Here is a list of each lesson in the 7 Weeks to Better Sleep Course. 

Click on any of the weeks to open up the lesson:

Week 1: The 8 Best Ways to Block Out Light for Better Sleep

Week 2: The 5 Best Ways to Block Out Noise for Better Sleep

Week 4: The 4 Best Supplements for Sleeping Better on Night Shift

Week 5: The Best Bed and Bedding in Australia to Improve Your Sleep

Week 6: The 3 Best Ways to Use Aromatherapy for Better Sleep

Week 7: The 8 Best Tips for Preparing for the Best Possible Sleep

We hope it helps you sleep better!

Welcome to the final week of the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep program. 

If you have been following along you should now have everything you need to get the best possible sleep.

But none of that is going to help if you don't prepare correctly for the best possible sleep.

Here are the 8 best tips on how to prepare for the best possible sleep:

Caffeine

Look out for caffeine.

Caffeine is great for staying awake during your shift, but make sure you don’t accidentally (or deliberately) have any too close to your bed time, otherwise it can definitely leave you lying in bed unable to sleep.

If you think you’re going to get tired near the end of you shift, then preempt this and have your caffeine earlier in the shift. It will take a bit to kick in anyway.

Caffeine lasts around 4-6 hours, so I wouldn’t have any within that timeframe of your shift finishing.

Also, make sure to check the labels of your food and drink for hidden caffeine.

Common things that can be hiding caffeine include weight loss pills, tea, some painkillers, chocolates and fizzy drinks.

Try Relaxing Workout Alternatives

You may not want to work out right before you go to sleep as physical exercise will get your blood flowing and stimulate your mind.

If you do want to workout before bed, you can try doing some relaxing exercise like yoga or tai chi instead.

Avoid Social Media

Avoid talking about or thinking about stressful things that may keep you up before bed.

Put them aside until you wake up or have finished your round of nights.

It might be a good idea to avoid social media before bed too for this reason.

Arguing with someone in the Youtube comments isn’t a good way to relax.

Journal

If you have had a bad shift or have things are on your mind that are keeping you awake, take out a pen and paper and write them all down.

Try to write every single thought, idea or thing down that is keeping you awake.

This may not work every time, or for everything, but quite often it will make your problems seem a lot smaller when you see them all written out.

It will also allow you to forget things as you know they are written down.

This may sound silly but if you have something on your mind that is keeping you up, give it a try.

Try Meditation

If you have written everything down and still can’t sleep, try meditation, having a relaxing bath, reading a relaxing book or listening to relaxing music.

You can also try counting your breathes until you fall asleep.

Avoid Alcohol

Try to avoid alcohol before bed.

It may work at getting you to sleep, however once its affects wear off you will likely find yourself waking up or having a much more restless sleep.

Instead of alcohol, try a drink to help induce sleep.

Our sleep tea is one you can try.

Eat a Healthy Meal

Food is another one to consider.

I try to eat a good protein and fat rich meal before bed and avoid simple carbs.

I know it’s the morning after night shift, but try to pretend you are eating dinner.

I do not suggest skipping this no matter how tired you are, as you are just going to wake up hungry and not be able to get back to sleep even if you eat.

If you really can’t be bothered after your shift, even a banana might be enough.

Drink Water During Your Shift

There is nothing worse than waking up needing to use the toilet when you are on night shift.

Try to avoid this happening by not drinking too much before bed.

If you drink enough throughout your shift, then you shouldn't be thirsty before bed. 

If you don't stop to drink enough water while at work, you may get home really thirsty, drink a lot of water, and then wake up a few hours later with a full bladder. 

Conclusion

These tips may seems simple, and obvious, but sometimes that's all it takes. 

What you do before bed can either set you up for a really good sleep, or almost guarantee you have a terrible one. 

Summary

1. Watch your caffeine intake

2. Try relaxing workout alternatives

3. Avoid social media and stressful thoughts

4. Journal

5. Meditate

6. Avoid alcohol

7. Eat healthy

8. Drink enough water throughout the day, not before sleep

Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep series.

This week we are talking about the best beds and bedding to help you get the best possible sleep. 

Mattress

Mattress companies will tell you in their marketing that you spend about a third of your life in bed so you should invest in a good mattress, and they’re actually right.

Choosing the right mattress can make a huge difference to your sleep quality.

I personally use a Sleeping Duck mattress and recommend them to everyone I know. 

I don't get anything for saying that but you can check them out next time you are in the market for a mattress:

Sleeping Duck

I highly doubt anyone is going to impulse buy a new mattress after reading this so let's move on. 

Pillows

Good pillows are far cheaper than mattresses - and unless your mattress is terrible, I think a good pillow could give you an equal improvement in the quality of your sleep.

Just shop around and find a good one that suits you. Pillow Talk is a good shop to go to as they let you try them in store.

$100-200 for a good pillow might sound like a lot, but I think it's well worth it for the improved comfort.

If you are a side sleeper like me, I recommend our Side Sleeper Pillow.

Most pillows are okay for sleeping on your side and okay for sleeping on your back.

Our pillow is great for sleeping on your side and terrible for sleeping on your back. 

I sleep with mine every night and find it far more comfortable for sleeping on my side than other pillows. I find it terrible for sleeping on my back, but that's the trade-off.

Sheets

Good sheets can really improve your sleep experience. 

I recommend linen sheets for winter, and silk in summer. 

We had our silk mask factory make silk sheets for us and they are amazing, the most luxury sleep experience you could imagine. 

If you would like us to get them to custom make silk sheets for your bed, just send us an email and we will organise it for you. (Keep in mind real silk is incredibly expensive, it's around $1000+ for a set).

If you are looking for linen sheets I recommend the Australian company Bed Threads.

You can check them out here.

I don't get anything for recommending them but one of their co-founders said she loves our eye mask so they will forever be my favourite sheet company. 

Pillowcase

If you want warm linen sheets in winter, but don't want scratchy fabric on your face while you sleep.

If you don't want to spend $1000+ on a full set of silk sheets but you want to feel nice cool, smooth silk on your face and hair while you sleep.

Then a silk pillowcase is probably the second best value for money upgrade you can get for your sleep experience. (The best being a good pillow)..

Our silk pillowcases are 100% Mulberry silk - Genuine silk, not "vegan silk" ie cheap satin.

Blankets

I’m sure you all have a blanket.

What’s more important in Australia is being too hot to sleep.

I’m sure you all know that it’s harder to sleep without aircon but here’s the science, the optimal sleeping temperature is 18degC.

You heard it here first. It’s easier to sleep in Australia with the aircon on.

Ok, so my tips are getting to the point where the only people who would benefit from them are those who have never slept in their life so I think I’ll end this here.

Conclusion 

Spending a little extra in key areas of your bed and bedding can make a huge difference.

Spending $1000s to upgrade your mattress and spending $1000+ more on silk bedding may not be realistic.

However spending $100-200 on a silk pillowcase and a good pillow can be really good value when it comes to improving your sleep experience.

Summary

1. Get a new mattress - I like Sleeping Duck

2. Get new sheets - linen in winter, silk in summer (email us if you want us to make you a custom silk sheet set)

3. Get a new pillow - If you sleep on your side I recommend our Side Sleeper Pillow

4. Get a silk pillowcase (much cheaper than a full set of sheets and you get most of the benefits)

5. The optimal sleeping temperature is 18deg -Turn the air conditioner on? Get a blanket?

Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep series.

In previous weeks we have covered the most effective ways to improve sleep.

However... they are also the most boring things you can do to help you sleep better.

So this week, we thought we would do the total opposite.

This week is all about a topic that may not even be effective at helping you sleep better.

I'm certainly not going to try and find studies about this topic and convince you it's effective.

But that's not the point. 

This week is more about making your sleep experience nicer, better, more enjoyable.

The fun stuff.

If you want to have the best possible sleep, wouldn't making it the most pleasant and enjoyable environment be apart of that?

So let's begin today's topic:

Aromatherapy

What is aromatherapy?

The idea is that certain scents can help you with certain things.

For example, some scents can be very relaxing, pleasant and help you to sleep better.

There are a number of scents that claim to help with this. 

Here is a quick summary of a few of them.

Our sleep spray actually already contains all four of the essential oils mentioned above, as well as Frankincense to make it smell even better. 

The essential oils used to create the unique scent of our pillow spray not only smell amazing, they were chosen and blended specifically to calm and relax you to sleep after a long and stressful shift.

They are made by an aromatherapist in Melbourne. We chose her to make it because she was truly passionate about creating the best calming sleep spray blend for us, and it showed when compared to the others we tried.

She didn't dilute lavender in water and call it a spray, nor did she blend just a couple of fragrances. She carefully chose 4 high quality essential oils, all known to be calming, relaxing and sleep inducing.

She then perfected the ratios creating the most pleasant blend we think you will ever smell.

She now creates all of our sprays for us right here in Australia, never compromising in quality.

If you want to experience it for yourself, you can get yours here: 

Conclusion

There isn't really much more to say about aromatherapy, if you want to try it, you can order some essential oils and a humidifier or something similar, or you can order our sleep spray which already has a beautiful blend of sleep essential oils and spray it on your pillow before you sleep.

Bonus Tip - Tea

Since this week is all about aromas, relaxing herbs, and creating a beautiful sleep experience, we thought it would also be right to mention tea. 

There is nothing better than relaxing before bed with a hot cup of sleep tea.

Studies have shown that certain herbs can aid with things like insomnia, anxiety and trouble sleeping.

Chamomile and Lavender, which are also mentioned above are not only great essential oils to help with sleep, they are great in tea as well.

There are also other herbs which are used in tea to help with sleep, here is a couple of them:

View Sleep Tea →

Summary

1. Try our Essential Oil Humidifier

2. Try our Sleep Spray

3. Try our Sleep Tea

Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep program.

It is now week four, this week we will cover the 4 best supplements for sleeping better on night shift.

You have possibly noticed by our product offering and the tips I’ve given so far that I much prefer naturally sleeping better rather than using sleeping pills, however there are of course some supplements known to help with sleep.

Make sure you check the laws in your country and state before buying each of these supplements. Make sure you seek medical advice and check the proper doses, side effects and allergies and what you shouldn’t take them in conjunction with before taking them. This is not medical advice, do not listen to me, make your own decisions.

Alright let's start with the main one:

Melatonin 

I think we have talked enough about melatonin for you to know where this is going.

Here is a quick excerpt from webmd.com:

“Melatonin's main job in the body is to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles.

Darkness causes the body to produce more melatonin, which signals the body to prepare for sleep.

Light decreases melatonin production and signals the body to prepare for being awake. 

Some people who have trouble sleeping have low levels of melatonin. It is thought that adding melatonin from supplements might help them sleep.

Some people take melatonin by mouth to adjust the body's internal clock.

It is used for jet lag, for adjusting sleep-wake cycles in people whose daily work schedule changes (shift-work disorder),and for helping blind people establish a day and night cycle.”

I take this myself when I can't sleep and find it effective. Much better than sleeping pills as you don't wake up drowsy. 

I have heard you can build up a tolerance so I wouldn't use it all the time.

But if you just use it for night shift I'm sure that would be all good.

At the time of writing this you can order it for under AU$10 a bottle on iHerb, here is a link:

Bonus tip

Now as a bonus tip and thought on this subject, I have a bit of a theory which is not scientific at all and I do not want this to be considered advice or facts but bear with me anyway.

So, we already talked about how supplementing melatonin can help induce sleep as melatonin is the sleep hormone.

And we also already talked about how when it is light the body converts melatonin to serotonin which wakes you up making it hard to sleep during the day.

So, here goes my unscientific conclusion and tip. Hopefully you can already see where I am going with this and I’m not crazy.

When you wake up for nightshift and it is dark, I would draw the conclusion that your body does not convert enough melatonin to serotonin, leaving you a little deficient.

Now, if you don’t already know, serotonin is known to be the feel good chemical in our brain. 

This possibly explains how we always feel worse and more tired on night shift than on day shift, even with the same amount of sleep.

So what can we do about it? We can’t supplement serotonin as I don’t think it exists.

However, there are 3 supplements you can use to increase your serotonin levels instead.

I’ve put them in order of what seem most effective to least effective.

L-Tryptophan

From Wikipedia:

“Tryptophan is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is essential in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it: it must be obtained from the diet. Tryptophan is also a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin, the hormone melatonin and vitamin B3.

Because tryptophan is converted into 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) which is then converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin, it has been proposed that consumption of tryptophan or 5-HTP may improve depression symptoms by increasing the level of serotonin in the brain.

There is evidence that blood tryptophan levels are unlikely to be altered by changing the diet, but consuming purified tryptophan increases the serotonin level in the brain, whereas eating foods containing tryptophan does not.”

You can order L-Tryptophan Here:

5-HTP

Mentioned in the Tryptophan paragraph above but here’s some more from Wikipedia:

“5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), also known as oxitriptan, is a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor as well asa metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin.”

You can order 5-HTP here:

L-Theanine

L-theanine is an amino acid that enhances your bodys production of GABA, serotonin and dopamine. Here is a copy paste explanation from Wikipedia:

“Large studies in humans have not been undertaken; however, several smaller-scale studies (fewer than 100 participants) have shown increased alpha wave generation and lowered anxiety, along with benefits to sleep quality in people with ADHD.

The combination of theanine and caffeine has been shown to promote faster simple reaction time, faster numeric working memory reaction time and improved sentence verification accuracy. Due to this, the combination has become popular over recent years as a nootropic supplement typically found in the form of a pill, drink, or gum.

Theanine has been reported to raise levels of brain serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, with possible improvement in specific memory and learning tasks.”

You can order L-Theanine here:

Where to Order From?

You should be able to buy these supplements at most health stores or online.

The website I order mine from is iHerb.

I order from them because they have probably the biggest selection of supplements in the world and are very cheap.

They are international but orders arrive very quickly to Australia.

Here’s a little sales pitch from their website:

“Browse our site and you'll find over 1,200 brands and 30,000 brand name products that you may also find at health food stores and natural pharmacies -- with one important difference: Our prices are typically 30 - 50% less!”

You can use any of the links on this page to get a further 5% off. I will also get 5% credit towards my next order:

Link to all 4

If you want to purchase more than one supplement, to make it easier I have created a link to a cart that contains each of the products listed below, just remove the ones you don’t want and checkout.

There are 100’s of brands and sizes and doses of each supplement to choose from so feel free to browse the store if you aren’t happy with the ones I recommended.

The ones I chose are the best value (dose x quantity/price) I could find at the time of writing this.

Conclusion

In conclusion melatonin supplements are well documented in helping you sleep better and have worked for me. Just don't take them too regularly, save it for night shift. 

There are also other supplements which assist with serotonin production, which I think could be really good for helping you feel better while on a night shift.

Summary

1. Melatonin

2. L-Tryptophan

3. 5-HTP

4. L-Theanine

5. Try all 4