Boost Your Sleep: Budget-Friendly Strategies for Better Rest

I love sleep.

It used to be shamefully slothful to say that. In fact, some circles still equate getting eight hours of sleep with laziness. But lucky for me, sloths are cute now and science is coming around to sniffing out the research that my body has known all along: sleep might just be the best preventative medicine around. Aside from the angry hoard of kids who are so over naptime, there’s no arguing—good sleep feels amazing.

At the start of the pandemic, I was gorging myself on a sleep buffet. Then I talked to a friend: they hadn’t slept in two days. And then I would read on the internet all the reports of vivid dreams: a dead president walking through a comic book shop and other bizarre tales. Right on cue, everyone’s sleep was going haywire in step with the world pandemic.

None of this surprised me.

In a former life, I was a sleep coach. I helped adults, much like a virtual personal trainer, in their endless pursuit to wake up feeling a little more rested and rejuvenated for the day ahead. This was an endless party trick as many folks could finally ask:

• Why do I keep waking up at 3am like clockwork? (That’s quite common and not always a cause for worry. A lot has to do with the timing of your circadian rhythm and also it might be a habit your body is now just used to.)
• Is melatonin safe? (the good news: doesn’t carry the dependence risk like sleeping pills but the bad news: as a supplement it’s quite loosely regulated.)
• How can I be exhausted but can’t fall asleep? (Are you looking at screens before bed? Are you stressed? There are all sorts of angles to approach this one.)
• And what in the world was my take on midday naps?! (I’m a fan! Keep them around 20-30 minutes so you don’t go into deep sleep and wake up groggy). 

 To the endless disappointment of new parents: I have zero skills in helping your newborn sleep (and it apparently wasn’t any relief when I told them babies don’t even develop a circadian rhythm until 3-6 months of age, so..uh…hang on in the meantime?). 

But for adults? Yeah, I can help you sleep better. It’s a little bit about your environment and a lotta bit about your habits and dealing with your stressors.

So right now, maybe you’re not sleeping as well as you want to. Or maybe you never sleep as well as you want to. The good news is whether you have dollars to throw toward this problem or no dollars at all to spare, there are things you can do for free and not-free to help you sleep better. 

To start, I want to tell you what I would tell my clients (and what I practice myself): your environment is crucial to your sleep quality. You want your bedroom to be cool, dark, quiet, and comfortable. Make it into your bedtime cave. If it’s not, well, here are some things that might help:

Sleep Mask – $

I used a sleep mask for a very long time because I was too lazy to install blackout curtains. 

Although wearing a sleep mask made me feel like a ‘50s housewife, it worked like a charm and maybe that’s why all those women have such glowing skin on those old posters.

Ear Plugs – $

Good for snoring partners and road noise. These aren’t a recommended long-term solution (to allow your ear canal to adequately drain. Ewwww), but I always keep a few pairs handy especially when I travel.

New Pajamas

This only has a little to do with actual sleep and a lot to do with how you feel about sleep. Just like budgeting, you have to find small moments of delight to encourage a new habit.

Sound Machine – $$

Whoooooooooooooshhhhhhh. This one is a big deal. You might think sound machines are just for babies but nope, no way. We use ours every night. Hello darkness my old friend: it’s the sound of silence. Well, sort of.

Lighter-Weight Blanket – $$/$$$

A super common but overlooked problem for many nighttime wakeups is your blanket stack. One partner gets too hot, the other one is cold, or you wake up in the middle of the night sweating (and yes, hot flashes are a very real thing getting in the way of quality sleep). A quick fix: opt for a lighter blanket.

Blackout Curtains – $$$

If I could only have one thing on this list, it would be the blackout curtains. From the day we installed the blackout curtains, I was waking up less and felt more deeply rested in the morning. 

Upgrade Your Bed – $$$+

If you’re waking up with a sore back or sore neck, or you find yourself frequently tossing and turning, you should take a good hard look at your mattress and pillows. 

Free Options

Just because they’re free doesn’t mean these are easy! Work to make little changes to your sleep environment.

• Turn down your thermostat or open a window. The ideal sleeping temp is somewhere between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit. Sound chilly? Try it for a few nights and see if you wake up feeling any more rested.
• Move your phone charger to a different room. Screens are a double whammy: scrolling through your social feed excites your brain rather than calms it, and the blue light from your electronics tamps down on that natural melatonin production. Moving your charger is a thing you only have to do once, and it’s a nice little reminder to keep that screen out of the bedroom.
• Set a bedtime alarm. Just like a wakeup alarm, a bedtime alarm helps satiate your body’s craving for a consistent, predictable rhythm.
• Get out of bed if you can’t sleep. This goes back to your body’s ability to form associations. The more you associate your bed with stress, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just get out of bed and listen to a podcast in the other room until you feel yourself getting sleepy again.
• Cover up light from your electronics with tape. When the lights are off in your bedroom, is it dark like a cave? Or do you have little pinpricks of light from electronics or alarm clocks? Cover up those lights for that delicious darkness.
• Trouble sleeping? Try a podcast. If you’re someone that has a hard time turning your brain off and falling asleep, this podcast will definitely help. It’s dry, boring, and remarkably comforting when you feel alone in the deep dark night.

I could go on and on about proper sleep hygiene but I’ll leave you with that list. Granted, if you are concerned you might have a sleep disorder, that’s a different story: I recommend seeing a sleep specialist as soon as you’re able. 

For everyone: don’t overlook sleep as an underdog of health for thinking more clearly, staying motivated, processing the topsy-turvy emotions du jour, and keeping your immune system strong. Sleep is worth its weight in gold. Or platinum. At the very least it deserves some love in your budget. And with that, I wish you the sweetest of dreams.

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