Ensure the winter months don't affect your sleep pattern
There is a good chance you will be reading this through bleary eyes. You may try to attribute your new found lethargy to the noticeably darker mornings, and already be dreading getting out of bed tomorrow. Don’t worry; this is a perfectly understandable reaction to the long, gloomy autumn-winter months.
Victoria Dawson, Children's Sleep Charity founder, explains: "The change in daylight hours has a significant effect on people in the UK. Some people find that their sleep becomes disturbed due to the lack of daylight. Many people feel […] very tired in the mornings if they are getting up when it is still dark outside."
As the days get shorter, lack of daylight may also contribute to a general feeling of weariness that can last until the first leaves of spring. Daylight helps to regulate our natural body clock; therefore it is natural to feel out of sorts when our access to it is diminished.
As Ms Dawson states: “We are waken up when we are exposed to natural daylight. When it is dark our bodies produce a substance called melatonin which makes us feel drowsy. When we don't get enough sunlight our serotonin levels drop which means that we don't feel as energised and feel sleepy."
Fear not though, as feeling tired and down in the winter months is not pre-determined fact, you have a few options available to help yourself avoid the winter blues. Below you will find five tips to help you remain alert and productive.
Change your bedtime
One of the most effective coping mechanisms, especially for children, is to move bedtime back by 15-minute increments each week in the autumn to prevent disruption to the usual routine.
Purchase a special alarm clock
Specially designed alarm clocks that filter ‘natural’ light into the room are relatively new on the scene, and encourage you to wake up more gradually and provide better sleep in the winter months.
Invest in blackout blinds
A pre-emptive way of preventing the winter sleeping-pattern adjustment is to stabilise the lighting in your bedroom all year round. During summer, blackout blinds can prevent the early morning sun waking you prematurely, whilst in winter, throwback the curtains as soon as you wake to let the natural daylight in.
Avoid stimulants before bed
If you find yourself struggling to get to sleep, and think playing Angry Birds on your phone for half an hour will help, stop! Screen-related activities such as mobile phones, televisions and computers are highly stimulating, and do not provide the necessary wind-down time attributed to them by many.
Exercise at the right times
This tip will probably illicit groans from those who are already annoyed at being told to turn off their televisions, but it is a fact that doing some form of strenuous exercise during the day will help you achieve a satisfying night’s sleep. Be careful not to do it too close to bedtime though, as this counts as stimulation and can have the opposite effect!
Brought to you by Time4Sleep, with information supplied by Victoria Dawson of the Children’s Sleep Society.
Tagged in Health Sleep Sleeping Tips