How to Get Sleep when its not easy

These can all be signs that you aren’t getting enough sleep, and you aren’t alone if you are experiencing them. On average, American adults sleep an hour less at night than their bodies and brains need for peak performance.  Rebecca Robbins, PhD, a sleep researcher at NYU and consultant for The Benjamin’s “Rest & Renew” program, has some science-approved “sleep hacks” – small, easy changes for better sleep that can have an almost immediate payoff alertness and mood.

Get that Workout in Earlier

Exercise is a great, healthy habit, but exercising too close to bedtime can actually hurt your ability to fall asleep. Exercise raises core body temperature and a cooler body temperature is more conducive to falling asleep. Finishing your workout at least three hours before bedtime is the ideal.

Eat a Light Dinner

Eating a rich, heavy meal before bedtime means your body is focused on digestion, not rest. Try to consume more of your calories earlier in the day, at breakfast and lunch, while you are still in the active part of your day. It is also a myth that foods with tryptophan will help you sleep. You would have to eat huge amounts of turkey to see any effect. The best dinner for sleep is vegetables and lean protein, consumed at least three hours before bedtime.

Say Goodnight to Your Devices Before Dark

Checking your emails or Facebook right before bed can hurt your ability to fall asleep in three ways.  Work emails can also trigger stress and get the mind revved up, rather than helping it to wind down. Second, the artificial light from your electronic devices confuses your Circadian rhythms and convinces your body that it’s earlier in the day than it actually is. Last but certainly not least, if you are at all addicted to web surfing, it’s easy to move from site to site and let time really get away from you. Next thing you know, an hour has passed and you are shortchanged an hour of sleep because you just had to take the survey “Which Kardashian are you?”

Create a Soothing Pre-Bed Ritual

Creating a pre-bed ritual or habit can help you wind down and drop off. Taking a shower with a soothing lavender body soap, reading a chapter of a book, or doing a favorite yoga pose are great choices to wind down. Be consistent about your bedtime and your pre-bed routine and you are well on your way to a good night’s sleep.

Do the “15-Minute” Experiment

Make your bedtime just 15 minutes earlier tonight and see how it affects you. If it improves your mood and alertness, consider adding another 15 minutes until you find that your afternoon energy crash - and actual, soul-crushing despair when the morning alarm goes off - are things of the past.

To maintain, and even build upon, your great new sleep habits while you travel
─ book a stay at The Benjamin next time you are in New York City. Rebecca Robbins, PhD created the Benjamin’s pillow menu to guide guests in choosing a quality pillow (featured in The New York Times) that suits their natural sleep position. Other amenities to help improve your rest at the hotel include work-down reminder calls, white noise machines, sleep masks, earplugs and even a lullaby music library.