Beatrix A. Schmidt is a sleep coach, speaker and the author of The Sleep Deep Method. Having struggled with insomnia and burning herself out in her mid-twenties, Beatrix spent the last decade researching sleep. Here are some of her tips for sleeping well.
- Personalise rather than generalise
‘Instead of following what works for other people, look at finding tools and techniques that work for you. For example: if going to bed at 10pm doesn’t work for you because you are more of a late person, then work on reshuffling your life so it can work with your natural rhythms.’ - The ideal bedtime routine
‘Think of this as transitioning from work to home, from day to night, from active to relaxing. The ideal bedtime routine will let your body and your mind know that it is time for you to sleep soon.’ - Ultimate bedroom environment
‘When you’re driving, you want riders to feel comfortable and relaxed in a clean, nice smelling car. Your bedroom environment is the same: clutter-free, clean, smelling nice and feeling relaxing.’ - Your priority list
‘Perhaps sleeping feels like an ‘unnecessary waste of time’ but I can assure you that without an adequate amount of quality sleep you won’t achieve as much with your waking hours as you would if you’d given yourself the time to rest, relax and recharge.’ - Optimal hours of sleep for you
‘Every single person needs a slightly different amount of sleep. Of course, the 7-9 hours for an adult is generally what you are aiming for but often this is influenced by how healthy you currently are, and how well you nourish your body through food and drinking water for example. The more energy your body can create the better stabilised the hours of sleep you need.’