I Did a N.I.G.H.T. Shift, Here’s Why

From restless nights to refreshed mornings

Sleep deprivation is a modern epidemic.

Stress levels are high in our fast-paced, pandemic-ridden world.

Sleep often falls by the wayside.

Do you wake up feeling that you have to crawl back into bed because you’re still tired?

I certainly do, and I know I’m not alone.

Do you remember when you were a teenager or young adult and had to be woken up by your parent?

Then alarm clocks interrupt our sleep, usually forever.

Imagine waking up early the next day after partying late on Friday.

The next day, you would feel sleepy and unable to concentrate.

I remember my struggles with bad habits that disrupted my sleep.

I’d often hit the snooze button when an alarm clock woke me up.

Another habit that disrupts sleep?

Reaching for the phone first thing in the morning.

Elizabeth Blake Zakarin, an assistant professor of psychology (in Psychiatry) and a clinical psychologist at the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, says,

“Just like our electronics need to be charged, sleep may recharge or reset the brain to optimize functioning.” — Elizabeth Blake Zakarin

Routines are important to help us through the ups and downs of life.

But they can also have a massive impact on our daily stress and anxiety levels.

The N.I.G.H.T. routine

“Saying goodbye to the day and hello to my night routine.” — Unknown

It’s a gentle reminder to greet the end of our busy days. and welcome the quiet of our nightly routines.

It can be a skincare,

A good book,

Spending time with family,

Or just some quiet time!

This is our moment to relax and take care of ourselves.

I finished reading the book “Think Like a Monk” last week.

In the book, author Jay Shetty highlights the importance of an evening routine.

He became a monk who served at an ashram (monastery) in India.

Jay said he had to develop a new routine and go to bed earlier to adapt to the ashram’s routine.

I really liked the acronym he used for an ideal night routine of NIGHT.

N — No phone an hour before bed.

I — Intention setting for the next day

G — Embrace gratitude for the day

H — Healing through journaling

T — Sticking to a Timed sleep schedule

The sleep hormone

It’s easy to think: “I could never get up this early!”

We often try to wake up before our body is ready.

The hormone melatonin, which regulates the day-night and sleep-wake cycle, is still active in our bodies.

For this reason, many of us are addicted to hitting the snooze button.

If you read the stories of celebrities and athletes, most are early risers and often suffer from sleep deprivation.

We blindly try to follow their routine without knowing much about their lifestyle or daily routine.

Getting as little sleep as possible is considered a badge of honor in our society.

Smartphones

Not getting enough sleep is just part of our routine that we do wrong.

The other is our smartphone.

Most of us are glued to our smartphones as soon as we wake up.

Be it to text someone, scroll through social media, check the news, etc.

Did you know that around 80% of smartphone users habitually check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up?

We check notifications, read emails, and even reply to messages on social media apps.

The way you start your day sets the tone for your entire day.

“A majority of people go from out cold to processing mountains of information within minutes every morning,” — Jay Shetty

As humans, we are not made for this kind of sudden transition.

How can we expect to spend a day full of energy and productivity when our brains are overloaded with so much information?

Smartphones cannot be avoided.

However, we can reduce their use to avoid the side effects.

Research has found that people who use their phones frequently, especially before bedtime, are likelier to report insufficient and poor-quality sleep than others.

Prolonged smartphone use increases the risk of neck pain, blurred vision, and overweight or obese.

Caffeine

Does caffeine give you the kick you need to get through the day?

Or does it lead to a crash at the end of the day or, worse, a sleepless night?

I am a tea lover.

I often had a cup of tea in the evening or before going to bed.

I never realized that I sometimes had many restless nights because of my uncontrolled tea consumption.

There’s a reason for that, explains Jay Shetty.

Shetty, following sleep expert Matthew Walker, points out how caffeine affects adenosine, a substance responsible for our sleepiness.

When caffeine builds up in the body, you get tired.

Sleep flushes the adenosine out of the body so you can start again the next day.

When we drink caffeine, it blocks the adenosine receptors in our brain.

Limiting caffeine consumption to one or two cups in the morning is crucial.

Consider drinking it in the morning before lunch.

This gives the adenosine a chance to build up, and you will feel sleepy before bed.

I tried the advice and noticed a difference in my sleeping habits after a few days.

Reducing caffeine not only improved my sleep but also my energy levels during the day.

I also discovered the importance of quality over quantity in tea.

I started researching different blends and preparation methods.

The idea was to transform my morning tea ritual into a more mindful and enjoyable experience.

It really brought me a sense of balance and well-being.

I understood that something as mundane as coffee can have such a profound impact on our lives.

Bedtime procrastination

Jay Shetty points out that procrastination before bedtime is also a recipe for disaster.

You work all day and only come home when the demands of family life greet you.

By the end of the evening, you have no time left for yourself.

So you stay up and try to use this time for yourself, missing out on valuable sleep.

There is never enough time in the day to accomplish everything you set out to do.

If you are not well rested, things get out of hand.

This can hurt your day.

I suffered from this procrastination for years.

At first, breaking the habit of scrolling through my phone or watching TV late at night was hard.

The temptation to check social media ‘one last time’ has often won over my intentions to sleep.

I am glad I have completely detoxed the social media apps on my smartphone.

No Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok or Snapchat.

I uninstalled Facebook a long time ago.

I managed to remove Instagram after three failed attempts.

Their scrolling algorithm is a killer.

I have never used Snapchat.

TikTok is banned in our country.

I only use YouTube to watch a tutorial or a new movie trailer.

But as I moved on, I realized the benefits.

Unlike Jay, however, I still need to be 100% able to do without my smartphone at night.

Since November last year, I have replaced it with a book before bed.

This new routine helped calm my mind.

It signals my body that it is time to rest.

The change in the quality of my sleep has been remarkable.

Reading enabled me to immerse myself in other worlds and perspectives and broaden my horizons.

It was a powerful reminder of how important it is to switch off from the digital world and reconnect with yourself.

Too much screen time

Another thing that can affect your sleep quality is artificially extending your day.

What does it mean?

Jay says it’s all too easy to be tempted to do this.

You get up, go to work, and do your morning chores.

Then you get your lunch and eat it at your desk.

Finally, you finish your work for the afternoon and go home for dinner in the evening.

Before you know it, it’s time to go to bed.

You feel you have no time for yourself.

So, you stay up and watch your favorite series or scroll through social media.

And suddenly it’s one o’clock in the morning.

You’re tired and vow to go to bed early when your alarm goes off.

When there is no transition to sleep, the body feels confused.

It can take longer to fall asleep if you do not take the time to prepare your body for sleep.

This is true even if you are tired.

In today’s digital age, it’s easy to underestimate screen time’s impact on our sleep patterns.

My evenings were often dominated by emails and social media.

This constant engagement with screens kept my mind in a state of high alert.

The glow of my phone was the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes.

It was the physical strain on my eyes and the mental stimulation.

It kept my mind going long after I put the device away.

Research shows how the blue light from screens can disrupt our natural sleep cycle by interfering with melatonin production.

The Harvard researchers conducted an experiment.

They compared the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light with those of exposure to green light of comparable brightness.

The blue light suppressed melatonin production for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours versus 1.5 hours).

This led to a conscious decision to change my habits.

Instead of spending screen time, I have gradually developed a habit of reading a book before bed.

I began to notice a change.

This change not only improved my sleep but also my relationship with technology as a whole.

I became more mindful of my screen time throughout the day, not just before bed.

How to create a better sleep routine?

Jay recommends taking stock of how you spend your time.

This starts with reviewing your day.

Maybe you were very focused at work,

Your productivity was on fire,

But,

How did you spend the time between projects or tasks?

How you spend the minutes between tasks may keep you up at night.

Most of us work indoors.

We are only exposed to a limited amount of daylight.

The lack of natural light during the day can disrupt our sleep rhythm.

Create a new routine that supports a restful night’s sleep.

One way to do this is to keep the lights low at night.

Create a transition period for sleep that gives you some time while you engage in a low-stress activity.

Take time to journal or meditate.

Do some gentle yoga or read a book.

Regular exercise, especially strength training, is proven to improve sleep quality.

The physical activity during the day leads to more restful nights.

If we implement these strategies, we can significantly improve the quality of our sleep.

Final thoughts

Changing only one or the other is not really a way out of sleeping well.

According to Jay, it takes a whole bunch of balanced lifestyle changes over time.

The small steps we take to change our daily habits can greatly impact how we feel each morning.

It’s about taking one night at a time and enjoying the journey to better sleep and better days.

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