Reclaiming Your Sleep Routine: Tips for a Post-Holiday Reset

The holidays are often a joyful time for connection, excitement, and a break from the usual responsibilities of daily life. They can also mean late nights with friends and family, sleeping in without an alarm, and cozy days in bed with warm cocoa. While all this rest and celebration is fun (and well-deserved!), the change in routine often comes with a common side effect: disrupted sleep.

After the holidays, you may have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep through the night, or waking up feeling rested. This can leave you feeling irritable, low, or unable to concentrate during the day.

Some of these changes are common in winter anyway. Late sunrises, short days, and long nights affect your natural sleep-wake cycle, also called your circadian rhythm. The unstructured days of the holidays can make this worse. You might spend more time in bed even when you aren't sleeping, or take more naps to make up for late nights, and all of this affects your sleep quality.

Ways to reset your sleep routine

Here are some ways to reset your sleep routine and get back to waking up refreshed.

Go to bed and wake up at about the same time every day

Yes, even on weekends.

An inconsistent sleep schedule disrupts not only your day, but your circadian rhythm too. Your body can get confused about when to release melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep, which disturbs your sleep further and leaves you more tired during the day. A consistent schedule helps your body reset its internal clock, so you wake up feeling more refreshed.

Use your bed only for sleeping

If you work, play, or do other activities in bed, your brain may start to link your bed with being awake instead of sleeping.

In the same way, if you spend a lot of time in bed thinking or worrying before you fall asleep, your body can learn to worry in bed and become more wakeful there.

Using your bed only for sleep, and getting out of it when you aren't sleeping, helps your brain link bed with sleep. Over time, this can help you feel sleepy when you get into bed, instead of checking emails or worrying about tomorrow.

If you can't fall asleep, check in with yourself and do something else

If you can't fall asleep within about 30 minutes, check in with how you're feeling.

Are you anxious and fidgety? Or are you calm, but just not sleepy? Instead of lying in bed longer, which can lead to frustration or anxiety, get out of bed and meet whatever needs you have in the moment.

If you're feeling anxious, try a relaxation technique, like slow, paced breathing, a guided meditation, focusing on what you can physically feel right now, or offering yourself soothing, reassuring words.

If you're feeling calm but not sleepy, leave your bed and do something calming, like reading a boring book, having a very light snack such as a warm glass of milk, or listening to calming music. Try to stay off your phone, computer, and TV, since they can stimulate your brain and wake you up more.

Create a sleep-friendly space

Your environment makes a difference to your sleep.

Try to keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool rather than warm. Steady, soothing white noise can help some people. Keep electronic devices away from your bed, since the blue light from screens can delay the release of melatonin. (And we all know the temptation to check emails when our phone is right beside us!)

Be mindful of your daytime habits

What you do during the day affects how you sleep at night.

Getting sunlight and light to moderate physical activity during the day can help your body feel naturally tired at night. Try to avoid intense exercise late in the evening, though, since it can activate your body and wake you up.

It also helps to cut back on caffeine, like coffee and tea, and keep it to the morning or early afternoon, and to skip daytime naps.

Practise relaxation exercises before bed

Relaxation exercises are simple ways to engage your parasympathetic nervous system, the part responsible for your body's rest and digest state, which can calm you and help you sleep.

There are many techniques out there, but these two can get you started. Try them right before bed, or once you're in bed in a comfortable position:

4-7-8 breathing: Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Breathe out all the air you have through your mouth, like a balloon deflating. Then breathe in through your nose for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 7, and breathe out slowly through your mouth for a count of 8. Repeat this cycle 4 times.

Progressive muscle relaxation: We often hold tension in our muscles without realizing it, when we're worried or anxious, or simply out of habit. Progressive muscle relaxation means tensing and releasing each muscle group on purpose, to help your whole body relax.

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Bring your attention to the first muscle group, usually at the top of your body, like your forehead. With a slow breath in, tense or squeeze those muscles for about 5 to 10 seconds. Then breathe out and release the tension completely. Notice how the relaxed muscles feel for a few moments, then move on to the next group.

Imagine you are travelling down your body from the top: your forehead, face, neck and shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, legs, and feet. Don't tense your muscles to the point of pain. It can help to follow an audio or video guide.

Let go of the pressure to sleep

We've all been there: lying in bed on a sleepless night, watching the clock, and doing the math.

If I want at least 7 hours, I need to fall asleep now. Oh, now I'll only get 6 and a half. Well, if I fall asleep now I'll at least get that much. Oh no, now it's only 6!

This kind of pressure activates your nervous system and makes it harder to fall asleep. Trying to force sleep can also make you more aware that you're not sleeping, just like when someone tells you not to think of a polar bear, and suddenly it's all you can think about.

Instead, take a few deep breaths and try to let go of the pressure to sleep. It's okay that you can't sleep sometimes. Give yourself and your body some grace and acceptance, and you may start to feel lighter and more relaxed.

Find what works for you

There are many other ways to help with sleep and reset your schedule, and some will work better for you than others.

These are just a few ideas to get you started, and we encourage you to explore and try different strategies. If sleep problems last more than a few weeks, or you snore loudly or wake up gasping, it's a good idea to check in with your doctor too.

Good night, and have a restful sleep!

Sleep Therapy in Alberta

If sleep has been hard to reclaim on your own, reaching out for support can help.

Sleep therapy offers a space to understand what's disrupting your rest and build a plan that works for you. A therapist can help you work through the stress underneath and find your way back to restful sleep.

You can feel more rested.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

If you or someone you care about is in crisis or at risk of harm, please get help now. Call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department. You can also call or text 988 any time for suicide and crisis support. For more options, see our crisis support page.

About the Author

Jiwon You is a Registered Psychologist specializing in trauma therapy and self-esteem therapy with adults. She is passionate about helping people heal from trauma and self-criticism so they can feel better and live more fulfilling lives. Jiwon offers services in Korean and English.