How successful were you at sticking to a New Year’s Resolution in 2022? Have you tried to lose weight, quit smoking, or get fitter in the past with limited success?
I’ve heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If this sounds familiar, It could be time for a different approach…
Sleeping well is a shortcut to feeling happier, healthier and more resilient. A small change in your sleep habits could help you find more energy, focus, self-control and support from others. So focusing on better sleep could be the catalyst you need to reach your 2023 goals.
How do I change my sleep habits and behaviour?
According to Stanford Behaviour Change expert, B.J. Fogg, a new behaviour requires a combination of motivation, the ability to make a change, and a reliable prompt – or trigger – to remind us to act at the right time (Tiny Habits 2019).
Motivation is a bit unreliable – if you’re tired, or busy, motivation drops below the level needed for action, and your prompt may fail. It’s therefore best to keep your new habit as simple and easy as possible, so that you always have the ability to repeat it..
To choose a simple yet effective new pro-sleep behaviour, try and follow this 5 point plan…
#1. Brainstorm: What can I do to sleep better?
Step 1 is to get creative and brainstorm lots of possible ideas. What could you start, or stop, doing in 2023 that would improve your sleep time or quality? Write down all the ideas you have at this stage, even if they sound challenging. For example, if you frequently work late, you might write down ‘stop work by 6pm’. In the next step we’ll work out how to make these ideas more feasible.
If this sounds daunting, set a timer for 2 minutes and see how many ideas you can come up with, or do this part with a partner or a friend.
For example.. some ideas to get you started. Which of these are relevant to you?
Wear ear plugs
Help my partner stop snoring
Buy a more comfortable bed
Fit blackout blinds
Adopt a more regular routine
Wind down before bed
Dim the lights at night
Drink less alcohol
Start the day earlier
Sleep in a quieter room in the house
Help the kids sleep better
Buy a light alarm clock
Stop scrolling on my phone in bed
Use blue light filters on technology
Put my gym clothes out ready the night before
Work fewer hours
Work on reducing stress
Cut back on caffeine
Lose weight
Eat more healthily
Find a CBT therapist to help
Warm bath before bed
Tidy my bedroom
Get out of bed at 7am every day
Stop eating 2hrs before bed
Read before bed
Protect time to make love
Meditate every day
Write a daily journal
Listen to calming music before bed
#2. Make it really easy to get better sleep
Now take your top 10 ideas, and try to come up with a simple, easy and specific version of that behaviour which you could repeat every day. For example, if you wrote “cut down on caffeine” you might want to replace this with:
- “Alternative coffee with water”
- “Only drink decaf tea at home”
- “Drink mint tea after 4pm”
Or, if your goal is to cut back, one easy way to start this goal is simply to start tracking your caffeine intake:
- “Keep a track of how many cups of tea and coffee I drink for a week”
You might be surprised how monitoring can influence your choices.
If your goals were around work, you might need to discuss this with your colleagues or manager, but perhaps you could start with one night of the week that you will not work beyond a certain time, and build from there. Experiment with a weekly prioritization meeting with your manager to discuss what really has to be done, and what could wait.
The goal of Step 2 is to come up with a list of 10+ ideas which sound do-able to you.. These will be different for everyone.
#3. Map your Sleep Habits to find the Top 1,2 or 3
If you try and change too much at once, it’s likely that you’ll forget after a few days. You will also never know what is making a difference if you change everything!
Instead, map your top 10 habits on the axes below to identify the easiest and most impactful for you:
1. Impact - is it likely to improve your sleep? Put higher impact habits towards the top. Take a best guess – it may take some trial and error.
2. Ease - how easy will it be for you to do? Put easier habits towards the right, and more difficult habits towards the left.
The sweet spot belongs to actions which are a good fit with your desired future identity (the ideal you), are simple, and impactful.
Focus on no more than 3 habits moving forwards – ideally from the top right quadrant.
#4. Find a prompt for your new sleep habits
For each habit, try and think of a prompt, or trigger, to remind you to do it. The most reliable prompts are things which anchor the new behaviour with an existing part of your routine, for example, brushing your teeth or having dinner. Other prompts include setting an alarm, leaving yourself notes or asking for help.
Here are some examples…
#5. Celebrate better sleep habit successes!
Feeling positive when you’ve completed your new habit is the key to repetition. How will you savour the sensation of success? Smiling, punching the air, doing a little wiggle of joy.. whatever makes you feel good!
Compare notes with your partner or family – can you support each other to feel good when you’ve met your goals? Perhaps you could treat yourselves to something special at the end of each week when you’ve met your habit goals.
When you’re launching a new habit, it can be really satisfying to tick off your successes each day on a sleep diary. You can download a template for a sleep diary here – simply replace the habits with the 1, 2 or 3 priority behaviours you have chosen.
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