Struggling to get a good night's sleep? We've all been there, and when you're struggling with insomnia, you'll try anything in the bid to get some decent shut-eye. And the good thing is there's no shortage of expert-approved sleep hacks to try: there's the 4-7-8 technique, the military sleep method, cognitive reshuffling – and now, a US doctor on Instagram has gone viral for sharing a lifestyle trick that could help us sleep more soundly.
Dr. Jess Andrade recently caught the attention of thousands of people after her Instagram reel explaining "sleep hygiene basics" took off online. In the video, Dr. Andrade introduces the "10-3-2-1-0 Method", a step-by-step guide on how to prepare yourself for a night of optimal sleep throughout the day.
She begins by giving us news that some of us coffee lovers may not take too well: you shouldn't have any caffeinated drinks ten hours before you plan on going to bed. "Caffeinated drinks will clear from the blood stream in around 10 hours and eliminate the stimulatory effects," she wrote in the caption, explaining the first step.
She then went onto the second point of the method, telling us that "finishing eating big meals or alcohol three hours before can help reduce symptoms of reflux and alcohol impairs your natural sleep cycle reducing good quality sleep" - a fact you've probably heard but chosen to ignore a few times before.
Around two hours before hitting the hay, Dr. Andrade suggested relaxing the brain by stopping any tasks or work-related things and saving it for the next day to give yourself a mental rest. Finally, she said that reducing your use of electronics and screen time an hour before bed is essential to getting good quality sleep as the blue light disrupts the body’s natural sleep cycle.
The "0" then stands for the amount of times you'll need to hit the snooze button in the morning as you'll be well rested and ready to conquer the day.
So the 10-3-2-1 method is as follows:
- 10 hours before bed: No more caffeine.
- 3 hours before bed: No more food or alcohol.
- 2 hours before bed: No more work.
- 1 hour before bed: No more screen time (shut off all phones, TVs and computers).
- 0: The number of times you'll need to hit snooze in the AM.
As Dr. Andrade states in her post, this is purely a tip and may not be suitable for everyone - especially if you have specific health conditions. It may also not work for everyone but it's certainly worth a try if you don't get enough slumber.
This originally appeared on Glamour UK.
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