Prepare For A Big Day: Get A Good Night's Sleep

It's common to worry about not getting enough sleep before a big day, and the harder we try to sleep, the harder it is. This phenomenon is known as the Sleep Effort Paradox. Sleep psychologists say that the best way to get a good night's sleep before a big day is to prepare in advance and shift your perspective. Here are some tips to help you sleep well:

- Maintain good sleep hygiene: Avoid caffeine in the afternoon, dim the lights in the evening, stay away from screens an hour before bed, and use your bed only for sleeping and sex.

- Exercise during the day: This will help relieve stress and build up your sleep drive.

- Avoid alcohol: While it may make you drowsy, it will disrupt the quality of your sleep.

- Cut off preparation for the event at least an hour before bedtime: Give yourself time to switch into sleep mode and do something relaxing to distract yourself.

- Stick to your usual pre-bed routine: A good sleep thrives on a routine, so don't skip your typical nighttime rituals like meditation or journaling.

- Remember that a lack of sleep won't ruin your big day: Stressing over sleep will backfire, so remind yourself that your brain will rally even after a poor night's sleep.

Avoid caffeine, screens, and exercise too close to bedtime

Caffeine, screens, and exercise are all stimulants that can negatively impact your sleep. It is important to avoid these in the hours leading up to bedtime, especially if you have a big day ahead of you and are hoping for a good night's rest.

Caffeine is a well-known stimulant that can keep you awake, so it is best to avoid consuming any caffeine after noon on the day of your big event. This includes coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks. If you typically consume a lot of caffeine, you may want to gradually reduce your intake in the days leading up to your event to avoid withdrawal symptoms that could also disrupt your sleep.

The blue light emitted by screens, such as phones, tablets, and computers, can interfere with your body's natural sleep-wake cycle. It is best to avoid screens for at least an hour before bedtime. Instead, try reading a book, magazine, or newspaper, or doing something relaxing that does not involve a screen, such as light stretching or meditation.

While exercise is great for boosting your sleep drive and improving your overall sleep quality, it is important to avoid strenuous exercise too close to bedtime. The ideal time to exercise is in the late afternoon or early evening, as this gives your body temperature enough time to drop, making it easier to fall asleep. If you must exercise closer to bedtime, opt for lighter activities such as yoga or a gentle walk.

By avoiding caffeine, screens, and exercise too close to bedtime, you can create a calm and relaxing environment that will help you get a good night's sleep before your big day.

Stick to your usual pre-bed routine

Sticking to your usual pre-bed routine is one of the best ways to ensure you get a good night's sleep before a big day. While it may be tempting to try to maximise your sleep by switching up your routine, this is not advisable. Winding down with your typical nighttime ritual is a much better strategy.

If you usually listen to a meditation, journal, or have a hot drink, don't skip it the night before a big day. Good sleep thrives on routine, and there's no reason to change yours if it usually works for you.

If you're worried about not getting enough sleep, remind yourself that a good night's sleep is not as important as you might think. Most people can function perfectly well after a night or two of poor sleep. If it's a big day, your brain will still rally even after a not-so-great night of sleep, and you will perform well.

It's also important to remember that trying too hard to sleep will make it harder to fall asleep. Sleep is something the body knows how to do on its own. Trying too hard sends a message to the brain that there's a problem, activating its problem-solving mode and keeping you awake.

So, stick to your usual pre-bed routine, remind yourself that a lack of sleep won't be the end of the world, and let your body do the rest.

Manage expectations and accept that a bad night's sleep isn't the end of the world

It's common to worry about not getting enough sleep before a big day and how this will affect your performance. However, it's important to remember that a bad night's sleep isn't the end of the world and that the negative effects of sleep loss are often overstated.

Firstly, it's worth noting that the impact of sleep loss on performance is usually quite small. While severe sleep deprivation can have significant effects, partial or moderate sleep loss typically has minimal consequences. In fact, there are even some suggestions that a slight sleep deficit can enhance performance. Furthermore, individual differences play a role, and not everyone is affected by sleep loss in the same way. The most significant negative effects of short sleep duration tend to occur during boring and monotonous tasks, rather than the challenging and engaging activities that usually comprise a "big day".

Additionally, the stress and anxiety surrounding sleep loss may be more detrimental than the sleep loss itself. The anticipation of a big day can trigger our fight-or-flight response, making it challenging to fall asleep. This anxiety can then be compounded by worries about sleep itself, creating a cycle of rumination that disrupts sleep further.

Accepting that a bad night's sleep won't derail your entire day can help take the pressure off and improve your chances of getting restful sleep. Remind yourself that your brain will still be able to function adequately, even if you don't get a full night's rest. This mindset shift can help you approach the situation with a sense of calm and reduce the anticipatory anxiety that often disrupts sleep.

So, while it's always ideal to get a good night's sleep, it's important to manage your expectations and remember that a lack of sleep won't necessarily ruin your big day.

Schedule time to address your worries

Scheduling time to address your worries is a technique known as "Deliberate Worry". This practice is based on techniques from years of behavioural science. The goal is to acknowledge and address worries and anxieties at an appropriate time and place with intentionality. This will paradoxically lower their intensity and make it less likely that they will intrude on your consciousness at unexpected or inappropriate situations, such as when you're trying to fall asleep.

Here's how to schedule your worry:

• In the week or so leading up to your big day, pick a regular 15-minute window at a convenient time during your day and set it aside as your Deliberate Worry time.
• During this time, get out a sheet of paper and quickly write down everything you're worried about that comes to mind. Don't censor yourself or get hung up on accuracy or details. This is like free-writing and should be relatively stream-of-consciousness.
• After about 10 minutes of writing down your worries, circle or otherwise mark the three most pressing worries on the sheet.
• In another column or on a separate sheet of paper, write down these three concerns again, followed by the smallest, most actionable step you could take to begin addressing each one. For example, if you're worried about forgetting something in your presentation, a next step could be setting a reminder on your phone to review your presentation in the morning.

Create a sleep runway with a relaxing pre-sleep period

The mind is like a big 747 jet—an impressive piece of machinery that does some pretty amazing things and at high speeds. But, just like a 747, the mind needs a nice long runway to gradually descend and slow down before it can come to a complete stop. Similarly, the mind needs time to transition out of problem-solving work mode and into a state of relaxation before it can fall asleep. This is called The Sleep Runway.

The Sleep Runway is a relaxing period where you do something that helps you unwind, such as reading a novel, watching TV, organising your collections, or just sitting in front of the fire with a cup of tea and listening to your favourite album or playlist. When our minds can gently and naturally relax and unwind, we are far more likely to fall asleep quickly and easily.

One of the biggest mistakes people make with their sleep before a challenging day is to try and squeeze in extra work or preparation the night before. In the process, they ignore or compromise their otherwise sleep-promoting habits like a good Sleep Runway. While tempting, the extra work we try to cram in at 11:30 pm is probably not worth the poor sleep that could come as a side effect. If you're feeling tempted to trade that Sleep Runway hour for a little more work time, it’s usually better to wake up early and do it then. Not only will it not interfere as much with your sleep, but you’ll probably do a better job at it after a decent night's sleep rather than at the end of an already long and exhausting day.

It is also important to cut off preparation for the event or activity at least an hour before your ideal bedtime. Make a hard stop for event preparation and decide ahead of time that, for example, by 9 pm the night before the event, you are 100% done, and any remaining imperfections will simply have to work. This way, you allow yourself time to switch into sleep mode before you need to doze off; otherwise, you might find you're not sleepy when you actually get into bed. In the time after you’re done preparing and before you climb into bed, do something relaxing and enjoyable to distract yourself, such as reading, watching a TV show, or chatting with a friend.

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