When winding down for the night, it’s easy to get lost down a YouTube rabbit hole or binge-watch Netflix till the early hours of the morning and wake up hazy and mildly regretful – we’ve all been there. To avoid this groggy feeling after waking, there are a few techniques I try the night before to cultivate positivity for when I wake.
Disconnect:
I try to avoid my phone and other screens as much as possible – it’s hard, I know. I used to always be that person, checking my phone for late-night messages or even just mindlessly scrolling through ten-second videos. I started to feel as though I was procrastinating going to sleep. Now, however, I try to disconnect. During this unusual time, we spend enough of our day staring at screens whilst working from home alongside endless zoom calls and virtual breakout groups. Our brains aren’t programmed to be able to stare at screens for hours on end; so, after a long day of this, try to avoid the screen. No wonder that after a long day of staring at a screen I feel weird when I unwind by staring at another screen – what?
To avoid consuming more screen time, I have a few various self-care tactics to indulge in before bed.
Skincare:
I invest in my skincare; I take a lot of time over it and I blow most of my student loan on it. Ironically, I still have bad skin, but I do it because I enjoy it. Sometimes, I incorporate a facial massage into my routine if I’m feeling particularly fancy or just stressed. This is my form of self-care at its best.
Journaling:
I’ve read widely about the benefits of journaling more recently. I have found it especially productive during lockdown and being in isolation. I am a firm believer in journaling and also think it makes the best little gift if a friend is feeling low. My approach to journaling is two-fold.
- Firstly, I make a ‘Gratitude Diary’: It can be hard to look for the good things in the most monotonous, mundane of days. On other days, it’s easy to take for granted life’s simple pleasures. Write down everything good from the day. This exercise is exclusively positive, so no buts or circumstantial conditions. It could even be something really small to celebrate, like ‘today my new favourite TV series released a new season’, or ‘I cooked myself my favourite dinner and I have the facilities to do so’. Try to find at least three; it might be hard at first, but you may find once you start writing there are actually a few things that come to mind. Then, write down all the things you look forward to tomorrow. For example, ‘going for coffee with a friend’.
- Secondly, I create an ‘Affirmations Journal’: Here, I write all the things I have achieved in the day. On sadder days, this is definitely harder, but someone once told me ‘if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing only if you do it a little bit’. It might even be ‘I woke up before 10 am’, – honestly these days, absolutely worth commending. Or, on better days, it could be something slightly more celebratory, for instance, ‘I finally finished my 3000-word coursework’.
Yoga:
Sometimes, if I’m really struggling to sleep, I try yoga. My favourite yoga position before bed is child’s pose. I take some deep breaths and concentrate on my breathing to allow myself to release stress and fully unwind.
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful, especially in these strenuous times.