9 Easy Steps To Better Sleep.

We realised early on in our blogging/merrymaking career that sleep is a huge priority, it’s a necessity to produce good work and most importantly stay sane (well sort of) and be healthy!

We came to this conclusion in early 2014 when we both got very close to burning out. We were getting up at 5am for cross fit every morning, working in front of computers 9-5 and then another 5-6 hours of blogging after that. We were pushing ourselves way too hard physically and mentally. Even though we were writing about health, we weren’t living and breathing it. It was definitely time to stop and re-evaluate priorities!

Originally we thought sleep was only about the amount of hours of sleep we were getting. We needed our 8 hours and then we’d have perfect sleep, right? Well… news flash for us, there is SO. MUCH. MORE. This is where we welcome the OptimOZ team (remember, the Aussie Bulletproof Coffee guys?). They’ve also brought all the Sleep Hacking info and tools to us too! Yes… you can hack your sleep!

But hooooowwwww? Do you ask! Well, here’s our 9 easy steps to better sleep!

  1. Only drink/eat caffeine in the morning. After drinking coffee we all generally think/talk/do everything faster, not good for sleeping! Some people may be able to have an afternoon coffee but try have it at least 8-10 hours before beddy-bys.
  2. Turn off the lights! Dim the lights as it gets later and try stay away from all screens at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Apparently just 5 minutes of bright iPhone light can shut off melatonin production which is required for a good sleep. We now use our blue light blocking glasses when working (or instagramming… which is totally work!) at night. You can also download f.lux for computers and phones, it adjusts the back light of your phone/computer according to the time of the day. Pretty smart. Also, wash your make up off and brush your teeth early, we assume the bathroom lights are the same?!
  3. No exercise 2 hours before bed. Slow yoga or similar is ok but anything else will raise cortisol levels and funk up your sleep.
  4. Take a magnesium supplement before bed. It calms the nerves and relaxes the muscles (also aids with constipation FYI).  At the moment we’re using MagTech from Optimoz.
  5. Don’t charge your phone in your bedroom while sleeping and turn it on to airplane mode. This will decrease the EMFs (electromagnetic fields). It’s been said the EMF from phones causes many illnesses… however it’s not proven. What WE KNOW is that when we don’t charge our phones and switch to airplane mode at night we definitely sleep better. Furthermore some people turn their wi-fi off at night and have even swapped to old school cables! True story!
  6. Spray lavender oil mixed with water on your pillow case or place a few drops on a tissue in your pillow case. It’s super relaxing and can even help with insomnia.
  7. Meditate before bed. Some disagree but we find a late evening meditation leads to an amazing sleep. Even just spending 5 minutes on slow breathing can work wonders and slow down the mind for a restful sleep.
  8. Eat food that makes you sleepy! Yes, there’s such a thing… you could try these Brazil, Maca and Berry Muffins  or what about these Carrot and Ginger Cookies? Seriously yum!
  9. Ensure you get enough sleep. We always go to bed before 10:30pm and get up around 6:30am. That is 8 hours and we don’t even need an alarm clock to wake up!

 Blue light blocking glasses_1

Now if we were serious about hacking our sleep we’d introduce even more things and we’d be monitoring our sleep patterns too (of course there’s a phone app for this!). We’re  happy sitting in the middle between science and natural AKA we go by feelings and just can’t be bothered to monitor our sleep! Maybe down the track?

But lucky for us and you, we just met a new friend who’s all about the sleep hacking. He says that hacking his sleep has literally changed his life in a mega positive way (our words not his haha). He did this by following Dave Asprey (THE Bulletproof guy) .

“Quality sleep is one of the most important variables to improve your brain function, longevity, and performance in all aspects of life… In short, lack of quality sleep will make you sick, weak, stupid, fat, and eventually, dead.  The problem is most people believe they just don’t have time to sleep as much as they should . . . and they don’t know how to efficiently sleep in the first place.” Dave Asprey  

As you can tell, he’s pretty passionate about his sleep!

So how is your sleep? Join the conversation, add your tips or let us know how bad/good your sleep is! And stay tuned for more articles on sleep, WE LOVE SLEEP!

Always merrymaking

Emma + Carla

ps. you should definitely think about making these delicious cookies. Everything double decker is better… right?

Easy Healthy Carrot and Ginger Cookies4

 

 

 

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