We don’t know about you, but we’ve been avoiding the phrase “the new normal.” “The temporary normal” seems a better reminder that this is not forever. Still, whatever you’re calling it, we’re now well into the global pandemic and we’ve got a long road ahead. Despite our inactive social lives (anyone else Zoom-ed out?) we are not getting enough good sleep—the stress is real. While we can’t fix the stress for you, we can help you improve your sleep another way: hydration.
You already know that dehydration can impact your focus, function, and energy. But did you know that dehydration can also meaningfully affect sleep quality? It can dry out the mouth, throat, and nasal passages, causing discomfort and it can lead to leg cramps that wake you in the night. You also lose fluid while sleeping, particularly if you breathe through your mouth, if it’s warm or dry in your bedroom, or if you had as many glasses of wine with dinner as we did (alcohol is a major pandemic coping mechanism—but also a major diuretic).
How can you fix it? Get a proper daily intake of water (the standard 8 x 8 rule is a good rough estimate—that’s eight glasses of eight ounces). And you don’t want to be playing catch up on your daily water intake at the end of the day, that’ll just lead you to waking up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. So, try to stay hydrated throughout the day with a regular intake of water, maybe set an alarm (it’ll give you a nice reprieve from your work-from-home/parent-from-home/live-from-home routine!) or make a socially-distant “hydrate date” with a friend. You can also check out last week’s blog for other suggestions on how to keep your water intake up throughout the day!
Wishing you restful, good sleep.