I tried Arianna Huffington's sleep routine
I’ve been making the same New Year's resolution for as long as I can remember: go to bed earlier and get more sleep. No matter what changes have happened in my life—going back to school, changing jobs, the onset of a little thing called the COVID-19 pandemic—one constant in my life is that I go to bed between midnight and 1 a.m. Sometimes, if I let myself get too tired before going to bed, I fall asleep on top of my covers, in my clothes from the day, with all the lights on. This is not ideal.
Staying up late has always been appealing to me. The midnight hours are, unfortunately, the time I do my best writing, which has been the case ever since I was in middle school. It feels like time that I can claim just for me. The thing is, using the middle of the night as free time (the buzzy phrase “revenge procrastination” cuts deep here) isn’t *particularly* conducive to a good night’s sleep. And not sleeping well isn’t *particularly* conducive to feeling my best during the day.
After producing an interview between Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and Arianna Huffington talking about the importance of sleep, I figured it might be time to dust off my most enduring New Year’s resolution and give it a real shot.
Here’s some of the advice she gives in the episode. (Transcription here!)
A good night’s sleep starts the day before
Eat dinner at least two hours before going to bed
Take a hot shower or bath, not for cleansing, but to wind down
Wear dedicated sleepwear that you don’t wear any other time
Say goodnight to your smartphone and charge it outside your room
Read a book—not on an e-reader, but a flesh-and-bones paper book that you can drop on the floor.
Go to bed before midnight
A good night’s sleep starts the day before
My days look absolutely nothing like they used to, since I, like many others, now work from home. 10,000 steps a day was easy, since I’d generally get that just by getting around the city. Yesterday, I did not leave the house once, but I knew I’d need to get some exercise if I was really going to be serious about sleep. Even though I hadn't finished the work I needed to do, I logged into a Zoom workout taught by one of my favourite teachers at 6 p.m. Not only did this give my muscles a chance to do something other than sitting and moving a computer mouse around, but the gentle wind-down of long, slow stretches at the end of the class made going to bed earlier that much more appealing.
An earlier dinner
When I have time, cooking dinner is one of my favourite ways to unwind. That often means that I don’t eat until 8 or 9 p .m. I like to excuse this by saying, “It’s the European way!” when really, it’s just the way that means I’m still digesting as I’m trying to go to bed. It can be harder to fall asleep if you eat a big meal before bedtime—lying down immediately after eating can cause uncomfortable symptoms like heartburn and an upset stomach. Earlier this week I made a big pot of braised chicken with apricots and olives, so I just heated that up and went back to work.
The bedtime routine
Huffington says that the transition to bed can be as short as five minutes, but she takes about half an hour. Seeing as my *normal* bedtime routine of brushing my teeth and doing my three-step skincare routine takes about 15 minutes, I figured I’d try to incorporate a few more of Huffington’s ideas and extend my transition to sleep. So when I finished my work just after 11 p.m., I felt like I needed to do a two-times-speed bedtime routine. This seemed… counterintuitive. When my roommate got into the bathroom before me, I was further thwarted—if I didn’t start my routine until 11:15 p.m. or so, going to sleep before midnight seemed unlikely.
I looked midnight in the eye and said: we will NOT meet tonight, old friend.
The shower would have to wait, but there were other ways I could *start my sleep journey* in the meantime. I put on my dedicated bedclothes (the funky robe that my mom got me for my birthday) and lit a candle (given to me for Christmas by the aforementioned roommate, presently brushing her teeth). By the time I put the kettle on to brew a cup of herbal tea, the bathroom was mine. I typically shower in the morning, but a warm shower before bed definitely helped “wash the day off,” as Huffington says.
By the time I got into bed, it was about 11:45 p.m. We have no outlets in the hallway, so I plugged my phone in next to my desk on the other side of the room. By that time, my tea wasn’t burn-your-tongue hot, so I sipped it quickly while reading a few pages of a novel.
And yes. I turned out the lights before the clock struck 12.
The outcome
Because I’m so used to going to sleep closer to 1 a.m., sometimes if I go to sleep earlier than usual, I wake up in the middle of the night. I woke up at around 3 a.m. last night, but it was alright because I was able to go right back to sleep until my phone alarm woke me up from the other side of the room at 7:30 this morning.
Did I just unplug my phone, turn off my alarm, and go back to bed for about an hour?
Yes. But this is a post about working on my bad nighttime habits, not my bad morning habits.
I’ve been feeling refreshed and had more energy today than usual, so I just might try to curb my revenge procrastination for a few more days and see if I can make it to bed before midnight every night this week.
If you’re curious about setting up a new bedtime routine, tune into Well Said for more information on why we should prioritize getting a good night’s sleep anyway.
