In order to set the stage for sleep, it is important to be in a fairly relaxed state. One question that some folks have is: “How do we plan our evening to increase the changes that sleep will take us away when we finally go to bed?” This is where winddown periods come into play.
Winddowns are a way to let our body and brain know that we are transitioning from the busy-ness of our day into the calmer parts of the evening. This tells the brain that it is time to send less alerting signals so that we can start feeling sleepier.
This post provides some information on how to set your winddown in a way that is likely to be most effective.
Creating a break between work and relaxation
There are some people who continue to engage in activating behaviors throughout the evening. They may continue to respond to emails, watch scary movies, or do heavy exercise before bed. Although these activities may not be a huge problem for some people, the excess arousal from these activities may affect our sleep.
Therefore, it can be helpful sometimes to set a time where create a break between work and winding down. For example, you might place away all your work material and dim the lights so you know this is a time to unwind and relax.
You can choose the time that works best for your life. For example, if you typically sleep at 11:00pm, you might consider starting this process a couple hours before so you can enjoy a more relaxing evening.
Scheduling a worry time
Worrying in bed is very common, but this worry can be tricky because it can get in the way of sleep. Moreover, it’s usually not particularly helpful because we just think about the same idea over and over again.
Scheduling a worry time in the early evening can be a nice way to get down all the worries that might plague you at night. You might write down the main things you expect to worry about and a possible solution to resolve the issue. In the case where there is no particular solution, you can still journal it down. By writing through your worries, you can process the information and that can lead to less emotional distress.
If the worries come back at night, then you can remember that you already wrote all this down earlier and rest assured.
Make the winddown period enjoyable
People sometimes feel compelled to do a winddown period for the sake of sleep. However, forcing sleep never goes well. Instead, the winddown period should not be intentionally for trying to fall asleep, it should just be something you enjoy.
You can absolutely watch TV, listen to music, do crossword puzzles – whatever feels right for you. If you have gotten some sunlight during the day, I would not worry about the effects of blue light. Typically the research suggests that blue light from screens are not likely to significantly affect your sleep (unless you are a night owl who has been inside all day). If you prefer dimmer lights, that can be a nice cue for your brain to know it is time to sleep.
For those of you who are night owls who want to sleep a little earlier, it’s best to start your winddown period an hour or two before bed and engage in behaviors that are fairly enjoyable and relaxing.
Go to bed when sleepy
Try not to get into bed just because you feel like it’s time to sleep. This can lead to feeling frustrated in bed because we are not able to sleep, and over time our bed can become a place filled with wakefulness and distress. Instead, I encourage you to follow your body’s sleep cues. Notice when you are starting to nod off and then that’s your cue to head to bed.
I wish you a great and relaxing winddown this evening! If you’re looking for a permanent solution for stress and anxiety at night, here is a book that I wrote on treating insomnia: The Insomnia Paradox.
Best wishes,
P
Simply mental health 