We all know how incredibly important sleep is for our wellbeing, by getting consistent good sleep you’ll receive a load of benefits, from increased alertness and clarity, to being less likely to be affected by numerous diseases. Of course, the reverse is also true and not getting the sleep your body leaves will leave you fatigued, struggling to think clearly and increase the likelihood of being affected by numerous diseases.
So, you know how important your sleep is, but how can you get the most out of your sleep? Read on to discover some top tips for how you can improve the quality of your sleep and reap the benefits of a good night’s sleep!
Burn Off Excess Energy Before Bed
A lot of the time, you may struggle to sleep simply because your body still has plenty of energy left to burn especially after a lazy day, meaning that while you may want to go to sleep, your body needs to burn off some energy before it is ready to go to bed.
The simple way to counter this is to try burn off some energy before you go to bed, allowing you to tire yourself out ready for bed. Even just a 10-minute jog an hour or so before bed should be enough exercise to burn that energy! Just make sure to do your exercise at least an hour before you go to bed, so your body has time to return to its resting state.
Create A Sleep-First Bedroom Environment
Another common reason for poor sleep is that your bedroom isn’t designed with sleep in mind: overstimulating décor, too much light and warm temperatures will make it harder for you to sleep, so it’s important you have those factors in mind whilst designing and decorating your bedroom.
Luckily, these issues can be easily solved. For overstimulating décor, you can just tone down the décor of your room and introduce more calming pieces of décor. To counter high temperatures and light pollution, you can purchase a thermal roman blind which will keep your room cool and stop light from leaking through your windows.
Avoid Groggy Mornings By Timing Your Sleep
Even if you quickly fall asleep and sleep throughout the night, you can quickly lose the benefits of your sleep by waking up at the wrong time, which will leave you feeling tired and groggy all day. The reason for this is that our bodies follow a sleep cycle when we’re sleeping which is basically a body clock and when we wake up during the middle of a cycle, we’re left dazed and confused.
Luckily, we know how long these cycles are, for most people your sleep cycles will be around about 90 minutes, in which your body alternates between deep sleep and light sleep. So, if you plan your sleep in multiples of 90 minutes, you can avoid waking up mid-cycle and feel rejuvenated and refreshed when you wake up!
Trick Your Body Into Falling Asleep
When you’re lying awake at night tossing and turning to fall asleep, you more than likely wish there was a cheeky way that you could trick your body into falling asleep. Well lot’s of people will say that there’s no one trick to falling asleep, but we have a trick that can help make your body fall asleep come bedtime.
When our bodies fall asleep, they gradually cool down, when we cool down our bodies start to produce the chemicals that help us fall asleep like melatonin, which is why you’re so tired after a warm bath! You can take advantage of this by having a warm bath or shower before bed, doing this will raise your bodies temperature, then after your temperature will start to drop, which can trick your body into producing the chemicals which help you fall asleep!
Keep Your Phone Away At Bedtime
When you’re struggling to fall asleep at night, it can be tempting to reach for your phone to occupy yourself for a few minutes before trying to sleep again, but this will actually make it harder for you to sleep. This is because electronic screens produce ‘blue light’ which simulates the light from the Sun, this blue light will trick your brain into thinking it is still daytime and keep you awake.
So, you can avoid this by staying away from electronic devices in the run up to your bedtime and during the night. Exposure to blue light will wake your brain up for around 30 minutes to and hour, so by avoiding electronic devices in the hour before bed will also help you fall asleep.
Keep on Track By Following A Sleep Schedule
If you’re an erratic sleeper, your sleep schedule will be all over the place, while late nights often make for good memories, they don’t make for a good sleep schedule. Our bodies crave routine and structure, so by going to bed and waking up at strange times, your body won’t be able to effectively get ready to sleep.
To resolve this, you should try to follow a sleep schedule, by falling asleep and waking up around the same time every day your body will be able to get used to your sleep routine. Once your body is in line with your sleep schedule, you’ll find it gets easier to fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning. You can still have the odd late night and lay-in but try to limit these as they will confuse your body and take it off-schedule.
If you’re struggling with getting the sleep you need to feel the benefits of a good rest, you now have 6 actionable tips to help get your sleep back on track so that you can feel revitalized, refreshed and ready for the next day!
If you have any other tips you have personally used to improve the quality of your sleep, do let us know so that we can share the word and bring the benefits of brilliant sleep to everyone.
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