How Your Home Can Help With Your Self-Care Resolution

You make the same resolution every January: I’m going to take better care of myself this year. It’s one of the most popular health-related goals. (The other three are quit smoking, exercise and eat healthier.) That looks a bit different for everyone, but a common – and highly beneficial – self-care strategy is getting more and better sleep. It’s foundational to good health and happiness, and is worth considering if you haven’t yet.

Why Busy Adults Really Need Sleep

Why should you prioritize sleep as part of your self-care regimen? “Even in the context of optimal nutrition, exercise and other factors, if you are not sleeping well your alertness, performance and mood will clearly suffer,” declares Cathy Goldstein, MD, a sleep neurologist at Michigan Medicine’s Sleep Disorders Centers.

“The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend getting at least seven hours of sleep on a nightly basis,” the doctor shares. Not getting enough can lead to obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke, depression, pain, poor immune function, and greater mortality, she adds. It can also lead to poor functional outcomes (increased errors and accidents).

“A few spontaneous awakenings at night are normal; it is unlikely that anyone sleeps continuously for seven hours,” Goldstein observes. “Awakenings are problematic when they are frequent (indicating an underlying sleep disorder like sleep apnea) or prolonged (insomnia).” If you’re plagued by either, consult with your physician or a specialist. For many adults, though, lack of sleep has more to do with lifestyle and environment than health.   

Why You’re Not Sleeping Enough

“So many of us say we don’t have time to sleep,” Goldstein says. “Keep in mind that hopping into bed at 11 p.m. and setting an alarm for 6 a.m. is not seven hours of sleep; you need some time to unwind and ease into sleep.” Sound familiar? “I recommend a countdown to shut-down,” she suggests. Here’s what that looks like:

• Four hours before bedtime: Heavy meals and exercise should be done;
• Three hours before bedtime: Start dimming the lights around the home and dimming the brightness on any back-lit electronic devices and activate night modes;
• Two hours before bedtime: No more large back-lit electronic devices (tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.);
• One hour before bedtime: Ditch all back-lit electronic devices (including your smartphone); I get that this is a tough one, but you have nothing to lose and the potential of great sleep to gain.”
• 30 minutes: Wind down and relax before bed.

It’s likely that your bedtime routine looks quite a bit different than the sleep doctor’s suggested model.

Optimizing Your Bedroom For Sleep

“Our internal clock, which controls our sleep, is evolved to expect darkness after sundown. Your back-lit electronic devices are like miniature suns that you take into the sleep environment – not good,” Goldstein scolds. “Try blue-blocking amber glasses during the last three to four hours before bed,” she suggests. (Some electronics – including phones, TVs and tablets – have internal settings to automate this switch after dark.)

She recommends making your bedroom an electronics-free zone, if possible. Replace the notes function on your phone with a notepad if you tend to ruminate or plan in bed. Keep the phone charging in another room and watch TV elsewhere in the house. 

Another source of light that can impact your sleep is outside your window, (and outside your control). You may have a street light that beams into your room, or perhaps you’re on a heavily-trafficked road with headlights interrupting your sleep at odd intervals. Blackout window coverings can help with these, and are available as drapes, liners or shades.

Your bedroom and bathroom lighting may also be impacting your sleep; many fixtures you use just before bedtime employ energy-efficient LEDs or compact fluorescent bulbs. These are also blue light sources. Swapping to circadian-friendly warm light bulbs is one option. If you’re using or considering smart home technology, look for a human-centric (also known as circadian) lighting component to tie into it. These HCL systems adjust automatically through the day to mimic the sun’s shift from cold and bright to warm and soft to help with your sleep cycles.

Having a supportive mattress and pillows help you sleep better too. If you’re regularly waking up with a sore back or neck, one or both may need to be replaced. Your bedding also counts. Choose fabrics that can be machine washed regularly with nontoxic cleaners. This will keep dust mites and chemical irritants away when you’re breathing deeply in sleep.

Last but not least, your bedroom’s noise levels may be impacting your sleep. “A fan or white noise machine is great,” Goldstein says. Leafy plants and tall storage can also block out noise from the other side of a wall.

Bottom Line

The most important self-care resolution you can make this year is getting more sleep. Goldstein recommends that you devote eight hours in bed at about the same time daily – including on your days off. “Don’t think about these eight hours as a loss of time in your day, but as an investment in your performance to come.”

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Here are the publication dates for the rest of the series:

(Part 1) Quit Smoking – Monday, January 6

(Part 2) Eat Healthier — Monday, January 13

(Part 3) Get Exercise — Monday, January 20

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.