5 Essential Items You Need For a Good Night’s Sleep

by Jacqueline Sinfield, the ADHD Coach for Adults

If you are struggling with your sleep, you aren’t alone! 75% of adults with ADHD experience problems sleeping. The good news is, no matter how bad your sleep experience is at the moment, we can improve it. When the quality of your sleep is upgraded, your ADHD symptoms will improve too! For example: your focus, concentration and memory will increase; you will also get out of ‘survival mode’ and rather than trying make it through the day, you will feel happier and enjoy your life.

Here are 5 essential items that will help you sleep.

Blue Light Blocking GlassesMelatonin is the sleep hormone. When it’s released, we start to feel sleepy. Studies have found the release of melatonin is delayed adults with ADHD, compared to the rest of the population. This is why people with ADHD could easily live a semi-nocturnal life; which means we have to take extra steps to support our bodies.

Blue light suppresses melatonin. This is good in the morning when we want to wake up. However, it’s not so good at nighttime when our goal is to go to sleep. Blue light comes from the sun or man-made products like TV and computer screens. To work with blue light, it’s great to go for a walk in the morning sunlight and in the evening as it’s good to avoid screen time 2 hours before bedtime. Avoid screens! I know that idea is usually met with groans. This is why blue light blocking glasses are a must.

Their orange lenses block blue light reaching your eyes. This means your melatonin production isn’t affected. A quick Google search for ‘blue light blocking glasses’ brings up pages of suppliers; so you can find them in the country you live in. If you wear prescription glasses, you can get lenses that fit over your glasses.

Black out curtainsSunshine is a wonderful thing during the day! Though because of the blue light in the sun’s rays, the morning light can wake you up much earlier than you need to. An easy answer to this, is to invest in some blackout curtains or blinds. Blackout curtains block out all light, even at the seams. They are available at many stores, including Walmart.

One client would routinely wake up at 5 a.m. Yet, from the very first night that she slept with blackout curtains, she was able to sleep through to 7 a.m.

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Hypnosis DownloadHypnosis is powerful tool. It taps into our subconscious and allows us to change behaviour that we weren’t able to change using willpower and mental determination. There is a company called Hypnosisdownloads.com which both myself and many of my clients have used and experienced great success. They have a product called Insomnia Beater, which targets common sleep problems such as ‘fall asleep fast’ and ‘go back to sleep’ .You can listen to them on an Mp3 player as you are lying in bed and will almost certainly drift off to sleep as you are listening. Here is the link.

JournalWorrying is a big reason why adults with ADHD can’t go to fall asleep and why they wake up in the middle of the night. Your creative, busy ADHD brain goes on overdrive when the rest of the world becomes quiet. There is a very simple solution to this. Buy a journal and keep it by your bedside. Before you fall asleep at night, list all your worries. You don’t have to have answers to your worries, just identify what they are. Getting them out of your head is a powerful way to calm your thoughts and allow you to drift of the sleep.

Alarm clockMany people have a disturbed night’s sleep and then around 4 a.m., fall asleep really deeply. Normal methods of waking up don’t seem to work, so they miss appointments, job interviews and flights. When you start to use the first 4 essential items, you will notice your sleep improves and it is easier to wake up. In the meantime, you need an uber alarm clock! Here are 3 great options:

Clocky - Clocky is an alarm clock on wheels and makes snoozing a thing of the past. If you don’t get up when the alarm goes off, Clocky jumps off your nightstand and hides, all the while making a sound like, (and I quote) “a deranged R2D2 hitting a bell”.

Sonic Bomb - The Sonic Bomb Clock is the answer for everyone who sleeps through their alarm clock. It has an adjustable alarm that you can set to go off, so it’s louder than a jackhammer. It also comes with a bed shaker! You pop a harmless looking device under your mattress and when it’s time to wake, the alarm sounds and your whole bed shakes until you are wide awake and UP!

A Full Spectrum Light Alarm Clock - A Full Spectrum Light Alarm Clock has a light that gets brighter and brighter rather like the sun rising, so that you wake up gradually. This is particularly good for people who are grumpy when they are woken up abruptly. There are many on the market, with all different features to choose from.

A quick Google search will help you find where these alarm clocks are sold near you.

That is the end of the ADHD Slumberland Supply List!

If you need further help and support with your sleep, check out: ‘How to Sleep Very Well When You Have ADHD’. It’s a coaching course that helps you understand your sleep challenges AND most importantly, how to fix them.

If you have any questions, email me at: Jacqueline@untappedbrilliance.com

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