If you are one of the many people who suffers from interrupted sleep or difficulty getting to sleep, then completing a simple sleep diary can be an important first step in overcoming these problems. Dr Brendan O’Loughlin came across this effective and simple Sleep Diary on the NPS Medicinewise website.
“NPS MedicineWise is an independent, not-for-profit and evidence-based organisation.”
Their aim is to “improve the way health technologies, medicines and medical tests are prescribed and used…to positively change the attitudes and behaviours which exist around the use of medicines and medical tests, so that consumers and health professionals are equipped to make the best decisions when it counts.”
The sleep diary they have published is a simple check-box survey that you fill out every day for one or two weeks. “It helps you monitor when you go to bed and get up in the morning, how long it takes you to fall asleep, how often you wake during the night, and how restful your sleep is. It also allows you to record any food, drink or activities that may be affecting your sleep.”
The information collected in the sleep diary is useful for sharing with your health practitioner as it may help determine what is causing your sleep problems.
There are also some great tips on how to improve the quality of your sleep:
You can download the sleep diary in PDF format at the following link:
One of our other practitioners, Dr Natasha Paunovic also put together her own list of excellent tips for improving sleep quality, which you can read in her previous article, Improving Sleep (part 1).
