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kimmy. 25. libra. i'm literally just a girl.

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Establishing A Sleep Schedule

‎♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ Establishing a sleep schedule‎ ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧

hello my little feathers <3

i thought that was a cute nickname lmao but bear with me. i’m going through a phase. regardless, someone has got to teach y’all how to sleep since we all know your sleep routine is so whack, the morning birds are your lullabies. i get it— you’re convinced your circadian rhythm is non-existent. i did too. then i visited an OT who gave me a wake up call. in reality, it is very uncommon to have a genuine disorder regarding your circadian rhythm. which means all your nocturnal habits? those are all you, bbgirl. you can choose to be embarrassed about it and accept your life as an owl, or you can finally get some beauty sleep and address those eye bags.

here are the tips that helped me personally go from sleeping late at night/early in the morning and only getting 3 hours of sleep a night to now consistently getting 8 hours of sleep a night.

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𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰 pick a wake up time 𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰

this is the most important part of this advice column. seriously. you could stop reading after this.

setting a wake time doesn’t mean, “oh, ideally, i’d like to wake up at this time, but when my alarm goes off, i’ll snooze for a couple more minutes because ugh, baby steps amrite?”

no.

it means once that alarm goes off, you are UP. whether you have to drag yourself, roll yourself, or cry yourself out of bed, GET. OUT. OF. BED.

you cannot compromise with this wake up time, even if the night before, you stayed up until 5 am. If you set your wake up time to 6 am, you better learn to function with 1 hour of sleep because these are the consequences of your actions.

while it may seem counterintuitive to sabotage your sleep schedule by denying yourself those extra minutes or hours to catch up, sleep deprivation is the most common tactic used to reset and stabilize a person’s disorder sleeping patterns. the entire rationale behind this is to push your body to a point of desperation (lol it sounded so much less cruel when my OT said it) so it’ll want to sleep earlier. you’re trying to tire yourself out so the moment you’re allowed to sleep (we’ll get to that in a second), paired with the rest of the tips in this list, you’re knocking out immediately.

so find a time that you ideally want to naturally wake up at. for me, it’s 7:30 am since i work a 9-5, but you could go earlier or later than this. whatever works for you. just be prepared to commit to it because you have to commit to it.

𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰 making your environment a ‘sleep-only’ zone 𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰

this is a shoutout to all the girlies who live out of their bed. stop that.

yes, it is comfy. yes, it is nice to snuggle there and read a book, or scroll on your phone, or watch netflix, or do your homework, or whatever other jazz you’re getting up to. but there are two purposes for your bed: sleep and s3x. if you’re not doing either, you’re not allowed in there.

i like to think of my room as different zones. my desk is my work-zone. the open space i have where my weights are is my stretching/workout zone. my closet is my dressing-zone. and i use other parts of the house as my eating-zones, my reading-zones, my hygiene-zones, etc.

my bed is my sleeping zone. which means that place is sacred and only meant for sleeping. no outside clothes on the bed. no lounging on the bed. not even to flop down when i’m exhausted from a long day at work or workout. if i am that tired, i can stretch, or i can find a couch. or, i can undress myself from my outside clothes into my nightwear and sleep. but the bed is for sleeping. that’s it.

this tip actually helped me beyond sleep, because establishing these zones skyrocketed my productivity. it essentially helped my brain zero in on the task i intended to complete without distractions, because why else would i be at my desk if not to write or do work? my desk isn’t for eating. my bed especially isn’t. so food isn’t in my room, and therefore the only logical thing to do in that zone is what it is meant for.

your mindset is equally as important as your environment. pairing these two together is what will help you at the end of the night, when you’re ready for bed, to hit the hay the moment your head touches that pillow. because your brain has already been preparing for sleep. it knew the moment you started getting ready for bed.

𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰 night routines 𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰

this is your time to be in your aesthetic, vanilla girl era. read a couple of pages of your book, drink an herbal (uncaffeinated) tea (except beware if you have a small bladder like me to not do this lmao), wash your face, comb your hair, get into your nighties, wrap your hair in whatever protective style you like, and then get under your covers for a night of restfulness. your routine is you time. no thoughts about tomorrow. no to-do lists. no last minute tasks. its your time to unwind. if you need a candle to do it, if washing your face isn’t enough and you need a shower— however your routine looks, cater it to whatever will help you feel relaxes and mellow by the end of it, so you are head empty by the time those covers are over your body.

𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰 helpful tools 𓆰𓆩♡𓆪𓆰

here’s a list of things that may or may not help you with your sleeping journey!

weighted blanket: helps your nervous system enter into a state of rest (parasympathetic nervous system activation). known as pressure therapy, and typically used to help alleviate symptoms of anxiety (increased heart rate, muscle tension, racing thoughts, etc)

heated blanket: for people who get cold easily— as opposed to layering up in constrictive layers, this is a nice way to snuggle and feel warm

silk eye mask: helps block out light. similarly, you can also get a complete black-out eye mask

silk bonnet: especially for the curly hair girlies out there— you guys already know. its such a protective way to keep your hair out of your face at night and nourish it while you rest. 10/10 recommend

blackout curtains: helps block out outdoor light

sunrise lamp: for gloomy days, in order to support a healthy circadian rhythm, exposure to sunlight helps regulate the body’s fluctuation of melatonin, making it easier to wake up. essentially, dark = more melatonin (which is why winters feel sleepier because of the shorter days), and light = less melatonin production

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okay, that’s it! sleep well, little feathers <3

Establishing A Sleep Schedule

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