AD: Why rest and renovating should go hand in hand
AD: This post is in conjunction with TEMPUR but all thoughts are my own.
Like many of you in a similar season of life with young kids, sleep often gets pushed down the pecking order of priorities. We’ve been the parents lying on a cold wooden floor next to the cot, willing our child to sleep in the middle of the night, we’ve been the parent relegated to the tiny toddler bed, whilst they starfish in the king size bed, and of course, we’ve been the parent who wakes up in the morning with a little foot in their face which you daren’t move because otherwise, the game is over, and the day begins well before the seven on the clock has a chance to show it’s lofty, taunting digits.
And despite all this, the renovation/s carries on, and the jobs need to get done and I guess we’re all in the same boat, so we all work into the evenings as that’s the only time available to us. And then, when work stops for me just before midnight, I sink into my bed and watch an episode of something despite the clock screaming numbers at me telling me I should be sleeping, but I just want to feel normal and rested and like I’m doing one thing that day that isn’t about work or childcare or house stuff, and is, in fact, just for me.
And so, going into 2022, I am prioritising rest and good sleep alongside the kids and the renovation and the work commitments. I love having the chance to renovate (and totally appreciate that as things that make one tired go, this is such a privileged thing to be made tired by,) but in order to be be more creative, more efficient, make wiser decisions and not lose steam suddenly halfway through a project, I need more good quality sleep.
Easier said than done though, am I right?!
Yet as we, very thankfully, head into what I hope will be a season of more settled sleep (our youngest is almost two and whilst we still get woken early by all the children, they do, on the whole, sleep through now) it is time to take the sleep we do get seriously and see how we can improve it. It’s not just about going to bed earlier, or reducing screen time before bed, but actually considering what effect our mattress and pillows have on our sleep, and the impact they have on our bodies too.
I’m no stranger to waking up in the morning (normally to one of the kids shouting at me to wipe their bottom if I’m honest,) and struggling out of bed because my body is feeling every wall I sanded the day before, or every paving slab I moved, or every ceiling I rolled with fresh paint. However, thanks to the science behind TEMPUR Material, their mattresses and pillows have a proven pressure relief which reduces the stress on joints, encourages a healthier posture whilst you sleep, helping you wake up without the aches and pains from the day before! Doesn’t that sound dreamy?!
It also absorbs motion from your partner, meaning you are less likely to be disturbed by them going to the toilet for the fourth time that night (he’s an avid tea drinker - what can I say?!) resulting in deeper and more rejuvenating sleep all round.
So whilst I won’t be making strict resolutions about going to bed at 9pm every night, because real life just doesn’t really work like that and this house won’t finish itself, here are a few things I am going to be more intentional about for the new year:
Listening to an audiobook in bed rather than scrolling my phone
Cutting out sugar from 8pm (anyone who knows me well will know this is huge!)
Giving myself more early nights
Giving myself grace to nap when the baby naps
Investing in a memory foam mattress and pillows that are kind to my body and help me wake up feeling fresher
Use a bedside clock rather than my phone for telling the time during the night/morning
So what will you be doing in the new year to get more sleep?
If you’re in the thick of it with young children, feeling stressed, renovating, or have a heavy workload, there may be many factors that are out of your control, but whatever your situation is, I am sure there are some habits that we can change more easily.
Whether it be leaving your phone in another room for the night, drinking more water, drinking less water, investing in a new mattress or setting an alarm to make you go to bed earlier in the evening, anything that makes you feel more rested is surely worth it.
PS:
If you’d like to know more about the NASA approved TEMPUR Material memory foam, (seriously, it was first developed in the late 60s to protect astronauts from G-Force pressure during space flight) and how it can help you find your perfect sleep in 2022, head to this link to see the options available, including the opportunity to test a mattress for 100 days prior to committing. Let me know if you have any questions!