Turn Down for What? Turn Down & Sleep.
The Daylight Savings Time switch can be a doozy, even with the excitement of longer days and warmer weather. Many of us already find it hard to get the appropriate amount of sleep.
The Monday after Daylight Savings Time is also National Napping Day. According to CNN, Dr. William Anthony, a Boston University professor, and his wife, Camille, instituted National Napping Day in an effort to overcome American cultural prejudice against napping and to raise awareness about the health benefits of catching up on quality sleep. Who knew?
We began thinking about the time change and decided to challenge ourselves to make rest a priority over the weekend. We both tried two different routines to get us into bed, relaxed and ready for a full night of sleep. The hope was that feeling of energy and rejuvenation would hit us on Monday and we’d be ready to embrace the time change with no problem. Get into what routines we tried and how we both fared below.
CaCera
I am an obsessed FitBit user. While it is important for me to track all my steps and workouts, I also love getting a glimpse into my sleep habits. Between working full-time, teaching classes, getting my workouts in and having all the fun with the blog, my assigned “sleep score” isn’t that great.
Often, my sleep tracker ranks my nights of sleep as “poor” to “fair”. I was excited to get into this challenge with Shawnie and see if I could get that to change. For three nights in a row, I stuck to the basics.:
Ensured my apartment was cool and all lights / distractions were turned off.
Shut my screens down 30 minutes before bed. No games or social media.
Read for 30 minutes before bed to help calm my mind and lull me to sleep.
Aimed for at least seven hours or sleep.
After a long run on Sunday, I also rubbed down with tea tree oil which helps soothes aches and pains and aids in relaxation.
Results:
Above: Pinterest; Top Photo: @healthmagainze
Putting the simplest effort into dialing down at the end of the day did pay off. I made sure to shut down in enough time to get 7-8 hours of sleep. My FitBit sleep score tracked the quality of my sleep between “fair” and “good.” I woke up easily on Sunday, energized and ready for my run. The time change did still catch up with me on Monday, but I felt more focused and a lot less anxious than I have in weeks. Lesson learned, am I right??
Shawnie
I live my life on 10. Between working a full-time job, teaching at a university, personal training, writing for the blog, and trying to find some semblance of a social life, sleep, unfortunately, falls too low on the priority list. Like CaCera, I track Fair on my FitBit, averaging 5-6 hours a day, So to say I was excited to give this sleep experiment at try would be an understatement.
For three nights, I tried the following:
Use a sleep app (I used iSleep Easy)
Place my phone away from arms reach, so that’s no games, streaming services, or social media
Take Magnesium to help with inflammation and relax my muscles ( I used this brand)
Spray a lavender essential oil mix on my comforter
Turned off my alarm on Sunday
Results:
Although I didn’t sleep more hours (averaged 6-7 hours), I did have a better quality of sleep. When I used the sleep app, I didn’t make it past the first 5 minutes before I was out like a light! Speaking of light, not having my phone nearby, preventing those random glares from blinding me in my sleep. Turning off my alarm allowed my body to wake up on its own, which was surprisingly close to my regular time. I woke up Sunday energized, and was able to get a lot done early.
I realized how desperate my body was crying out for genuine rest. However, Daylight Savings Time still kicked my butt on Monday, it’s so dark in the morning y’all!
I’m going to try to keep this routine up throughout the month, which will help with my fatigue. It’s a small change I believe will add up over time. But honestly, it’s probably best I prioritize self-care overall. (Running to book that massage appointment)