Sometimes falling asleep can feel like a battle: endless tossing and turning results in dozing off an hour or two before your morning alarm. Sleep is one of the most important things we do. It allows our brains to detoxify and muscles to regenerate. For the first edition of the MedMind newsletter, I wanted to give you some practical tips on how to sleep better.

1: Prepare your room 🛏️

There are 3 things to consider when preparing your room for a good night’s sleep:

1. Make it dark: this may seem obvious, but many people don’t realise just how much of an effect light can have on our ability to sleep. A table lamp produces enough light to significantly decrease melatonin production (the hormone that makes us sleep). If making your room dark is not possible, you can get yourself an eye mask.

2. Make it quiet: investing in a good pair of ear plugs can help drown out sounds that are out of your control

3. Make it cool: You can probably remember a particularly hot summers night during which you just could not get to sleep. Our body temperature needs to drop by around 1-2 degrees C before we can drift off. Having a hot shower before bed will let our bodies cool down and keeping a window open will allow our room to remain cool.

2: Establish a regular sleep schedule ⏰

You have an internal body clock, referred to as the circadian rhythm. You can help support it by having a regular bedtime and wake up time. As your body gets used to the routine of going to sleep at the same time every day (even weekends!), you will find yourself getting naturally sleepy at your set bedtime.

Here are some ways to establish a regular sleep schedule:

1. Set a reminder on your phone for 30mins before your set bedtime to start getting ready for bed

2. Gradually push forward your wake time until you reach your desired goal. For example, if you usually wake up at 9am on Saturday but 7am Mon-Fri, you can start by setting your weekend alarms to 8:30am for one week. The next week 8:00am and so on….

3. Limit blue light exposure before bed 📱

Lights from our electronics come in all colours, but blue is the worst offender. As discussed in tip 1, a table lamp can stop our brain from producing melatonin, making us feel more awake. The effect usually wears off once the light is off though. Blue light can impact our melatonin production for up to 3 HOURS before we sleep. Limiting this type of light will do wonders for our sleep.

Some ways I managed to decrease my exposure to blue light before bed:

1. Reading before bed instead of scrolling: wether it is a book or an e-reader, this is a great way to wind down before bed whilst learning a thing or two.

2. Blue light glasses: if you find yourself being unable to avoid looking at screens late into the night (e.g. due to work), getting a pair of glasses that block blue light out will help control your circadian rhythm.

3. Remove the temptation: if you find yourself constantly reaching for your phone whilst in bed, put it in another room for the night. It may seem drastic, but it really forces your body to wind down. And if you are worried about waking up, you can get an old style digital clock to set your alarm on!

That is all for our first edition of the MedMind newsletter. I hope these tips have been useful and I wish you happy sleeping!