Tossing and turning each night is tiresome. Sleeping well affects your physical and mental health. Therefore, if you get less sleep, it takes a toll on your energy during the day. It may seem impossible to get a good night’s sleep when you are always up at 3 a.m.
However, you have a lot of control over the quality and quantity of sleep you get than you may realize. Plus, the cure to any sleep difficulties you have is in your everyday routine.
Also, lifestyle choices and daytime habits will affect your sleep, mood, health, and overall well-being. Here are some tips to help you sleep better and improve your energy levels.
Improve sleep environment
How does your sleep environment look and feel? Improving your sleep environment, even small changes to it will make a big difference to the sleep quality you get. One important thing is to ensure you keep your room dark, cool and quiet.
This means keeping the noise down. If it is a challenge, mask it using a sound machine or earplugs. Keep your room cool as well. A bedroom that is too cold or too hot interferes with quality sleep.
Plus, make sure you are sleeping in a comfortable bed. If not, consult Bensons for beds customer service to get a firm mattress as you see what else you need to make it comfy. Finally, reserve your bed for sleep and sex only.
Be in sync with your circadian rhythm
One important strategy is to be in sync with your sleep wake-up cycle to sleep better. Having a sleep routine will help you stay energized and refreshed. To have a healthy circadian rhythm, ensure you go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
Not only will you optimize the quality of your sleep, but it will help set your body’s internal clock. Also, avoid sleeping in on weekends and holidays, for it will affect how well you sleep the following week. Importantly, be smart about napping by limiting it to at most 20 minutes in the afternoon.
Lastly, start your day with a healthy breakfast as it helps sync your biological clock and helps your body know it is time to start the day.
Be smart about what you eat and drink
Did you know the eating habits you have during the day affect how well you sleep? For this reason, focus on a heart-healthy diet. It is not about specific foods but your overall eating pattern that affects how best you sleep.
So cut back on sugary foods and refined carbohydrates as they trigger wakefulness at night. Limit nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine as they both disrupt sleep especially consuming them hours to bedtime.
Big meals at night and spicy foods will cause stomach issues, and you will sleep uncomfortably. Lastly, to reduce the frequent bathroom trips, avoid drinking a lot of fluids in the evening.
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Control exposure to light
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle, and light exposure controls it. When it is dark, your brain secretes melatonin causing you to feel sleepy, and during the day, it makes you more alert. So, controlling exposure to light is vital if you want to sleep better.
During the day, expose yourself to sunlight in the morning and spend more time outside during daylight. Also, try as much as possible to allow natural light into your workspace or home as much as possible.
At night, avoid bright screens for at least an hour to bedtime. Avoid reading with backlit devices, and when you want to sleep, ensure the room is dark.
Learn ways to get back to sleep
Sometimes you may find yourself waking up briefly at night and having trouble falling back asleep. If this happens, try not to focus on why you are not falling asleep, for it will only stress you more.
Also, relaxation is the goal, and try some techniques like meditation and visualization that you do not have to get out of bed. Alternatively, you can do a quiet activity that is not stimulating, such as reading a book and not with your phone but a physical one.
These are very good tips! You should also consider including regular exercise in your daily routine. I highly recommend swimming. The thing is the whole body including the brain works constantly while swimming. But remember that it’s better to exercise 3-4 hours before bedtime. During this time, your nervous system and body will come to complete relaxation.
Speaking of sleep environment, it seems like you didn’t say anything about air quality in bedroom. Poor air quality is bad for your health and can cause such ailment as chronic fatigue and severe headaches. By the way, the most common cause of poor air quality in home is dirty air conditioner filters. If you an air conditioner in your bedroom, don’t forget to clean or change filters at least once every three months.
Yes, air conditioner filters require frequent replacement for effective air purification. If that sounds a bit troublesome to you, consider filters with a MERV rating in the 12 to 16 range – they need to be changed only once a year. But the most budget-friendly option is washable filters. Having such filters, all you need to do for the effectiveness of your air conditioner is to wash them regularly.
Dirty or clogged air filters can also cause extra humidity in a home. A too humid environment is uncomfortable for sleeping and leads to mold growth. Exposure to a large number of mold spores may cause allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, itching, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, headache, and fatigue.
Thanks for some very useful tips! Sleep play a huge part in people success in life. These routines will play a lots of impact.
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Absolutely right! Be smart about what you eat and drink because its impact lot on our sleeping habit. Whatever we eat in a day it will impact good or bad during sleeping.
In order to ensure favourable environment in your bedroom, consider smart thermostat. With this, you can set different temperatures in any room of your home. So, your living room can stay warm and comfortable enough while your bedroom will be cool.