoughts, have a shower or bath, write things down, or do something with your hands. Even completing chores with the right mindset just before bed can be relaxing and prepare us for a good night’s sleep.
• After 8 p.m., avoid things that overstimulate you or make you anxious. Don’t read the news, text messages, or social media to avoid prompting worry over current events or replaying recent conversations you wish had gone differently. The online world hinders sleep through both its blue light and the thoughts it spurs. 

What Else Could Be Going On?

Most people probably could do more to craft their lifestyle around better sleep habits. However, many lack the ability to control their sleep environment. 

Sometimes, getting better sleep isn’t as simple as drinking less caffeine or putting away a phone, though these are good places to start. Poor sleep can also be caused by or a sign of common or serious medical conditions, such as the following.

• Sleep apnea
• Chronic pain 
• Aging and hormonal changes
• Mental health conditions
• Kids & Sleep

If your partner says you often snore or stop breathing during the night, you should consult a doctor or sleep specialist to determine whether you have sleep apnea and if so, what can be done about it.

If you have chronic pain, especially back pain, good sleep can be hard to come by. If your pain persists, speak to a physiotherapist or sports medicine doctor about how to improve strength, mobility, and balance. 

Also, gut health (which is influenced by diet and chronic stress) is vital for good quality sleep. A suboptimal microbiome can interrupt sleep, increasing risk of depression. Therefore, diet impacts not only inflammation and the capacity to tolerate discomfort while exercising but also sleep.

The Takeaway

1. Do a Sleep Fitness audit by reviewing the checklist above. How many tools can you tick? 
2. Reframe your attitude toward sleep as an investment in your well-being and performance, not a waste of time or hindrance.
3. Implement a handful of new strategies that make sense for you.
4. Work on the rest of your Mental Fitness Foundations
5. Get more active (versus passive) rest throughout the day.
6. Learn the skills and habits of Mental Fitness to better handle stress throughout the day.

The most basic principle here is to recognize the importance of sleep and prioritize it. Simple practices, such as maintaining a sleep diary to track sleep patterns and identify disruptions, can lead to significant insights and results. However, to achieve truly restorative sleep, we must make tough decisions about our current routines and prioritize rest as an essential component of our health. What must give or be done differently for you to get an extra 15 or 30 minutes of sleep?

It isn’t only the late nights and big all-nighters that lead to poor sleep habits but the tiny, creeping habits that sneak into our lives and become hard to shift.

Best Sleep Books

Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep – a bit of everything, including an interesting section on dreams.

Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution – the book that woke people to the importance of good sleep.

Jade Wu’s Hello Sleep – a relatively new book that highlights the role our thoughts play in our sleep success.

Russell Foster’s Life Time – a fairly dense and scientific but fascinating read on circadian rhythms, the differences between “larks” and “night owls,” and what these differences mean for productivity and performance.

 

Chris Winter’s The Sleep Solution – a good review of the science of sleep.