Sleep

Sleep is life, not a waste of life.

The importance of sleep cannot be understated. Sleep solidifies new skills and information, promotes memory consolidation, retention, cognitive function, hormonal regulation, learning, and emotional regulation.

Seeking stimulation or “revenge procrastination,” especially late at night, disrupts restful sleep and continues to keep us from taking the time and space to reflect and process our day. This further interferes with sleep as we can become overwhelmed by our thoughts as we try to fall asleep.

Understand more about sleep with Dr. Jade Wu (Reid Connect-ED Podcast).

Establishing a Routine

• Try to avoid screens, intensive mental workloads, heavy meals, and caffeine/alcohol too close to bedtime. Create relaxing conditions for bedtime with dim lighting and cooler temperatures. Establish a ritual with stretching, meditation, sleep visualization, mind wandering, etc.

• Carve out the right time during the day to reflect on your day and plan for tomorrow. Attempt to keep a regular sleep schedule, and take into account the winding down time before sleep.

• An excellent aid: Boring Books for Bedtime Podcast

• Be kind, flexible, and forgiving about our own sleep to have a good relationship with sleep. Loosening our expectations about the particular time or manner of sleep, or blaming a lack of sleep for our problems, will keep us from having a healthy attitude towards all important sleep.