I began Headspace\u2019s 18-session Finding Your Best Sleep course in April, seeking strategies to quiet my worry-prone mind and fall asleep more quickly. The lessons, which include brief videos and guided meditations, are spread across three modules: Understand your sleep; Try something new; and Practice, practice, practice.<\/p>\n
For roughly 10 minutes a night for nearly three weeks, I embraced all the materials the program had to offer\u2014even optional bonus videos that didn\u2019t pertain to me, including ones on sleeping comfortably<\/a> while pregnant and navigating shift work<\/a>. This added perspective helped me triage my sleep habits and what I hoped to improve.<\/p>\n While not part of the course, the 45-minute-long sleepcasts are included with membership<\/a>, along with other bedtime tools such as:\u00a0<\/p>\n Headspace costs $12.99\/month with a weeklong free trial, or $5.83\/month billed as $69.99\/year with a two-week free trial. Postsecondary students<\/a> can join for 83 cents\/month billed as $9.99\/year. <\/p>\n By design, not every tool featured in Finding Your Best Sleep worked for me. Worry time, for instance, the practice of confining your worries to a dedicated chunk of time each day, only made me more restless. The goal of the course was to discover the best sleep hygiene for me, and that it did. Here are five of my favorite sleep strategies I learned from Headspace.<\/p>\n The program encouraged me to put into practice something I\u2019ve long known to be true: When I sleep better, life is better.<\/p>\n Adults ages 18\u201360 need at least seven hours of sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>. If I get fewer than eight, getting through the next day is akin to wading through mud. With proper rest, I\u2019m a better daughter, sister, friend, and employee. I\u2019m not only more productive at home and work, but also kinder and happier.<\/p>\n Why, then, is achieving this crucial wellness component so difficult? The course urged me to not prioritize sleep but safeguard it\u2014to respect it, protect it, and arrange the rest of my life to accommodate it instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n Sleep is a simple sacrifice when it seems there aren\u2019t enough hours in the day to accomplish what needs to be done. Sometimes I still have to force myself to put aside whatever task feels like it can\u2019t wait in order to put sleep first. And as if by magic, a solid night\u2019s sleep<\/a> gifts me time back the next day in the form of increased energy and efficiency.<\/p>\n I knew that a calming bedroom environment is critical to restful sleep. Catching z\u2019s in a cool, dark, quiet, and comfortable<\/a> place is ideal, the CDC says. TVs in the bedroom are frowned upon, and screen time<\/a> should be cut off at least 30 minutes before bedtime, especially when blue light is involved.<\/p>\n Headspace, however, stresses that the bed itself should be off-limits to just about anything other than sleeping. That means no eating, working, or doomscrolling in bed. That way, your brain associates the bed with sleep\u2014not meals, emails, or social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all been there, but neither should your bed be a place you toss and turn in mental agony, mulling over yesterday\u2019s mistakes and tomorrow\u2019s to-do list. If trying to fall asleep makes your thoughts race and you\u2019re still awake after 20 minutes or so, Finding Your Best Sleep recommends getting out of bed and doing a relaxing activity in another room until you\u2019re sleepy.<\/p>\n Tetra Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Taking time each night to prepare for the next morning was already second nature to me; laying out my gym clothes and packing a lunch makes for a less hectic start to the day. But before Headspace, I hadn\u2019t considered how I could prepare for a good night\u2019s sleep throughout the day.<\/p>\n Because your wake-up time<\/a> keeps your circadian rhythm, or body clock<\/a>, in check, merely waking up at a consistent time<\/a> every morning\u2014yes, including weekends\u2014primes you for falling asleep at your preferred bedtime. Sunlight exposure<\/a> in the morning helps, too.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not typically an afternoon coffee drinker, but intentionally limiting my lattes to before noon helps me wind down earlier in the evening. I also now eat dinner earlier to allow more time for digestion before bed. I\u2019ve become more diligent about making my bed in the morning, which makes the evening turn-down a kind of ritual. I\u2019ve even started laying out my pajamas in the morning and look forward to finding other ways to make my nights easier during the day.<\/p>\n Thanks, Mom, for always reading me to sleep; I\u2019ve kept the security blanket of storytelling close. Yet when I read from my Kindle or iPad in bed, even on dark or warm-light mode, I\u2019m still staring at a screen with distractions a tap away. Reading a physical book means my bedside lamp stays on, and when I listen to an audiobook in the dark, I find myself straining my ears to stay awake and listen.<\/p>\n This is where Headspace\u2019s sleepcasts save the day. I still enjoy reading in the evening, but once I\u2019m in bed, it\u2019s time for a deliberately dozy story, one pleasant enough that it can take my mind off things but insubstantial enough that I don\u2019t mind falling asleep in the middle of it. My favorite part is that each sleepcast starts with a wind-down meditation to calm the body before luring the mind into story.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t mean you have to tire yourself out to deserve decent sleep\u2014though without fail I sleep better the night following a workout. Rather, Headspace has taught me to work hard at sleeping well. Sleep is at once a vital bodily function and a fragile goal to be attained.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t take much for my sleep routine to get off track, and I\u2019d be lying if I said I\u2019ve seamlessly and consistently integrated the hacks I\u2019ve learned into my sleep hygiene these past few months. The nights I did manage to, though, were followed by brighter days. Which reminds me, it\u2019s time to go pick out tonight\u2019s jammies.<\/p>\n For more on building healthy sleep habits:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. <\/span>Sign up<\/span><\/a> for free today.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Safeguard your sleep<\/h2>\n
Sleep space is sacred\u2014including the bed<\/h2>\n
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A good night\u2019s sleep begins in the morning<\/h2>\n
Settle in with a story<\/h2>\n
Work hard, sleep hard<\/h2>\n