A Sleepy Girl Guide: The 10 Tips You Need To Get Better Sleep

The 10 tips you need to get better sleep including why you shouldn’t be drinking the viral sleepy girl mocktail and why you might be using the wrong magnesium supplement before bed.

1. Clean your bedroom

Most of us have at some point in our lives have gone to bed with clutter in our bedroom. But rather than clean it up we slip into bed, turn out the light, and try falling asleep because the mess is too much to deal with today. But even though it’s dark, that mess has a way of making it difficult to fall asleep. “That’s because our environment not only affects how fast we fall asleep, but how soundly we sleep,” says Ilene Rosen, M.D., a physician at Penn Medicine board-certified in sleep medicine, internal medicine, and pulmonary medicine (1.) 

Before going to bed make sure your room is picked up. It sets you up for having the best sleep you can as well as setting yourself up to wake up in a good mood.

2. Having a bedtime routine

Sometimes the problem can lie with expecting our bodies to do exactly what we want at the exact moment we want it to. Like when we hop into bed and immediately expect to fall asleep. But if your body isn’t receiving the right signals to know that it should be falling asleep soon, it becomes more difficult. 

These signals can be sent by having a consistent bedtime routine. Take a warm bath, do your skincare routine, do some calming meditation, or read a book. Do things that let your body and mind unwind from the day you’ve had. With a healthy winding down period your body will be much more prepared to fall and stay asleep.

3. Dive in the deep end with whatever works for you

Do some sleep experimenting. Different things work for different people. For example, I’ve noticed that I’m able to fall asleep faster when I have some light background noise compared to when I go to bed in complete silence. Some people wake up with a dry mouth and need a glass of water. Try using a humidifier in your room. Some people fall asleep faster in complete darkness. If that’s the case, get some blackout curtains. Whatever works the best for you, lean into it and stick to it.

4. Stay away from the viral sleepy girl mocktail

Before doing my research I was planning on writing something along the lines of how the viral cherry juice mocktails is the perfect drink to help you sleep for the night, but I have since changed my tune. 

The drink, a concoction of tart cherry juice, your choice of Olipop soda, and magnesium supplement has gone viral throughout the internet to give you the best night’s sleep of your life.  

Cherry juice has been researched to increase the melatonin (sleepy chemical) levels in your body, which is very true, but it also turns out to have a massive downside. Courtney, a dietician and health influencer points out that the main ingredient in tart cherry juice happens to be sugar. One serving which is only 8 oz has your daily amount of allotted sugar for the day and a whopping 26 grams as well as 31 grams of carbohydrates. With barely any protein and no healthy fats, the cherry juice is added to a sparkling soda which adds even more sugar to your diet right before bed.

Although you are getting a nice dose of melatonin from the cherry juice you are also creating a major blood sugar spike resulting in an even larger crash and will unsurprisingly lead you to wake up around 2 or 3 in the morning. 

Not to mention many fans of the drink are adding the wrong type of magnesium to their drink. You want to be taking a supplement of magnesium glycinate and L-threnate instead of magnesium citrate which many people use.

Instead, Courtney recommends having a bowl of real cherries before bed or her chocolate cherry green smoothie that is included in her winter reset program. She promises that her smoothie recipes will keep your blood sugar balanced as well as improve your sleep quality.

5. In lavender we trust

Lavender has been linked to relieving stress and anxiety for centuries now and has been clinically proven to improve sleep. The components in lavender interact with your brain and nervous system to reduce restlessness, anxiety, and aggression which makes it easier to relax as well as fall asleep more easily.

Spray your pillow with lavender mist, fill your diffuser with lavender oil, light a lavender candle, or put a drop of lavender oil under your nose are all my favorite ways to use lavender before bed. 

You can also make your own lavender pillow mist. Combine 1 ml of lavender oil with 120 ml of water. Don’t use any more oil per water because it can stain your pillowcase (2).

6. Try out a weighted sleeping mask

​Many people already love a sleep mask, but have you heard of a weighted sleep mask? The added weight provides gentle pressure across key points of your forehead, and temples while also blocking out distractions and light that keep you from your goal of falling asleep.  Weighted sleep blankets and masks are known to offer “deep pressure which stimulation which parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you feel calm” explains Daniel Sher a clinical psychologist (3).

7. Eat foods that support healthy sleep

Almonds– an easy, and favorite snack among many, almonds also contain Vitamin B and magnesium which are helpful for sleep.

​Walnuts– another easy snack but also the best food source of melatonin. 

​Turkey– Most likely you know turkey makes you tired from watching an episode from the hit sitcom Seinfeld. It’s true. Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan which increases the production of melatonin.

​Kiwis– also contain high amounts of tryptophan.

​Chamomile Tea– Something simple and soothing to drink before bed but also contains apenigenin, which is an antioxidant that promotes sleepiness. 

​Fatty fish– fish high in healthy fats such as salmon, trout, tuna, and mackerel all contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids which trigger melatonin.

8. Ge the right magnesium supplement

For those who don’t feel they are eating enough foods with magnesium in them, you can always add a fizzy drink of magnesium to your bedtime routine. Like I said above it’s all about getting the right magnesium. Oftentimes, many people will pick out a supplement of magnesium citrate thinking it will help them sleep when you really want magnesium glycinate and L-threnate. Added bonus, magnesium promotes gut health which you can learn about in another blog of mine.

9. Use the 10-3-2-1 method

Invented by Dr. Jess Andrade, a pediatrician and sports doctor in Massachusetts, the method is a step-by-step guide to plan your day to get a good night’s sleep. The method went viral and has been beloved by many troubled sleepers as their holy grail to improved sleep. She explains,

10 hours before bed: No more caffeine. “Caffeinated drinks will clear from the bloodstream in around 10 hours and eliminate the stimulatory effects.”

3 hours before bed: Finish big meals and drinking alcohol. “Finishing eating big meals or alcohol three hours before can help reduce symptoms of reflux and alcohol impairs your natural sleep cycle reducing good quality sleep.”

2 hours before bed: Stop working. “Relax the brain and write down all the tasks for the next day and give your brain a mental rest.”

1 hour before bed: No more TV or phone. “Reduce electronics as the blue light disrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle.”

10. Slip in a workout

It’s safe to say that exercise can be underestimated and it can be easily forgotten to help with almost everything. Including sleep. Besides the obvious reason that exercise requires extra energy spent in your day and can lead to an easier time falling asleep, it’s important to remember that people who tend to have issues sleeping also struggle with anxiety and depression. Exercise is universally known to relieve some of these symptoms which makes it easier to fall and stay asleep.

Dr. Christopher Kline, Ph.D. who knows almost too much about the correlation between sleep and exercise says “Every single workout might encourage your immune system to better balance out your cytokines, proteins that influence inflammation levels and may also help you sleep. And over time the benefits can add up (4).”

Citations

1. Picard, Caroline. “The Right Way to Clean Your Bedroom So You Can Sleep Better Than Ever.” Good Housekeeping, 14 March 2019, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a26324844/sleep-better-clean-room/.
2. Aspell, Niamh. “Lavender Oil and Sleep: Why it Helps and How to Use it.” Lavender by the Bay, 5 November 2021. Lavender-and-sleep.
3. Sher, Daniel. “A Psychologist’s Guide to Weighted Sleep Masks: Do They Work? And Why?” Parenting Pod. 23 August 2022. https://parentingpod.com/best-weighted-sleep-mask/
4. Kuzma, Cindy. “Exercise might be the natural sleep aid you’re seriously overlooking.” Glamour. 1 April 2024. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/exercise-for-better-sleep#intcid=_glamour-uk-bottom-recirc_e723650d-874d-40c0-92e9-63046c417049_text2vec1