How to get past sleep frustrations: N=1 experiment

Dog Sleeping

Trouble with sleeping? No problem, all you have to do is just simply……

….. are you waiting with baited breath for THE answer? …….

….. still waiting? …….

Ahhh, I don’t want to disappoint you, but I don’t have the one and only perfect answer.

There are lots of people and companies on the internet who claim to have THE answer. Google has pages and pages of answers.

But I have a problem with generalized advice, especially on the internet. It’s not that they are necessarily wrong – there are many great suggestions.

My problem is that, well, it’s general.

If one thing worked for everyone, then all anybody would have to do is that one thing.

When you google for tips, you’ll find one blog that says do this thing, and another blog that says don’t do that same thing. Another says just take this magic pill, and yet another says the cure only happens when you change your lifestyle.

Admit it, when you clicked on this post, was part of you really hoping that I could tell you EXACTLY what to do and it would be easy and it would be fixed TONIGHT? I know, me too.

There are so many ideas, what do you possibly do with them all?

Turn yourself into your own health study.

It’s called an “N=1 Experiment.” “N” means the number of people in the study, so in this case, it’s just 1 – YOU.

***Pick an idea. Try it. Decide if it helped. If yes, keep doing that. If no, try it again or try something else.***

Start with what type of sleep issue you have:

In the past 7 nights, how many nights did you sleep well?
Do you fall asleep easily?
Do you stay asleep or fall back easily if you wake during the night?
Do you wake refreshed?

Decide just your next step:

How much change are you willing to make at this time?
Do you want biomedical options or natural remedies?
Do you need to be medically evaluated?
Do you need extra support?

Example 1: Debbie is in her 50s and falls asleep easily but wakes startled in the middle of the night and her husband tells her she snores. So for Debbie, her next step might be to get a sleep evaluation to learn if there are any underlying medical issues that she hasn’t treated yet.

Example 2: Jennifer is 46 and has trouble falling asleep – once she’s asleep, she stays asleep. Her goal is to go as natural as possible and not take any medication. So for Jennifer, she may want to first try a few tips about sleep hygiene and sleep rituals as way to unwind before bed.

Example 3: Jim is about 38 and his sleep is all over the place – sometimes can’t fall asleep, sometimes can’t stay asleep, sometimes sleeps 10 hours. He feels like he has tried “everything” and is frustrated. So for Jim, his next step might be to try acupuncture for the first time and see if that can help him with a little extra support to get a more normal sleep pattern.

Sleep is simply too important. Don’t ignore any sleep issues.

If you want to see how acupuncture might help, contact me for a free 15-minute consultation.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.   See my disclaimer.

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