It’s almost bed time!  Here are some of my tips for getting more sleep.

I love bed time! I really love my kids’ bedtime.  I love to tuck them in, tell them I love them and then, shut their door and recharge myself.

Since about the end of last year I have been working on getting more sleep.  My problem has always been that I can get so much done at night after my kids go to bed.  I have even joked with my husband saying that I was just going to start staying up all night and sleeping while the kids were at school.

While I have been working on getting more sleep I have learned a few things. The first thing I learned is to just not ever think you are going to catch up on sleep.  You can’t make up for what you have lost.

Here are 3 tips from me for getting more sleep:

1- Set a bedtime for yourself: 

If I set a time for myself to go to bed at night and say it out loud (even if to myself) I find I am more likely to get to bed at that assigned time.  I know experts always say a consistent bed time is the best, but that doesn’t always work for me.  If I can simply say “Tonight I will be in bed by 11:05” I really think that helps me in getting more sleep.  Play a game with yourself.  Why not say your bed time is 10:42.  See if you can get in bed by your self assigned bedtime.

2- No tech in bed

I have found for myself that I cannot have my phone or iPad in my bedroom.  A few times when it has been necessary for me to have my phone in my room I have been sucked into Facebook or Pinterest and can’t seem to put it down.

3- No blue lights

I recently heard a news report about the effects of blue light.  Blue LED light has been proven to make it getting more sleep more difficult.  The report talked about people getting red tinted glasses to wear before bed to filter out the light.   We have a few small blue lights in our room.  Our TV and speakers both have little blue lights on them.  Even before I heard this news story I knew that the blue lights and I don’t get along.  I took some black electrical tape and put it over the little blue lights.

Now I know there are lots of other things I could do that would assist me in getting more sleep.  Things like not drinking caffeine and getting rid of the TV in my bedroom, but those are things that I have chosen not to give up right now.

What would getting more sleep do for you?  What do you do to make the most of your zzz?