Ep. 93 5 Simple Sleep Hacks To Help You Sleep Better Tonight To Reduce Midlife Stress & Anxiety

Struggling to get a good night's sleep, or is staying asleep becoming an impossible task? What if five simple, science-backed hacks could change that for you tonight?
This episode dives deep into why quality sleep is essential for your health and mental well-being. If you're feeling the effects of sleep deprivation—exhaustion, irritability, and trouble focusing at work or with your family—this episode offers real solutions. You'll learn why sleep is more than just a luxury; it's a necessity, and more importantly, you'll discover actionable strategies to make it a priority.

 In this episode, you'll gain:

1. A better understanding of how modern habits disrupt your natural sleep cycle—and how to fix it.

2. Five cost-free sleep hacks, from dimming lights to adjusting mealtime, that you can implement tonight for better rest.

3. Insight into why sleep is crucial for physical recovery, mental clarity, and emotional balance, plus a simple inner challenge to test tonight.

 Want to wake up feeling refreshed? Hit play now and start transforming your sleep with these easy-to-apply hacks!

If your busy mind is keeping your awake check out Ep.85 5 Easy & Effective Steps to Stop Overthinking, Now! 

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About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Transcript

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M.J. Murray Vachon LCSW 0:00

You can't leave getting a good night's sleep to chance. You need both a mindset and a plan. Welcome to Creating Midlife Calm, a podcast dedicated to empowering midlife minds to overcome anxiety, stop feeling like crap and become more present with your family, all while achieving greater success at work. I'm MJ Murray Vachon, a licensed clinical social worker with over 48, 000 hours of therapy sessions and 31 years of experience teaching mental wellness. Welcome to the podcast. Is getting to sleep or staying asleep so challenging that it feels like a part time job? Has the sleep aid that used to work for you lost its effect? If sleep is a struggle for you, I understand your pain. In today's episode, I'll explain why a good night's sleep is not optional, and why the very first skill we learned as infants, sleep, has become so difficult for many of us as adults. Plus, I'll share five scientifically backed sleep hacks that cost nothing and take almost no time to implement. And as always, I'll end with an inner challenge, something you can do tonight to start getting your sleep back on track. Do you think sleep is optional? I hope not, because sleep is essential for both your physical and mental well being. During sleep, every organ in your body undergoes its own cleaning and repair process, which takes more than just a few hours to complete. Your body uses extended periods of rest to detoxify, regenerate cells, and restore optimal function across its systems. These processes keep you healthy, mentally sharp, and emotionally stable. Sleep is also crucial for brain function. It improves memory, concentration, and emotional regulation. While you sleep, your brain processes information, clears out toxins, and balances neurotransmitters, all of which help reduce stress and anxiety. With consistent, Quality sleep. You'll feel more resilient, think more clearly, and be in a better mood. Sleep isn't a luxury. It's a necessity for protecting your health today and in the future. Perhaps you're part of the 30 percent of people who want to sleep but just can't seem to get it. Maybe you're wondering why this natural process, something our bodies are designed for, isn't working. Keeps alluding you. To truth is our days don't end unless we put an end to them Think about it throughout history people didn't have much to do after sundown, but today netflix automatic downloads, late night work emails, and texts keep your mind alert long after it should be winding down. If you're a parent, especially of infant or teens, their schedules can wreak havoc on yours, causing inconsistent or poor sleep quality. What does all this mean? You can't leave getting a good night's sleep to chance. You need both a mindset, And a plan. The mindset is that sleep is a priority. The plan is creating a bedtime ritual, just like the one you have in the morning. Want some motivation? Sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture under the Geneva Convention. It's illegal. Don't torture yourself. Let me share Dr. Satchin Panda's 5 Sleep Hacks from his book, The Circadian Code, to help you reclaim your sleep. Hack number one, know your numbers. If you're over 25, you need around seven hours of sleep. Some people may need more, but no one really needs less. Also, know how much sleep others in your household need. Children between 1 and 5 years old need 10 to 12 hours of sleep. Kids aged 5 to 12 need 9 to 11. And teens between 12 and 17 need 8 to 10 hours. If you're between 18 and 25, you need 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Let's say you need to wake up at 6 a. m. You think, oh, I think I'll go to bed at 11 p. m. But let me tell you, that's not going to cut it. Because we don't fall asleep the second we hit the pillow. On average, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. And, on top of that, your body needs 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to wind down. That's biology. Stop fighting it. Return to the habits of childhood. End your day with relaxing activities like a warm bath, reading, listening to music, or journaling. Hack number one, know how much sleep you need and add 30 to 45 minutes to your routine to wind down and then 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Hack two, Dim the lights. Your body is wired to respond to the natural light cycles of sunrise and sunset. As the sun sets, your body prepares for sleep by increasing melatonin production. But bright lights, and the blue light emitted from phones, tablets, and TVs, can hijack this process, making it harder for you to fall asleep. To prevent this, Do three simple things. One, turn off overhead lights and use only table lamps after dinner. Two, set your devices to night shift if you have an Apple product or night mode for Samsung. Invest in blue light blocking glasses for screen time at night. Trust me, your sleep is worth the 10 investment. Hack number two, decrease light exposure after dinner. Hack number three, don't eat right before bed. Eating or drinking late at night interferes with falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting deep sleep. Try to eat your last meal 2 4 hours before bed. Also, avoid alcohol close to bedtime. It might help you fall asleep, but it often wakes you in the middle of the night. Think about it logically. Digestion takes energy, so let your body focus on rest instead of processing food. If you feel like snacking before bed, Get curious and ask yourself why. Are you soothing emotions? Are you bored? Or maybe you didn't eat enough at dinner. Whatever it is, try to understand the driver behind late night eating. Hack number three, stop eating at least two hours before bed. Hack number four, cool down your sleeping environment. Your body naturally cools down as it prepares for sleep. Help the process by lowering your room temperature to 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Sleeping in a cooler environment helps blood flow to the skin, cooling your core and improving sleep quality. If you can't control the temperature, a warm shower can mimic this effect. If you wake up, Too hot or too cold, experiment with blankets and sleepwear. Hack number four, sleep in a cool room or take a warm shower before bed. Hack number five, keep devices out of the bedroom. This is the toughest one. No screens in the bedroom. It's only since 2007 with the smartphone era that we've started taking devices to bed. Before that, people read books or flip through magazines to wind down. If you rely on your phone as an alarm, treat yourself to an old fashioned alarm clock. And if you really can't part from your phone, at least leave it in the bathroom or hallway. Hack 5. Keep your devices Out of the bedroom. That's it. Five hacks that cost nothing and take very little effort. In this episode, I've covered why sleep is vital for your wellbeing. What interferes with a good night's sleep and five easy ways to sync up with your body's natural circadian rhythm. Today's Inner Challenge comes straight from my office. Many of my clients have implemented these five sleep hacks, but the one that they tell me has had the most effect is not eating two hours before bed. So here is this week's Inner Challenge. Starting tonight don't eat anything two hours before bed and notice how it affects your sleep. Be curious, not judgmental. And tune in on Thursday when I'll discuss real life obstacles to implementing this hack and solutions for overcoming them. Thanks for listening. And I'll be back on Thursday helping you create more midlife calm.