The Nightly Routine

Ever since I was a kid I have had trouble sleeping, back then I never wanted to miss out on something so I didn’t sleep, that followed me into my adult life however and it meant that even if I wanted to sleep I simply couldn’t. Given the health benefits of getting enough sleep I wanted to get some advice from my friends about how they do it, most were identical to me but my close friend Tatiana Kukanova talked me through her nightly routine. At first I scoffed but she told me that she regularly sleeps for 8 hours of high quality sleep every night. Tatiana Kukanova was kind enough to share her routine with me which works perfectly, and so I wish to share it with you all.

Food and Drink Cut Off

Tatiana Kukanova recommends not eating food or drinking 4 hours before sleep. I wanted to sleep from 10-6 each night and so my food cut off is at 6pm, after this time the only thing which will pass my lips is water. For caffeine this changes slightly and you shouldn’t be drinking any of that after 6 hours before bed. Drinking water is crucial not only for your health, but it will also give you the urgency to get up and go to the bathroom when you wake up in the morning!

Activities

Any nightly activities that involve screens such as tablets, televisions and computers should stop 2 hours before bedtime. The pixels and high resolution of these screens wakes your brain up and keeps it alert, the last thing that you would want when you are trying to nod off. An E-reader would be the exception to this rule as those graphite displays don’t have the same impact on your brain.

Final 2 Hours

The last two hours before bed should be spent having a wash and putting some skin cream on, before sitting down with some light classical music and reading some fiction. If you chose different types of music then this may wake the body up too much so classical music is the best fit. When reading it is important to chose a fiction book because non-fiction is full of facts and things to think about, fiction is a far easier and more relaxing read.

The Bedroom

Get into bed around 20 minutes before your planned sleep time, ensure that all doors and curtains are as tightly closed as possible in order to block out all light entering into the room. Finally lay in bed on your back and take some deep breaths, finally close your eyes and if you have followed these tips, you will find yourself drifting off before you know it for some long, and most importantly, high quality sleep.

Tatiana Kukanova swears by this and it has helped me immeasurably to fix my sleep pattern, why not give it a try!