How did you sleep last night?
If you woke up this morning and felt like you should go back to bed, either you did not get enough sleep, or your sleep quality is poor.
You might want to keep a sleep journal for a while to see how you could improve on your sleep habits.
What is a Sleep Journal?
A sleep journal is a tool you can use to monitor your sleep habits. It can offer insights into whether you are getting enough sleep and whether your sleep is restorative and of good quality.
Here is a list of specifics that you could use to record details of your sleep patterns. Do this for at least one week to see if your weekday nights differ significantly from those on the weekend.
- The time you went to bed. This is not the time you fall asleep, but the time you actually get into bed with the intention of sleeping.
- The time you actually fell asleep. If you have a smart watch, you can retrieve this information quite easily.
- How many times you woke up during the night (that you can recall).
- How long it took each time you were awake during the night, to fall back to sleep again.
- The time you woke up in the morning.
- How you felt on waking up in the morning (exhausted, fatigued, uncomfortable, rested, energized etc).
- Details of any naps you took during the day.
- Food and drink (especially caffeine) you had during the day.
- Any snoring.
You can use this information to identify patterns in routine that affect your sleep and see if you can improve your sleep quality and duration. You can also share this information with your doctor or healthcare provider and see if they have specific advice that may help you.
You can download a Sleep Journal template from here: https://lifestyledoc.co.za/sleep-hygiene/