HOW TO TURN YOUR LATE NIGHTS INTO A TREAT
WHEN you’re tired, it can be a tough call to stay awake until gone midnight each night.
Some sleep specialists recommend filling the hours until your new late bedtime by doing something calming, relaxing and/or quiet in a dimly lit and comfortable environment.
They suggest handwriting letters (no computers, remember), reading (books, not on a Kindle or eReader), listening to music, or knitting. As long as it’s not physically, psychologically or emotionally arousing, it ticks the box.
But I like to take a more positive stance. I think it’s important that you don’t regard this as a kind of punishment and that you don’t tiptoe around yourself too much. You should avoid any chance of inadvertently sending a signal to your brain that your sleep is fragile and that you should be careful — neither of which would be good for your sleep resilience in the long-term.
I prefer to give my patients free rein to do anything they like, with the following main exceptions: no work, food, exercise or computers/phones — and certainly no alcohol. You also shouldn’t spend it in bed. Snacks are OK, but no main meals or vigorous exercise (both of which can affect your ability to sleep later).
The main hurdle is the ban on napping and dozing, which must be adhered to until your body and brain have adjusted.
Even the shortest snooze will affect your sleep homeostat — the physiological systems that regulate your need to sleep — and weaken your drive to drop off at the right
time. Your biggest enemy at this time is the sofa. So, whatever you do in your long evenings, NEVER recline on the sofa! In my experience, the sofa lovers are the ones who are most likely to fall asleep and who, therefore, find sleep rescheduling the toughest. Sit up straight on the edge of the sofa or armchair or, better still, sit on a hard dining-room chair. That’s why I recommend trying to find something enjoyable to do to fill your time, since this means there’s less of a chance that you’ll nod off. Why not start a novel you’ve always said you would read, or compile a list of all the movies you’ve always wanted to watch, but never had time for? This is a not a punishment, and not something to be endured — think of these seven evenings as a handy new opportunity to do a few interesting things with the extra time you have.
Reluctant to take the plunge?
SLEEP rescheduling is tough and you may find that it’s something you feel you simply cannot, or are not prepared to, do alone.
That’s OK — you might need to ask your GP to refer you to a specialist in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) to support you through this tricky process. Don’t give up on CBT-I. Without sleep rescheduling, you are not likely to see the full benefits of this course, but it might be something you can come back to at another time.