Getting a good night's rest is imperative for having a productive and energized day. However, our nighttime habits effect our ability to go to sleep. If you struggle with self-control at night, and ridding yourself of bad sleep habits, there may be a fix for you. The 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule is a way to help you manage your nights so you can get a good night's sleep. Continue reading to see what this rule is and if it works for you. 

What is the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule? 

The 10-3-2-1-0 rule is a set of steps you can take to end bad nights and sleepy mornings. A good night's rest is essential for having a good day. However, if you are constantly tired in the mornings, then there must be something you're doing at night that is preventing you from receiving the quality amount of sleep that you need for the minimum number of recommended hours.

This rule promises to help you improve your quality of sleep, which will have a profoundly positive impact on your day. In addition to following this rule, it's important to ensure that your environment is conducive for getting a good night's rest. This means a good bed, great sheets/comforter, and a quiet, cool, and dark room. 

Once you have those things, then you can begin working on implementing this rule that includes: 

• 10 hours before bed, no caffeine 
• 3 hours before bed, no alcohol 
• 2 hours before bed, no working 
• 1 hour before bed, turn off screens 
• 0 - no snoozing your alarms. 

Preparing to use the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep rule 

The first thing you need to do before using this rule is determining your sleep and wake time. You can't set these limits without knowing the time that you're going to bed. This time needs to be the same everyday, including the weekends. Changing up your sleep habits on the weekend only messes up your sleep for the long run.  

If you find it difficult to know the best time to go to bed, work backwards. What time do you have to wake up? Then, subtract 7-9 hours, which is the recommended number of hours of sleep for adults. 

Whatever time that is, that is your bedtime. That means everything you do for the day and evening should help you get into bed at that time each night. Being consistent with this time will help train your brain to be ready to go to sleep around those times. 

10 hours before bed: No caffeine 

If you are an avid coffee drinker, you may not know that afternoon caffeine intake is still messing with your sleep. Caffeine can take up to 6 hours before it is metabolized in the body. It's a stimulating chemical that is designed to keep you awake. It also works to increase cortisol levels, which is the stress hormone in your body. This is great for those tired mornings, but is awful when you're trying to go to sleep. 

To ensure that caffeine does not impact your sleep, it's vital that you stop drinking it early enough for it to clear out of your system. That's why 10 hours is a safe bet for it to have minimal impact on your ability to go to sleep. 

If you like afternoon coffee, then make it decaf. 

3 hours before bed: No alcohol 

This tip may seem counterintuitive because alcohol is a sedative that makes you feel sleepy. You may even feel like you have the deepest sleep after you've had a glass of wine or drank. However, alcohol actually interrupts your sleep architecture, and you don't experience REM sleep. 

REM, or rapid eye movement, is the stage where dreaming happens. It's vital for memory and waking up feeling refreshed. That's why after a night of drinking, even if you slept for 11 hours, you still feel groggy. Alcohol is also a diuretic, which means it could increase your bathroom trips throughout the night. 

In order to avoid, try not to consume alcohol later than 3 hours before your scheduled bedtime. 

2 hours before bed: No working 

Late night working, all the way up until you're ready to fall asleep, may feel required. Especially when you're up against a deadline. However, it actually negatively effects your sleep, particularly if you work in your room. 

Your brain needs time to wind down from the mental circus of you working. If your brain feels overwhelmed, or stressed over a task, then it will have a harder time relaxing. Rumination is one of the leading causes of sleepless nights. That's when your mind just keeps churning like a hamster wheel. Taking two hours between work and sleep gives your mind enough time to organize how you're going to combat work stress the next day, and remove those thoughts from your mind for a peaceful night of sleep. 

It's also essential that you do not work in your bedroom. Your bedroom should be for sleep and sex only. When you introduce stressful activities, such as working, into your bedroom environment, your body will associate that area with the stress of working. This is the opposite of what you want to do when you're getting ready to go sleep. Find a designated area for working, and don't bring any work-related material or conversation into the bed. 

1 hour before bed: No screens 

Cell phone screens, tablets, TVs, and laptops all emit blue light. Blue light is on the spectrum of visible lights, and has one of the most stimulating wave lengths. Its intensity is greatest from cell phones because of how much light is concentrated on such a small screen. 

Blue light interrupts melatonin production, which is a hormone that promotes sleep. The longer you are exposed to blue light, the more delayed melatonin release is. In order to avoid this, put away all screens one hour before bed. You can even create a "Tech Tuckaway", which is a great DIY project that charges your electronics, keeps them in the bedroom, but gets them out of your face. 

Screens can also lead you to scrolling past your bedtime, and leaving your with less sleep than is recommended. So, set a timer on your devices, so you know to put them away at an appropriate time.  

0 hours: No snooze 

The final rule in this set of rules is to not hit the snooze button. It has been proven that there is no benefit to using the snooze button, and it just provides you with poor sleep quality for nine minutes. Your brain knows that it's going to go off again, and can therefore never truly relax into a deep sleep. The alarm going off actually increases your cortisol release, which can send your body into fight or flight. It's like being scared every time your alarm goes off. 

 If you do need more time to sleep, then a 10-30 minute "nap" period is great. Perhaps, your alarm goes off in the middle of a sleep cycle, which can make it more difficult for you to wake up. That extra 10-30 minutes can help you transition to one of the lighter sleep stages which are not so jarring to be awakened from. 

The sleep tips may help you get a better night's sleep. But if they don't, then please click the orange button to talk with one of our sleep health experts. They may be able to uncover if there is an underlying disease that is keeping you from getting sufficient, quality sleep. 

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