Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to rearrange your life to get a
Speaker 1: little more sleep. We can't always get all the sleep
Speaker 1: we want, but we can often aim to get a
Speaker 1: few more minutes when we try. I should note here
Speaker 1: that as I am recording this episode, I am in
Speaker 1: a low sleep phase of my life. I have an
Speaker 1: eight month old baby, and while I've been doing a
Speaker 1: lot of work to get him to sleep well in
Speaker 1: his crib, this is never a guarantee. He can wake
Speaker 1: up at four thirty am and have trouble settling. He
Speaker 1: can have trouble going down in the evening or wake
Speaker 1: up in the middle of the night. Maybe you are
Speaker 1: in a similar phase where sleep isn't a certainty. I
Speaker 1: know that many other people face early wake ups for
Speaker 1: work or disrupted sleep because of kids or other responsibility.
Speaker 1: We can't always control that, which makes some of the
Speaker 1: sleep advice out there ring a little hollow. I'm not
Speaker 1: exactly choosing to wake up at three thirty am to
Speaker 1: a howling baby, so I'm not that interested in advice
Speaker 1: from people without caregiving responsibilities. That implies that a lack
Speaker 1: of sleep is a personal failing. That said, these things
Speaker 1: aren't either or some things are just life, but other
Speaker 1: habits can be tweaked. For instance, I can resist the
Speaker 1: urge to celebrate when the baby goes down by staying
Speaker 1: up late, reading or hanging out and doing those things
Speaker 1: that are harder to do when the baby is awake.
Speaker 1: By going to bed soon after the baby goes to bed,
Speaker 1: I raised the likelihood of more sleep. I don't guarantee it,
Speaker 1: but I make it more likely. I can also set
Speaker 1: realistic alarms in the morning. This is not the time
Speaker 1: of life for elaborate morning routines that will come later.
Speaker 1: Now I can take the sleep. Similarly, on days when
Speaker 1: I have of childcare coverage, I try to leave some
Speaker 1: open time in the afternoon. It's there to absorb extra
Speaker 1: work or to go for a run, but if I've
Speaker 1: had a really bad night, it can also accommodate a nap.
Speaker 1: That's a perk of working from home. I've also realized
Speaker 1: that I do not need to be a martyr. My
Speaker 1: baby has two parents, and so if I've been up
Speaker 1: a lot with the baby, my husband can take a shift,
Speaker 1: so I can crash somewhere quiet. If you're not getting
Speaker 1: enough sleep because of life circumstances, challenge yourself to find
Speaker 1: a way to add a few minutes a day. No,
Speaker 1: you are not going to discover hours, but could you
Speaker 1: find an extra fifteen to twenty minutes? Look at everything.
Speaker 1: Are you getting up early to do work while the
Speaker 1: house is quiet? I get it, and it's often a
Speaker 1: good idea, But maybe one or two mornings a week
Speaker 1: don't do that. Are you staying up late to see
Speaker 1: your older children off to bed? Maybe just give them
Speaker 1: a warning that if you wake up and find them
Speaker 1: wandering about, there will be trouble, and then get the
Speaker 1: extra sleep that comes from trusting them. Set a relaxed
Speaker 1: weekend schedule that allows you to nap in mid afternoon
Speaker 1: if the night gets interrupted. Stop thinking of a certain
Speaker 1: time is when normal people go to bed. You can
Speaker 1: totally go to bed earlier if you like. Maybe institute
Speaker 1: a no screens after nine pm rule. If you're bored,
Speaker 1: you're more likely to go to bed. And while it's
Speaker 1: hard to control a baby waking up in the middle
Speaker 1: of the night, other disturbances can be mitigated. If you
Speaker 1: love your partner but don't share a bed, well, well
Speaker 1: don't share a bed. You can always enjoy some time
Speaker 1: together before heading off to sleep separately. A white noise
Speaker 1: machine can work wonders, as can blackout shades, and getting
Speaker 1: physical activity and sunshine during the day increases the chances
Speaker 1: that you'll hit bedtime tired. I love babies, but I
Speaker 1: am definitely looking forward to better sleep when this little
Speaker 1: guy is older. Until then, I'm doing what I can,
Speaker 1: and maybe there are things you can do to Even
Speaker 1: an extra twenty minutes a night can help a lot.
Speaker 1: It's the difference between feeling frazzled and just maybe okay.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H