Top Recommendations For Better Sleep
1. Get Enough Hours
One of the most important things you should be doing when you are looking to improve your sleep is to focus on getting sufficient hours. You need to be getting anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Everyone is different. Some work best on 7 hours and some will do best with closer to 9 hours of sleep. Find out which mattress to buy at Mancini’s sleepworld.
2. Set a Schedule
You want to ensure that you have a fixed wake and bedtime. Your body craves consistency. It wants a routine. You need to establish one and stick to it. You don’t want to stray away from this routine even if you want to ‘sleep in’ during the weekend. This is a fallacy. There is no way to ‘make-up’ sleep. If you happen to stay up later one night during the weekend, force yourself to wake up at the same time. Otherwise, you will throw your body’s internal clock off. You want to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day with no compromises. If you do end up altering your schedule for the weekends, you’ll find yourself dealing with the Monday morning hangovers.
3. Create a Relaxing Environment
You need your bedroom to be an oasis. You want to do everything possible to create an optimal sleeping environment. This means keeping your bedroom dark throughout the night. You don’t want any light interrupting your sleep. This means investing in blackout curtains or blinds. It also means getting rid of those electronics that might emit lights at night. You also want to keep your room cool. It should be around 60-65 degrees for an optimal temperature. Anything hotter and your sleep is likely to be disrupted with sweating. It’s always a good idea to have sheets and bedding materials that are cool and breathable. If you live in a busy area, you may want to invest in a white noise machine or simply use a Bluetooth speaker or your phone to play the noise for you.
4. Establish a Routine
You need to figure out a good routine that you can follow consistently night in and night out. A routine is something that can help you fall asleep every night. Remember that routine your parents had for you when you were a baby? Our bodies are used to having a routine. You would do your best to give your body one. It could be something as simple as taking a warm bath or shower before you get into bed. It could be listening to relaxing music while you are in bed. It could be reading a relaxing book before you shut your eyes. Try to figure out some relaxing things that you can use as a physical cue to your body and mind that it’s time for bed. It’s best to avoid including anything in your routine that could stimulate your senses or cause your body to start releasing stress hormones. This means staying away from work emails in bed and avoiding overly stimulating media like television. If you do tend to have thoughts consuming your mind at night, it could be a good idea to keep a journal right next to your bed. As the thoughts cross your mind, you can write them down. Getting them on paper can help you get them out of your head. This can keep the worries from causing you to be unable to fall asleep.
5. Keep The TV Off
It’s best to avoid any screen time before bed. Not only does the TV screen emit blue light which can disrupt your sleep cycle, but it can also stimulate you too much. It’s best to avoid TV altogether because it’s generally not going to relax you. Instead of using the TV, try to switch to reading a book or listening to music.
6. Exercise In The Morning
One of the best things you can do for your sleep is to get outside when it’s bright and early. This is one of the best ways to sync your sleep and wake cycle because you start to expose your body to sunlight right when you wake up. This makes it the best time to get your workout into your day. When you work out, your body gets stimulated and energized. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to keep your workouts earlier in the day. You don’t want to save them for nighttime because it could be counterproductive to your sleep efforts. Any strenuous exercise before bed could negatively impact your sleep. However, you could consider integrating some relaxing exercise like dynamic stretching or yoga before you take your nighttime shower as it can help.