If you are like me your average night goes a lot like this: You start getting ready for bed a little before you want to fall asleep, get into bed, lay your head to rest on your pillow and immediately fall asleep to get your 8 or so hours of sleep for the night. You then wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day!

I wish! That is just about the opposite of my average nightly routine. If only it could be that easy. There are so many obstacles that prevent this “easy” routine. Finding a routine that supports getting enough sleep is highly beneficial for your overall health, yet it is one of the most difficult regimens to stick with. Adequate sleep, about 7-9 hours for persons above 18 years old, improves your immune system, lowers your risk of diabetes and heart disease, reduces stress, improves your mood, and allows you to think more clearly.

So then why do one in three U.S. adults not get enough sleep on a regular basis. Globally, eight in ten adults want to improve their sleep, yet only 60% of adults actually seek help for improvement. Sleep problems are so prevalent and widely accepted, but improvements are available. wowe provides activities that inspire better sleep, such as:

Many of these may be habits that we have tried to incorporate into our bedtime routines, but have not been able to make them stick. Somehow, obstacles always seem to get in the way. Some people have sleeping disorders such as insomnia, snoring, sleep apnea, and sleepwalking, in which case medical treatment may be the best recourse. Others simply can't figure out how to shut down from their day for the night, or get addicted to their phones, reading, or the television prior to sleeping. No matter the issue, implementing some of wowe’s recommendations can be of great help. Try starting with one or two of these activities for a few days at a time and move down the list until you find one or more that seem to work the best.

Personally, making a cup of tea as I wind down helps send a signal to my brain that I am shutting off from the daily tasks and moving into my nighttime routine. Implementing small activities that send these wind-down messages can help you commit to consistently going to sleep at the time you want so you can be at your best the next day.

In addition to slowly bringing myself into the right mindset, allowing my mind to fall asleep can also be another obstacle. Writing a journal entry each night, no matter how long or short, allows me to clear my mind of the stressors that may keep me awake. This might be writing tasks I need to complete or writing down some of the notable moments of the day. We all experience that late night recounting of events, which can keep us up wondering what else we could have done or what needs to be completed next! So remove all of those distractions and ponderings by “downloading” it into a notebook.

Finally, many of us know of the battle between self and your phone. I often find myself being so proud that I am in bed at a good time that I think to reward myself with some phone time before bed. No, it is a trap! Run! To avoid losing an hour of sleep due to your phone, implement alarms to remind yourself how long you are going on your phone for. You can also create settings under “Screen Time” to help free yourself from phone-addicting distractions.

Hopefully, some of these suggestions will be helpful and you'll be able to continually use wowe’s habit-building and journey growth activities to help you implement an effective bedtime ritual as well as your overall well-being and health! And hopefully, you can finally catch some ZzZ’s!

Contact us for a demo of wowe to see how it can help you with positive habit building rituals to help you thrive.

destress journal routine sleep nighttime nighttimeroutine positivehabits