Waking up at 3:00 a.m., or thereabouts, and not being able to go back to sleep is a painful and common problem that impacts our brain, our energy, and health.

It’s recommended that we sleep 7-9 hours per night, but 1 in 3 adults don’t get enough sleep. More and more, people in organizations I work with are asking for tips to help them sleep.

1 in 3 adults don’t get enough sleep.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Tip: Create a Fictional Character

At a Stress Mastery workshop I attended recently, I had the pleasure of meeting and attending a talk by Dr. Shelley Carson, Harvard University researcher and psychologist. Her talk was about Creativity and Stress Mastery. Research shows how creativity helps reduce stress in medical students, soldiers, people with PTSD. Creativity engages the imagination, helping to override anxiety and increase positive emotions.

And creativity can help us sleep! Dr. Carson offered a wonderful suggestion to use when we can’t sleep at night. This practice helps stop the frenzy of the brain.

It goes like this:

Create a character in your mind — any person of any gender, age, place, time period. As you lie in bed at night, you can develop the character. Start with the person, giving them a history, a personality, a location, a story, perhaps a name.

As time goes on, when you go to bed, you can build out the character and their friends, relatives, work, social circle, etc. As you develop the character, Dr. Carson suggests including one or two flaws. (Of course, she’s keeping it real!) As time goes on, you might even have spinoffs of other characters and stories.

More Sleep Tips (from the CDC)

Find what works for you. Try some more effective approaches:

• Be consistent. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on the weekends
• Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature (on the cooler side, about 63-68 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smart phones from the bedroom.
• Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol a few hours before bedtime.
• Exercise during the day. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.

Moving between expending energy and renewing energy helps us live an active, engaged, healthy life!

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To learn more:

• Workshops and 1:1 Coaching for you and your Organization

• Schedule a free 20-minute Chat with Terre Passero, founder of Mindful Stress Management

• YouTube for guided mindfulness practices and talks about stress, the brain, and the body

• LinkedIn