Waking up better in the morning, being more productive, using the day more effectively and going to bed relaxed – many people believe that certain routines get them through the day better. What is the truth behind this belief? How can a meditation app like sonamedic help you? And how do you design your routine so that it suits you? Let’s take a look at your ideal start and end of the day together.
Music to fall asleep to and screen lock – your evening routine
Sufficient sleep is important for health, because lack of sleep promotes diseases such as type II diabetes, obesity or depression in the long term. Attention and performance also decline rapidly due to too little sleep. [1]
It is no longer a secret that lack of sleep is not good for us – and yet we often find it difficult to develop healthy sleep hygiene. According to a study, the reasons for poor or insufficient sleep are usually not in the bedroom itself, but before it: our evening habits make it difficult for us to get to bed on time.
Sleep killer screen
According to a study, one of the main reasons for poor and too little sleep is the time spent in front of the TV in the evening. Of the respondents who said they regularly slept poorly, 72 % stayed up late at night watching TV. In addition, about 50 % of the participants said they got less sleep by watching TV for a long time or falling asleep in front of it. The sleep killer TV is closely followed by other screen media: two-thirds of the respondents under 40 said they surfed the internet or played computer games for a long time in the evening. [2]
It’s worth taking a closer look at your habits. If you quickly forget the time when you’re at your computer screen, set an alarm to remind you to start your evening routine now and get in the mood for sleep.
Mindful evening
Consciously take time to brush your teeth and go to bed. The calmer and more relaxed you are when you enter your bedroom, the better you will feel when you fall asleep. If you like to read in bed, there’s nothing wrong with a relaxing read. However, you should make sure to turn off the light on time and give your body enough sleep.
Relaxation music to fall asleep to
Before falling asleep, a guided sonamedic meditation can help you relax. Afterwards, you can easily switch to the speakerless version and set your sleep timer – and you’ll enter the realm of dreams with pleasant music and soothing binaural beats. To prepare yourself optimally for the night, you can find suitable sessions for targeted sleep promotion in our meditation app.
Why music to fall asleep to? It’s simple: falling asleep properly does not necessarily mean completely shutting yourself off from all stimuli. Sleep can also be induced by the excitation of brain regions. The right background noise or music can therefore help you fall asleep. [3]
Tips for waking up – your morning routine
Wake up fresh in the morning and start the day relaxed with a smile? Honestly, for most people that’s wishful thinking. We’d rather snuggle up and hope that the day will start without us. Before we know it, another half hour has passed – and then we have to rush instead of taking it easy.
The Snooze Myth
It almost feels good to “punch” the alarm clock in the morning and stay in bed for a few more minutes. For a short moment, you almost feel like you’re beating the morning. But it doesn’t make getting up any easier. Using the snooze function to the hilt won’t help you get out of bed with more energy. So don’t do it and get up straight away. This way you gain the time you would otherwise spend groggily hanging around in bed – and suddenly the afterwards is much more relaxed.
Morning meditation
A few minutes of concentration can help you get in the right mood for the day. For example, do a short breathing meditation or use our sonamedic meditation app for a mindful start to the day. The mindfulness minutes to start the week, which you can find on our YouTube channel, can also be a good starting point. Air out the room, get comfortable and breathe yourself into your start of the day!
What’s good for you is allowed
To find out in which direction you should change your morning routine, first observe yourself closely. Many people already have an established routine – even though it may consist of quickly feeding the children breakfast and sprinting to the bus together. Once you know your unconscious routine, you can think about how to improve it for yourself. It helps to ask yourself if you need more rest in the morning or if you want an energetic start to the day. It is best to prepare the routine in the evening, for example by setting the table for breakfast. That way, you can start the new habit the next day without thinking too much about it. [4]
Sources
[1] Lossau, Norbert: Wie das Gehirn auf Schlafentzug reagiert. Welt.de. Letzter Zugriff: 11.01.2021. https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/article163385045/Wie-das-Gehirn-auf-Schlafentzug-reagiert.html
[2] Schlaf gut, Deutschland. TK-Schlafstudie 2017. Letzter Zugriff: 11.01.2021. https://www.tk.de/resource/blob/2033604/118707bfcdd95b0b1ccdaf06b30226ea/schlaf-gut-deutschland-data.pdf
[3] Reis, Veronika: Musik und Schlaf, 2013, Seite 7. http://othes.univie.ac.at/25628/
[4] Morgenroutine: Ein Plan für den perfekten Start in den Tag. Mobile-e. Das e-Magazin der BKK Mobil Oil, 02/2019. Letzter Zugriff: 11.01.2021. https://www.bkk-mobil-oil.de/magazin/02-2019/morgenroutine.html
