PonderEthereal

Insomnia can be a result of a chemical imbalance, a side effect of another disorder such as depression or anxiety or simply the result of bad habits. I have found that even when battling insomnia that comes from anxiety and depression, forming stronger good sleep habits is an immense help.

In order to break bad sleep habits, you need to set new good sleep habits. If you’ve only been sleeping badly recently, breaking bad sleep patterns will be easier and you should be back to sleep in a matter of days. But the longer you’ve been practicing bad sleep habits, the longer it will take to break those habits.

The secret to creating new, better sleeping habits is repetition. Whatever your routine is, follow your routine to the letter for a while. The more closely you follow it in the short term, the better your new pattern will stick and the better your sleep will be.

Here are some routine ideas:

1. No caffiene or sugar 2 hours before bed. The last thing you need is a ton of stimulants running through your body when you’re trying to settle in for the night.
2. Set a bed time. Every night, this is your bedtime. No exceptions, for a while, until your body gets back into the habit of sleep. Make sure your bedtime allows for a healthy amount of sleep.
3. Schedule a wind down time one hour before bed. Whenever your bedtime is, for one hour before bed, no dancing, frenzied housecleaning, business meetings etc.
4. Sleep only in bed and only sleep in bed. That means that if you fall asleep on the couch, you should move yourself to bed as soon as you wake up to shift or use the bathroom. AND that means that bed is for sleeping and, lacking other creative places, for sex. All other activities, such as watching television, reading a book etc need to move out of the bedroom.
5. Make your bedroom peaceful. Declutter! Get everything out of thebedroom that is not calm and peaceful. If you’re feeling creative, decorate in calming colors like blues and neutrals.
6. When sleep is especially hard to come by, use supplements such as Valerian, melatonin or chamomile. Take them at the same time every night… again, to build a habit.