Sleeping alone is nothing more than a necessary evil.
There are few things more comforting in life than surrendering yourself to sleep in the arms of someone who loves you. If you’ve suddenly found yourself alone after being used to sharing your bed, the simple act of falling asleep can become a dreaded affair.
Still, you gotta sleep.
How To Sleep Alone – The Bed
Have you ever walked through the bedding department of your favorite home store, looked left, looked right, ignored the hidden security cameras and fallen with arms spread-eagle, onto the luxuriously inviting coordinated extra fluffy display bed?
Now, think about your bed. How does it compare?
If your mattress is poky, your winter blankets are out-of-the-storage-box musty and your linens are covered in scratchy pill, bed is the last place you want to go to relax.
A change of perspective can be as easy as flipping the mattress and changing the sheets. Maintain this feeling by taking a few moments to make up your bed before you leave your room in the morning. When it’s time for bed, you won’t need an invitation.
How To Sleep Alone – The Timing
While a set “bed time” might evoke thoughts of sticker charts and character clad toothbrushes, it’s not just for kids. The National Sleep Foundation suggests having a regular bedtime and waking time, even on weekends, “strengthens the circadian function and can help with sleep onset at night.”
Once your body is accustomed to a rhythm, it will naturally feel tired at the same time each day. Cell phone or email reminders are a very grown-up way to let you know that bedtime is approaching.
How To Sleep Alone – Getting It Done
The hardest part of going to bed alone is actually getting into bed. Do it. It’s one thing to stay awake in front of a computer in the living room, another to be laying in bed with your head on your fresh, soft pillow. One gives your body cues it should be sleeping, the other reminds you your Farmville creatures are starving.
Once you’re in bed, resist the urge to fiddle with your iPhone. Instead keep a simple notebook within arm’s reach in case you need to release some thoughts for an upcoming article, so that your mind can relax. Instead of counting sheep, think of positive things that happened in the last 12 hours. Smile.
Say goodnight to the mush (aff), and then lay still and relax each part of you starting at your feet.
Tomorrow is a new day.
About the author: Sarah said she’d follow her husband Tom to the ends of the earth. He called her bluff, and they moved from their house in Pennsylvania to live by the sea in northern Japan. They homeschool their five progeny, all born after 2001. She loves people, writes for fun and thinks about God constantly. You can find her blog at http://sarahjoyalbrecht.com or follow her @mrsalbrecht on Twitter.
What a fantastic post! Brilliant advice.
I used to (in my single-again days) plan the next day so that I had something to get up for. Being excited about the following morning made it easier to want to go to sleep, as opposed to dragging out the day.
Great post sarah! You know, I think i’m the guy in front of the computer at night hahah but instead of farmville, its photoshop for me!
While I’m only 19, I hope I dont sleep alone forever.
Love this post. Wish I could have read it many years ago when my marriage ended. Now I may need advice how to sleep with someone else as I have been alone so long.
A smart post. Have to say though, my difficulty is with adapting to having someone else in my bed. I can’t stand it. Sex, great – but spooning or stray legs. No. Thank. You.
Check out my disastrous dating blog.
Jimmy,
To compromise on spooning, which always seems to lead to round two or four, which isn’t always cool when there’s work the next day, my crazy bedfellow and I find a less invasive position – perhaps a hand on a thigh or holding pinky-fingers, but that’s it.
Bodies warm up while sleeping. By minimizing touch, the physical temperature under the sheets is kept in a bearable range, and there’s no stupid blanket war over being too hot or too cold.
You might consider getting a bigger bed if proximity freaks you out. Just sayin’.
Good luck with with Emma, btw. Can’t wait to find out what happened, so I added you on Twitter
Much love,
SJA