8 easy ways to reset your sleep in January

In the days and weeks over Christmas, many of us lose track of what day it is and fall out of our usual routines. As a result, our sleep often takes a hit.

“At this time of year, people have often had far too much alcohol, they’re tired and have accumulated a sleep debt, so good sleep is at an all-time low,” reflects Dr Marion Sloan, GP partner of Sloan Medical Centre in Sheffield and chair of the Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology.

When trying to improve sleep, we often focus on what we can change during the evening and nighttime. However, Dr David Garley, GP and director of The Better Sleep Clinic, says this approach misses an important part of the picture.

“When you aren’t sleeping well, it’s quite natural to focus on the night, but actually by shifting your focus to the day and carrying out activities that reinforce the wake phase of your circadian rhythm can help the sleep phase arrive a bit more naturally at night,” explains Garley.

If your sleep has gone off track after Christmas, you are not alone. Here are eight ways to help reset your sleep this January…

1. Get out in the daylight

“Early January is a really good time to look for a fresh start and to try and re-establish some healthy rhythms, and one of the most natural ways to do that is to get out in that early-morning sunshine,” recommends Sloan.

Garley agrees and explains: “Light is one of the main things that our circadian rhythm is set up in response to. It can be tricky at this time of year because it gets light later, but even just setting some time aside at lunch to get out for a quick walk around the block can really help with your sleep at night.”

2. Move your body during the day

Exercising during the day can help prepare your body and mind for sleep during the night.

“We sleep to charge our batteries back up again, so in an ideal world you would be physically tired to get into a decent night’s sleep,” says Sloan. “Different people have different levels of exercise and different optimums of what they’re able to achieve, but 10,000 steps per day is a good sweet spot to aim for.”

3. Try to stick to a consistent wake time

“You want to be the boss of your own sleep, so have a fixed wake-up time and try not to vary it by too much more than an hour at the weekend,” advises Garley.

4. Create a wind-down routine

“It’s important to have a bit of wind-down time before you try to go to sleep,” says Sloan. “For example, reading a book for half an hour can be a good way to wind down at the end of the day.

“Whether your wind-down routine is floating through Facebook to see what’s happening, or reading a book or just laying quietly, it can help you fall off into a natural sleep.”

5. Try journaling

“If you are really struggling with your sleep, it can be good to try and explore what it is about your sleep that you’re worried about, so journaling can be a really good way to understand that,” suggests Garley. “Don’t do it right before bed, but maybe two or three hours before bed, sit down with a piece of paper or book and just write down what’s on your mind about sleep.

“When thoughts are in your head, they have this habit of being quite formless and vague, whereas if you write them down they become defined, and a defined thought is much easier to think about in a constructive way.”

6. Resist the urge to lie in

“If you lie in, it tends to blur the boundaries between sleep happening in the bed and wake happening out of the bed and it’s actually that association between the bed and sleep that tends to trigger sleep,” explains Garley. “So, you want to keep that nicely divided by getting out of bed straight away in the morning.”

7. Consider getting a daylight alarm clock

If you are a constant alarm snoozer, consider getting a daylight alarm clock.

“You can get these daylight alarm clocks that just set off a bit of light before the alarm goes off,” says Garley. “You can get a physical clock or can just get the backlit display to come on on your phone for five or 10 minutes before your alarm goes off.

“This helps draw you up from these deeper states of sleep to lighter states, so that when the alarm does go off it’s not such a rude awakening. That can help you wake up feeling a bit fresher and can help make it easier to get out of bed.”

8. Don’t force it

“Sleep is one of these quite unusual things that the more you try to do it, the less likely it is to happen,” highlights Garley. “If you’re not asleep within 15 to 20 minutes, get out of bed and find a relaxing and distracting activity such as reading a book or even watching TV and wait for that urge to sleep to come back – then go back to bed.”