You Don’t Have A Sleep Problem, You Have A Transition Problem

You lay in bed and toss and turn wondering how on Earth anyone else gets sleep.

It felt so simple as a child. Hell, half the time you didn’t even want to go to sleep but when you closed your eyes you passed out.

Now, it feels like the second you try to go to bed, your mind races with everything that needs to be done and you feel that frustration creep up slowly no matter how hard you try to keep it at bay.

How in the world did this happen?

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Let’s imagine the brain as a toddler.

You’re playing with the toddler, tossing it, spinning it, laughing with it, talking about all the future activities you two get to do, things that will need to get done before the fun, people you and the toddler will talk to and then you body slam the toddler into bed and yell “GO TO SLEEP NOW.”

Will the toddler fall asleep immediately? Absolutely not. There was no transition, there was no set up, just a body slam, lights out and a command.

You’re doing that repeatedly to your brain each night and that’s why you can’t sleep.

So what do we do? That’s right: we give it a transition.

This transition is called your “Sleep Hygiene.” This is the set of habits that allows your mind to slow down and down regulate into a period of rest.

“I have to prepare my brain for sleep now?” Yeah, unfortunately as a busy adult with more responsibilities than we could have ever imagined, you do - and there’s nothing wrong with that. We adapt and overcome, not fuss and stay stagnant.

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So here’s what you can do to help create a path way to better sleep:

Morning (Start Your Sleep the Right Way)

A good night’s rest starts with a great morning (sounds cheesy but sometimes those things really are the best thing for you).

Be sure to get sunlight (or a sun lamp if it’s cloudy out OR you happen to live somewhere the Sun is scarce for most of the year) on your face within the first 15 to 30 mins of waking up. This tells your brain to begin the wake up process and helps keep your circadian rhythm - well, on rhythm.

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Midday / Afternoon (Set Up the Back Half of the Day)

If possible, get some afternoon sunlight on your face in the late afternoon / evening time.

The color and angle of the sunlight will tell our eyes and mind that we need to begin creating melatonin and downregulating chemically.

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Throughout the Day (What to Avoid)

Stop caffeine intake at least 12 hours before you go to bed.

This may seem like a long time, but we want the body to have as much time to process caffeine as possible without it lingering in your body and keeping you awake at night. Having it too late in the day can affect the sleep process and have you in that “not quite asleep” state during the night.

To be quite honest here - just don’t drink alcohol if you want good sleep.

If you choose to drink alcohol, keep it far from bed time. We’ve all heard it at this point, so it’s not news per se, but alcohol (even if it feels like you go to sleep easier with it) impairs the sleep cycle and you never quite get to a deep point of sleep to get that recovery time.

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Evening (2–3 Hours Before Bed)

Start reducing any liquids roughly 2 to 3 hours before bed.

I know this sounds counter intuitive to staying hydrated, but we want to make sure we’re not up multiple times a night going to the bathroom. This doesn’t mean you have to stop drinking anything altogether, but reduce the amount of water / liquids you’re having 3 hours before bedtime to help keep you in bed throughout the night.

Also - whatever you do drink, sip on it slowly instead of chugging it. Studies have shown that the rapidity at which you drink your liquids relates to how often you need to go pee. So if you’re sipping it, not only will you get less in over time (within that 3 hour window) but you’ll tell your body there’s no need to go to the bathroom so often.

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Pre-Bed Routine (1–1.5 Hours Before Sleep)

Create an anchor habit that is a launching point for your nightly routine.

Let this anchor habit come about 1 to 1.5 hours before actually going to sleep.

“Who has that kind of time?” I can hear you already, but if I’m sticking with my “being honest” theme, people who choose to have that kind of time, have that kind of time.

For me, this is something as simple as writing down my “to do” list for the next day. I take pen and pad, write down all the things I know I’ll need to get done the next day, and then leave it there. I’ll have an awareness that I know what needs to be done (so there’s no ambiguity) and the act of “setting it down and walking away,” let’s the brain know we’re done with work for today, that’s for tomorrow.

Trust me, it sounds counter intuitive to hash all that up, but this will give you a physical action to pair with the psychological act of walking away from it mentally.

Dim all the lights to a warm setting (mimicking sunset like light).

This lets our brain continue creating melatonin and down regulating chemically.

At this same time, we’re done with any screens (TV, phone, computer, tablet, etc).

It’s not the end of the world, but in an attempt to optimize sleep, it’s best to try and keep any stimulating light from us. Even if we’re using any blue light blocking glasses or settings, the light is still bright enough to keep us “engaged” and our minds working.

As a side note, leave your cellphone in another room, too.

Even just having it around you can subconsciously distract you. You’ll be tempted to “look something up,” or open up your favorite app without thinking (you know how many times I’ve opened my phone for anything else only to instinctively open Instagram?).

We want to set our environment up for success and leaving your cellphone in another room will do this.

“But it’s my alarm clock…” The most simple solution? But a literal alarm clock. Problem solved.

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Final Wind Down (Last 30–60 Minutes)

After your To-Do List, start your nightly routine.

I usually use the bathroom, floss and then take a brief warm shower.

Long story short, the warm shower opens the pores on your skin (body’s natural reaction to warming up as an attempt to cool down). Now that your pores are open, your core body temperature will cool down more quickly helping you fall into a deep sleep faster.

After your warm shower, we can start taking our night-time supplements. These are going to be Magnesium Glycinate & Glycine:

I have magnesium glycinate in a powder that I mix into decaf tea. You don’t have to have the decaf tea OR have the magnesium in powder form, you can take a pill if you prefer. The important thing here is to take it to help relax your muscles and improve your mood. This has done wonders for my sleep and reduce any aches / minor pains I’ve had from training.

I take 5 grams of glycine for deeper sleep, too. Glycine is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter - all this means is it helps with brain function and let’s you sleep better. Glycine is also great for skin care, so this is a win-win for us!

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In Bed (Sleep Environment + Behavior)

Now with our supplements taken (or decaf tea to sip), we go and lay in bed.

While in bed, read a book, magazine, etc. This is time for relaxation, not productive stimulation. I usually suggest that it’s a physical book and not an e-reader or tablet because of the screen / light production aspect.

On that note and in the vein of setting your environment up for success, don’t have a TV in your room.

Again, we want your toddler like brain to associate the bed with a place of rest and relaxation. TV is stimulating and engaging - just like the phone being in the room, if it’s there, it’ll subconsciously egg you on and distract you.

We want the brain to know the bed is only for sleep (and sometimes reading, sometimes another fun activity…).

Be sure to use some kind of consistent white noise to block out any outside sounds (especially if you live in a city).

I love a good fan going to block out horns and sirens.

Blackout curtains are a great way to set up for success, too. This will block out any streetlights, carlights and early sun during the spring and summer months.

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Falling Asleep

Once you feel yourself begin to fall asleep, catch that wave.

Listen to your body and go with the flow. Just like a toddler, you want it to become a habit, so let it happen naturally.

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Closing Thought

Yeah, this may seem like a lot, but like any good habit circle, you start with a few low hanging fruits and you build from there.

My suggestion is to add 2 to 3 things and build up over time. Which of these look like an easy fix? Try those for a week and then pick another.

I will be honest and straightforward, though, you may recoil at some of these (no screens, tv in different room, etc). Fair. But if you want change you have to make change and the ones that seem like the hardest will often have the biggest affect on your sleep.