[Snorlax]

Hi there,

I plan to sort my sleeping pattern out in the next few weeks and before I do I’d like to get some help on certain aspects.

I work in financial markets and for a long time my official end time for work has been 23:15pm, and I’ve preferred to sleep at around 2:30/3am as it gives me time to unwind after work and sometimes even check on things in between.

Generally speaking, my sleep isn’t great anyways, I’ve had chronic gut and digestion issues for years and hormonally I’m not the healthiest. I’m 30 now, in any case my reason for trying to sleep earlier is to be more in line with a normal sleeping pattern as I work on my health issues.

There will be a slight adjustment to the work that I do that generally all the work stuff will be done by 10:30pm, and that I’ll do a small check at 23:15 and from there I’ll be prepping to go sleep, and ideally I’d like to get to sleep as soon as possible to wake up for 6:45am.

My main questions are how soon after work is done can I set up the conditions for me to fall asleep well? I have flux and blue light blocking glasses which help, but I’m interested in the sleep hygiene aspect of things. Between 22:30 and 23:00 I can do something to aid that, and then there is a slight but not mentally taxing disruption at 23:10/15.

After that, any sort of advice on how much sleep I should be aiming for roughly (assuming there is some variability in all of us) would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Martin Reed]

We don’t usually talk much about sleep hygiene here since that’s more preventative in nature and can easily trap us into a whole list of sleep efforts and rituals that can end up making sleep more difficult.

Since you can’t control how much sleep you get each night (you can only control the amount of time you allot for sleep), having a set aim there probably isn’t helpful.

In terms of setting up the conditions to fall asleep well, all we really need to do is go to bed when we feel sleepy and move away from sleep efforts and rituals — because with sleep, the more we try the more likely we are to struggle.

I hope there’s something useful here!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Author]

Posts