Last week, in my post about a common sleep mistake (going to bed without being sleepy), I mentioned the term “clearing the runway” in regards to going to bed with too much going on in your mind. Coach Matt Wignall elaborates on this term, “Your mind before bed is like a jet before landing: The bigger, more powerful the jet the longer a runway it needs to land and come to a complete stop. In other words, the more mentally active and stimulated you are during the day, the more time you need to gradually slow your mind down in the evening before it’s ready to fall asleep.”
If you are dealing with sleep issues and are mentally charged when trying to fall asleep, it is important to transition from the stress of the day, to a more sympathetic state where your body can restore. Matt offers some suggestions:
TV Shows. A lot of people report success with nature documentaries like Planet Earth or old favorite sitcoms like Cheers or Seinfeld. And don’t worry about “blue light” impacting your sleep. The science of this is shaky at best, and even when some studies have shown a negative effect of blue light on sleep, the effects are typically quite small—much less influential than, say, worrying and getting anxious about not sleeping because you got into bed without being sleepy.
Stretching or yoga
Meditation or formal relaxation practices like Progressive Muscle Relaxation or Diaphragmatic Breathing
Puzzles or other non-competitive games
Certain hobbies may have aspects that are non-stimulating and would therefore be appropriate sleep runway activities. For example, sketching ideas for a new watercolor painting or simply listening to music without doing anything else.
Personally, I meditate before going to bed each night. I sit down and set a timer for one hour. Once my head starts bobbing, I know it’s time to get to bed. I usually last 30 minutes, but on some nights it’s longer. I know from experience that if I force myself to go to bed for I am tired (and I’m anxious about tomorrow), I will have poor sleep quality. To me, 5-6 hours of quality deep sleep is always better than 8-9 hours of disturbed sleep.
Need help identifying your own sleep triggers?