Each of these pathways can be assigned to one of four groups: (1) activities before bedtime, (2) transitions to sleep involving temperature change, (3) transitions to sleep involving cognitive and affective change, and (4) food! I provide a summary description of each of these pathways as well as considering their effectiveness (based on both expert assessments and the assessment of those who have embarked on each pathway. I begin with pre-bedtime activities.
What Do We Do Before Going to Bed?
There are many things we can do before going to sleep that will make it easier to fall asleep once we turn off the lights and settle in for a good night of sleep. At the very least, our pre-bedtime activities should not be too active! Transition is the key. We must slow down, focus our mind and body, take a deep breath, savor pleasant thoughts, and make use of the bathroom!
To Sleep or Not to Sleep: That is the Question!
The first and most obvious question to ask regarding activities before going to bed concerns the very act of going to bed itself. When should I snuggle in for a night of sleep? Many of the experts say that you should only go to bed when you are tired. Experts at the Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine (2019) put it quite plainly: “go to sleep when you’re truly tired. Other experts (and sometimes the same experts) say that you should establish a routine and go to bed (whenever possible) at the same time each night. The Harvard experts (2019) assert that:
“Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day sets the body’s “internal clock” to expect sleep at a certain time night after night. Try to stick as closely as possible to your routine on weekends to avoid a Monday morning sleep hangover. Waking up at the time each day is the very best way to set your clock, and even if you did not sleep well the night before, the extra sleep drive will help you consolidate sleep the following night.”
I do have one perplexing and perhaps disturbing question to ask of our experts at Harvard: what if your level of fatigue changes from day to day? We might be “ready for bed” at an earlier hour if we have spent the afternoon working in our garden, playing several sets of tennis or attending to a sick child. On the other hand, if we have been watching TV all evening or had an extended nap in the afternoon, fatigue might not be anywhere near us and our body. What should we do? No easy answer—though the worst decision would be to settle down for a night of sleep only to remain alert and restless.
There is also the matter of too much sleep. We can choose to go to bed at a very early hour and push ourselves to remain in bed late in the morning. Craig Heller (2013, p. 157) puts it this way:
“Although it might seem counterintuitive, sleep only as much as you need to feel rested; do not oversleep. You should not spend an excessive amount of time awake in bed; you want to associated being in bed with sleep.”
