Good Sleep Habits 101

By: Veronica Stang, Registered Provisional Psychologist

 

Sleep feels like a luxury for a lot of us, due to our busy schedules. We’ve all had those nights of insomnia. They involve tossing and turning, getting up in the middle of the night for a snack, checking the clock at 2am, and then looking again at 2:03. It felt like three hours had passed. Then you start doing math at 4 o’clock in the morning and telling yourself, “If I fall asleep at this exact moment, I will still get 3 hours and 15 minutes of sleep.” It’s comforting, but it’s not really useful. For some people, this dreadful experience only happens on occasion. For others, it is a nightly sparring match with the sandman. Either way, it’s hard to form good sleep habits as a result.

Sleep Habits: Questions to Ask Yourself

I frequently talk to my patients about the importance of good sleep habits. We talk about how to improve both quality and quantity of sleep. Take a moment to reflect, then ask yourself the following: how many hours of undisturbed sleep do you get?  Is it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up? What is your night-time routine? If your responses are negative, you aren’t alone. The most common problem people face is not being able to fall asleep, and stay that way. Consider some of the following do’s and don’ts to improve your own sleep.

DO

• Have a consistent nighttime routine.
• Exercise daily.
• Have a consistent time to go to bed and wake up. (Yes, even on weekends, within reason.)
• Go to bed only when you are tired.
• Get out of bed if you can’t sleep.
• Get regular exposure to sunlight.
• Plan a time in your day to worry. Seriously. Get it out of the way before bed!
• Do something relaxing before bed. Examples include meditation, reading, and taking a bath.
• Consider your physical environment. E.g., bedroom darkness, temperature, mattress comfort, and any noises.

DON’T

• Spend too much time awake in bed.
• Watch television, eat, or play video games in bed. This conditions your body to be awake when you need to be resting.
• Have multiple or long naps during the day.
• Exercise late in the evening, if exercise energizes you.
• Have caffeinated drinks in the evening.
• Have large meals late at night.
• Be in front of screens late at night. Screen time can impact our circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms influence bodily functions, including our sleep-wake cycles, hormone release (like melatonin for sleep), eating habits, digestion, and body temperature.

Why is sleep so important? 

A good sleep habit will do a number of things to keep you moving every day. Sleep vastly improves your quality of life, by doing the following:

• Regenerating cells. (Hello, health!)
• Restoring energy.
• Consolidating memories.
• Strengthening our immune system.
• Increasing blood supply to muscles, which then promotes the growth and repair of tissue and bones.

All of these processes assist with our daily functions such as learning and emotional regulation!

NOT enough sleep is linked to conditions such as:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Anxiety
• Depression

Based on all of the benefits it provides, it is easy to see why sleep is important for everyone. By that same token, I work with many children and individuals with chronic pain. People who suffer from chronic pain are in need of additional sleep in order for their bodies and brains to heal, restore, and grow. Even so, they often struggle to reach even the requested minimum of sleep. I cannot emphasize enough how important good sleep habits are for mental and physical health, especially within these vulnerable populations.

In Conclusion

I encourage you to adapt some of these strategies into your own lifestyle. I know sleep can be a frustrating endeavour, but try not to become discouraged. It will take trial and error to discover what works best for you. If you are struggling to sleep, give us a call at 403-343-8891. Additionally, you can book online to see us at Stride! Good luck and sweet dreams!

Resources

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/what-happens-when-you-sleep

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/why-do-we-need-sleep

How To Be Productive at Home During Isolation

By: Blake and Jen Goehring – PTs and Owners

 

The last several weeks have turned all of our worlds upside down, and have sent us through a roller coaster of emotions. With very little notice, most of us have been forced to drastically change our daily routines. It can be hard to be productive at home! At our most recent virtual meeting with our colleagues, we had multiple people express that they felt like they were working many hours, putting time in, but not feeling productive. Does anyone else relate to this?

We spent some time debriefing and connecting about this “lack of productivity” in our meeting. As new business owners and full-time physiotherapists, we have spent the last two years stuck in the routine of bringing work home. Together, we work to be productive at home, use a make-shift remote office, and learn to define a transition from work to off-hours. This has been no easy feat when it’s all in the same space!

Today, we’re sharing tips on how to be productive at home without work mixing with your personal life.

#1. Get dressed! 

Consider today a work day. What is your normal routine? Get yourself up, take a shower, brush your teeth, and put on your work clothes. Don’t let remote work give you free reign to stay in your sweats all day. Feeling and looking good will put you in the right mindset for work!

#2. Set up your work space. 

Set up your new office space to make it feel like a work zone. Wherever you choose to do this, make sure it does not serve any purpose other than work during your office hours. For example, if you choose to set up at your kitchen table, then make sure you are not eating there with your family at the same time. Once your workstation is cleaned up, then it can go back to being the family area. Consider this no matter where you set up. Your couch is not for relaxation time. The kitchen island is not for prepping and cooking food. Your kid’s bedroom is not for play and nap time. After work is done, these areas can go back to normal!

#3: Get organized.

Start your work day off by going through your normal routine, like checking e-mails and messages. Then write everything out that needs to be accomplished today on a to-do list. Additionally, you can set timers to keep you on track!

#4. Set clear, realistic goals. 

Try to complete three to five tasks per day. This means you need to look at your to-do list in the morning and prioritize your tasks.

#5. Avoid distractions. 

Working at home means you might have alerts coming from your computer, watch, phone, kids, spouses, and even your next door neighbor.  This is so frustrating! Pace your alerts where you can. For example, check your e-mail at set times: first thing in the morning, just before lunch, and at the end of your work day. If a task comes up from an email, simply put it on the to-do list. Unless it’s an emergency, avoid answering your e-mail immediately. The same principle applies to checking your personal phone. Have set times when you look at it. If it’s a personal message, respond during your allocated break. If it’s work related, put the task item on the to-do list, and then circle back to it. The formula below is not backed by science, but makes a lot of sense to us!

Checking your phone repeatedly provides instant gratification, which subsequently reduces your productivity.

#6. Take your normal breaks. 

Breaks are essential during your work day. They give you a chance to relax, re-focus, and re-energize. Prioritize timed coffee and lunch breaks. Ensure you follow the same time limit, from fifteen to sixty minutes, and get back to work on time. To stay alert and refreshed, you can include activities or movement in every break you take! Stimulating our bodies helps us stay focused.

#7. Be flexible. 

We know many of you have others invading your work environment right now. From school kids and toddlers, to pets and your spouse, it’s a lot. Your work hours might shift during this crisis! That’s okay. If you feel that these distractions are becoming overwhelming, or they are impairing your ability to be productive, try to set boundaries with everyone.

#8. Clean up your workstation at the end of your work day.

Particularly if your office has an off-work function, like the kitchen table. Put everything away, including your computer, papers, pens, mug, and more. If it is out of sight, it is out of mind. Your work day is finished and now it is time for personal or family time! Plus, tomorrow you might want to set up your workstation somewhere else for a change of scenery.

In Conclusion

These tips are simply suggestions and strategies that have worked for us! We know that the weeks behind and ahead of us are unusual, resulting in stress. These are exceptional circumstances. This time is new and unknown. It’s okay that you might feel a bit lost, slightly less productive, and potentially exhausted. We are all there with you!

And if you’re reading this during when we are finally open again, give us a call at 403-343-8891. We can help you get back to feeling active.

5 Things to Do at Home for Self-Care

But First

Welcome to our blog, Stride Family! This is a platform that we have always wanted to use to connect, share with, and support our community. It seems most appropriate to get this project up and running during these new challenging times. Our aim is to provide you with insight, guidance, education and at-home health tips about a variety of topics over the coming months. Today is about what to do at home for self-care.

Given our current global circumstances and the COVID-19 pandemic, we know many people are navigating through new and tough emotions – lost, scared, nervous, bored, restless… The list goes on.

Top 5 Things To Do At Home For Self-Care

By: Jen Goehring – physiotherapist and Co-Owner

 

Today, I am going to provide you with my top 5 things to do at home to make time for self-care. Especially during quarantine!

TIP #1: Schedule time for yourself!

This tip may seem self-explanatory, but when is the last time you had one hour to yourself? One hour that wasn’t interrupted by others. An hour when you deliberately did what you wanted to do without feeling guilty. Like many of us, you probably can’t remember.

Most of us are creatures of habit. We follow a jam-packed calendar without wiggle room if something unexpected comes up. Between work, social events, family gatherings, medical appointments, kids activities, and more, we barely have enough hours during the day. Even during lockdown, this isn’t easy. Just like you scheduled all of those events in your planner, consider scheduling time in for self-care. Firstly, book an hour each day for yourself. Secondly, do not fill that time with anything else. This is only 5% of your day! Thirdly, do something or do nothing! Read, journal, meditate, watch a TV show, call a friend, or listen to music. Just prioritize doing something that makes you happy, no strings attached.

TIP #2: Learn how to say “NO”

I understand that you have probably heard this tip before and thought it made sense. But the real question is: how do you do this? I once heard something that deeply resonated with me to help make this decision easier. “In life, there are three things: ‘have’ to’s, ‘want’ to’s and ‘should’ do’s.’” Anything that falls into the “have to” category is an obligation. It’s something important to attend. The “want to” is definite, as it is something that you are choosing to do. The invitation for the “should do” is automatically ditched. No guilt, no obligation. You have the right to say no to something you do not want to participate in!

In order to say no, you must prioritize your current responsibilities, and set boundaries in your relationships. Consider the following: if you say “yes” to an invite or activity, this might mean saying “no” to something else that it is already on your plate. Most of the time, we are all functioning with what we consider a full plate. If we only pile onto our task list, something else in our life will suffer. Think before you agree to anything!

TIP #3: MOVE

This seems simple, but it is amazing how much a little movement can do a lot for self-care. Moving gives you energy. It alters your mindset and brings positive vibes! Movement does not have to be a traditional workout. As a matter of fact, it can come in many different forms, like walking, dancing, stretching, running, biking, changing positions, jumping, and more. Find something that you enjoy doing. Make sure you move at least once per hour! You should also head outside for some fresh air. All in all, moving feels good.

TIP #4: SLEEP

Yes, I know you have heard this before. Sleep is essential for both physical and mental healing. And it’s true! Research consistently proves it. How do you implement good sleep strategies? Here’s a thought: you likely set an alarm for the morning to ensure that you wake up on time, right? Well, how about setting yourself an alarm to get yourself in bed at night? A lot of us typically get distracted at night and start activities late without even knowing what time it is. Having an alarm clock in the evening will help you to stop whatever you are doing and start focusing on your nighttime routine. A better nighttime routine will likely drive a better sleep and a better morning! I know most of you have well established morning routines, so now I challenge you to do the same in the evenings.

TIP #5: UNPLUG

We are all guilty of spending too much time using technology. In today’s world, technology is all around us – TVs, computers, tablets, phones, even watches. We have never been more accessible than we are right now; especially during this time when most of us are working and connecting with people virtually. But we also all spend a lot of “wasted” time scrolling through social media feeds, watching videos or shows, checking emails, texting, etc. It has been extremely well researched that our screen time is negatively impacting our sleep, relationships and mental health.

I challenge you to commit to TWO things:

1. Unplug completely. At least for a short period of time daily. Put your phone or watch in a different room, put your computer away and turn the TV off. Seriously, this is what freedom could feel like… Plus, it gives you time to connect with yourself or the people living under your same roof.

2. Set screen times for yourself. A lot of people set screen times for kids and students, but do you abide by this yourself? Put limits on your scrolling and checking of your devices. Consider doing something productive that needs to be done, like cooking dinner or starting laundry, then feel free to give yourself a few minutes reward of checking social media (if you’re so inclined).

It is important to remember that making time for yourself is not a one-time thing. These tips do not just apply to quarantine time. Self-care is an ongoing, daily and weekly task. Your strategies may evolve and change over time, but eventually implementing these small habits becomes a part of our regular, routine lives. This will likely lead to feeling happier, healthier and more balanced!