Three Strategies to Improve Sleep While During a Divorce

If you are anticipating your first appointment with a New Jersey divorce attorney, if you’ve just been served with divorce papers, or if you are already in the midst of a marriage dissolution case, you likely find yourself experiencing an array of different emotions. The course of your life may feel upended or at least off-balance. You may find yourself having problems sleeping.

The reality is that a decent night’s sleep on a consistent basis is a major element of overall good health. The lack of suitable sleep can impact your life on many levels. These include negatively impacting your physical and emotional health. Improper sleep can also impact your thought process and your decision-making ability, at least to some degree. When you’re heading towards a divorce, or are already in the midst of one, it’s of paramount importance that your decision-making process is as solid or sound as possible.

Understanding the importance of decent sleep and appreciating how appropriate sleep is to your life, you need to consider steps that will aid in improving your sleep during a divorce. There are three strategies of particular importance that need to be considered to improve your sleep:

• Establish a bedtime routine
• Pay attention to your sleep environment
• Talk with others

Medical professionals and others in the healthcare arena underscore establishing a bedtime routine as a general rule in order to improve sleep. Establishing a bedtime routine to enhance sleep quality is particularly important when involved in a stressful endeavor in life – like a divorce case.

A bedtime routine involves steps that include:

• Going to bed as near as possible at the same time every night.
• Establishing a wakeup time that is consistent as well. This includes on weekends and holidays as well.
• Turning off the electronics about an hour before retiring for the night.
• Forgoing eating heavier foods before calling it a night
• Spending at least some time doing something before turning in for the night that you find relaxing (and that doesn’t involve phone, computer, or television screens).

In addition to establishing a consistent bedtime routine, you need to pay attention to your sleep environment. Many people fail to pay attention to creating and maintaining a suitable environment for optimal restful sleep at night.

Authoritative sleep studies have consistently concluded that temperature is an important element of creating the best possible environment for a good night’s sleep. The best night’s sleep is said to occur in a room where the temperature is maintained between 60- and 67-degrees Fahrenheit.

An ideal sleeping room is dark as well. In the overall scheme of things, when it comes to healthy sleep, the darker the room, the better. Blackout curtains can be a helpful addition to a room in this regard.

Finally, an ideal sleeping environment is quiet. Some people contend that a television is useful in helping them fall asleep. The fact is that a turned-on television disrupts sleep in nearly all cases.

A primary reason why many people are not able to sustain healthy sleep during divorce proceedings stems from the stress associated with the process. Developments in a divorce case can cause a person to become stressed during the course of the day, a situation that persists into the night. The mere fact that a divorce case is pending is stressful and can impact sleep patterns.

Having reliable, trustworthy people you can talk to during a divorce case aid in lowering your stress level. These people can include trusted friends and family members. It should also include a capable, trustworthy, and experienced New Jersey divorce attorney. If you have a dedicated, reliable New Jersey divorce attorney you can communicate with, you place yourself in a far better position to sleep better at night.

If you need representation from a skilled, committed, and experienced New Jersey divorce attorney, the legal team at the Law Offices of Peter Van Aulen. You can schedule an appointment with a New Jersey divorce attorney by calling us at (201) 845-7400.