CleveMed Blogs

As promised in my earlier post “Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep” here is a guide to making your own sleep log. We discussed that if you can’t seem to get quality sleep despite efforts and suspect that you might suffer from a sleep disorder, it’s a great idea to create a sleep journal. This is a great source of information for you and for any medical professional you talk to about you sleeping problems. Some physicians suggest recording your sleep information for a week while others recommend recording for two weeks.

Make a chart (as shown below) where you record the following for a week or two:

• Day/Date
• Time in Bed: The final time of day you got into bed to go to sleep.
• Time out of Bed: The time of day that you got out of bed for the last time in the morning.
• Time Asleep: The estimated time of day you feel asleep for the first time.
• Awake Time: The estimated time of day you awoke for the last time in the morning.
• Anything Unusual (bathroom at night or trouble sleeping etc.)
• How many caffeinated beverages did you have that day?
• When was your last meal before bed?

Also note your height, weight and any medications you are on. I have attached a sample sleep journal below.

Also, thanks to everyone who participated in the comments and discussion regarding Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep!

Sample of Sleep Log or Sleep Journal

If you don’t want to miss a minute of life to groggy-tiredness, you need a full night’s sleep. Moreover, there are personal habits you can cultivate to help you sleep more effectively. I hope that these tips help you get some much needed, quality rest!

Sleeping Environment

• Use comfortable bedding.
• Keep a livable and constant temperature (75°F to 54°F) while you sleep.
• Keep pets outside the bedroom.
• Keep the bedroom quiet and block out noise.
• Reserve your bed for sleeping. Avoid staying in bed if you’re not sleeping within 15-20 minutes.
• If you can’t fall asleep get up and go to another room and do something relaxing such as reading.

Before Bed Time

• Take only a light snack such as warm milk. Heavy meals can cause your body to work to digest food and interrupt your sleep.
• Practice relaxation techniques before bedtime so you don’t take your worries to bed.
• Develop a pre-sleep ritual.
• Set a consistent time everyday to go to bed and to wake up. It takes your body time to adjust to changes in your sleep pattern; a good example of this is jet lag.

Personal Habits

• Avoid eating 2 hours before bedtime.
• Exercise during the day up to 2 hours before bed.
• Avoid naps during the day.
• Avoid caffeine 6 hours before bed.
• Alcohol is a depressant and may help you fall asleep but keeps your body awake processing it. Avoid alcohol 6 hours before bed.
• Nicotine is a stimulant and should be avoided particularly near bedtime and upon waking up at night.
• Bright lights and TV keep you awake and have a negative affect on sleep.
• Clear you mind before bed time, stop working on tasks 2 hours before bed.
• If you can’t seem to get quality sleep despite efforts and suspect that you might suffer from a sleep disorder, it’s a great idea to create a sleep journal. Try and keep track of your time in bed, time asleep, time awake, time out of bed and personal habits for each day. This is a great source of information for you and for any medical professional you talk to about you sleeping problems (I will work on posting an example of this in the future).

There are dozens of other tips to a good night’s sleep and some of these are not the same for everyone. If you have more advice to add to this list, feel free to comment on this post and we’ll continue the discussion!