How Can I Sleep Better at Night During the Pandemic?

I don’t know about you, but my sleep has been crap lately. I’m not surprised that during a pandemic I’m having a tough time sleeping but I am very annoyed (...probably due to the lack of sleep).

So I decided to figure out things I can do to help myself get better rest and realized others might want to know what I’ve found.

Not my bedroom but keeping my bedroom free from clutter has always made my sleep better. 

First and Foremost - Giving myself grace

You know that feeling when you’re late returning a book to the library but then they say you don’t have a fine because of the grace period? Isn’t it nice to have some breathing room? That’s why no matter how much or how little I’m able to practice the below recommendations, I allow myself grace and refrain from treating myself like a punching bag if I fall into the Netflix pit and go to bed at 3am once more. Was it the best decision? Maybe not, and it was the best I could do. At this time, I would rather check in to connect with myself instead of beat myself up.  

Watching TV up until an hour before sleep

There’s a reason I worded that the way that I did. Maybe it’s the child in me, but when I say “I can’t watch TV in the hour before bedtime,” it feels like a huge loss. Hey, I love my shows. But when I rephrase and say “I can watch TV any time before that hour”, it feels like a gain. There was a wonderful business professor in my life who said something to me I will never forget: “People don’t resist change. They resist loss.” I find that statement very applicable to this situation as well. The reason behind this recommendation is that phones keep us alert and engaged and the blue light from the screen suppresses our melatonin, resulting in difficulty to sleep and poor sleep. 

Give yourself choices for that last hour before sleep 

Since I was taking away something during that hour, I wanted to give myself a lot of options instead of phone or TV (I know the advice of giving choices when you take something away is usually given to parents to use on their kids but when we are adults, we have to parent our inner child and this is why I’ve found this approach is better for me). I can read, or browse my coffee table books, look through old photos, write in my journal, play with my cat, listen to music, decorate something in my apartment, draw a doodle, write out a plan for the next day, do some easy stretching or bedtime yoga. The options are plenty. What I’ve found more difficult is that these options (except reading for me personally) don’t lend themselves well to vegging out and escaping reality. This is why I’ve decided to subscribe to some paper magazines and throw myself back to the early 2000s when getting a magazine and then setting time aside to read it was a special and lovely way to spend an hour. So if you are like me and remember life without smartphones and Netflix, think back to that time and be curious about what you enjoyed doing in your off time. And if you were born into modern technology, think about hobbies you actually want to do rather than watching other people do on social media. Pick the easiest hobby and spend the hour before bedtime practicing it. 

Make your place bright in the morning, dim in the evening and dark at night. 

This was probably one of the easier adjustments for me personally and it works because it helps set your circadian rhythm. When you wake up in the morning, you want to make sure you are opening all of your shades in the rooms that you are spending time. Even if it’s cloudy outside, it’s still good to open the blinds. The reason being is that you want your body to know that it’s daytime. Then in the evening, it’s best to start dimming the lights as it gets closer to bedtime. Perhaps turning off the overhead lights and turning on any smaller lamps. Maybe even lighting a candle for ambiance. It could even be a ritual of putting your house or apartment to bed, making this time feel special and calming. And then at night, try to make your room as dark as possible. I had some extra curtains but no curtain rod so I simply nailed them to the wall above the window. It’s not the prettiest thing, but it works! Don’t wait until you have the perfect curtains or rod to have better sleep (thinking creatively, you can even use a bedsheet or any other extra material or reach out to friends to see if they have extra curtains/rods). 

Get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep

I will admit, this one is really hard for me. Even if I can’t fall asleep, I feel tired and it’s so warm under the comforter and the comforter is so soft and cozy, who would want to get up out of bed? In those moments, I seem to be able to reason myself into staying put since, “I’m trying to fall asleep so it only makes logical sense to stay here, right?” But it’s likely the wrong move since then I teach myself that bed is a place of struggling to go to sleep and not sleep. It may sound counterintuitive, but getting out of bed when you can’t fall asleep will likely help you fall asleep when you return. The Sleep Foundation recommends getting out of bed if you haven’t fallen asleep in 20 minutes. 

Try to be strict with your sleeping schedule

I find that taking a nap is sometimes a necessary thing. If my body is feeling achy, I have a headache, or I’m feeling under the weather, I just need more rest that day. So when I do end up napping, I don’t beat myself up for it. I am, however, refraining from napping if it’s just about trying to catch up on sleep. For better sleep, it’s better to stick to a stricker schedule of when you go to bed and when you wake up rather than trying to catch up during the day and then staying up late or waking up late. 

Go to bed 15 minutes earlier each night

Since my habit has become going to be around 1am on a regular basis, moving up the bedtime to my normal time around 11pm creates a huge push to close the gap. I’ve found that going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night is a much more sustainable way of getting back on track. So instead of 1am, I go to bed at 12:45am one night, then 12:30am the next night, then 12:15am the following night and so on. 

Do NOT force sleep

I’ve had a meditation practice for three years now and one thing I’ve learned through the practice is that no state of being can be forced by our will. What we can do is create conditions that allow that state of being to come forward. I feel the same about sleep - when we are trying to force sleep, it will continue to escape us. Looking at the clock and being upset at the time it reads doesn’t help in allowing sleep to emerge. What we can do is continue to follow recommendations that support good sleep and let the sleep come to us. 

Sleep is an important part of our immune system and our nervous system. While sleep neuroscience is a pretty new branch of science (about 90 years now or so), it’s definitely not a new need for us or other animals. There’s an important reason why animals risk becoming prey in order to sleep which science is still figuring out. But something is happening in our bodies and brains during this time that supports and improves our time during the state of wakefulness. Especially during times of additional threat and stress - like during this pandemic - the basics of sleep and good food can go a long way. Just as Dr. Cynthia Li describes, we have an outer shield which is staying home and away from places where we can contract the virus and we have an inner shield - our immune system. Keeping our inner shield strong will help keep us safer, making this effort for better sleep not just a “good thing to do” but an essential thing to do. 

And if you are still having trouble sleeping, use our 15 minute free consultation to check in - maybe there’s something else standing in the way of a good night sleep that we can help you with! 

Here’s to better sleep and rest for all of us! 

Anna 

Anna is a blog contributor, meditation leader and teacher, and photographer. You can follow her on Instagram @skillsforwellness and find her blogging away at reset brain + body. reset brain + body is a mental wellness practice where traditional talk therapy is elevated through the integration of meditation, yoga and mindfulness. Connect with reset brain + body on Instagram & Facebook, subscribe to the newsletter, or contact us to book an appointment.