Guest Post
Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night
A night of restful sleep is vital for maintaining your physical and mental health. Depriving yourself of sleep or not sleeping well can weaken your immune system, cause changes in mood and behavior, and even lead to weight gain. Fortunately, having a healthy sleep cycle will give you that healthy rest you desire, the one that makes you feel full of energy and fresh in the morning.
Make Yourself Comfortable
A high-quality mattress or pillow can do wonders to promote healthy sleep. Using a new pillow or a mattress can reduce your back pain, shoulder pain, and back stiffness. It also immensely improves sleep quality. When upgrading your bed, make sure you know how to choose the right mattress for yourself. It is recommended that you should have bedding at least every 5 to 8 years. If you haven’t replaced the mattress or bedding for several years, this can be a long-lasting solution to get a good night’s sleep.
Your Bedroom Environment
Outside noise, often from traffic, can lead to sleep disorders and long-term health problems. Your sleep quality will improve if noise and light are minimalized. To optimize the environment in your bedroom, try to minimize all external noise and artificial light from your devices like phone and alarm clocks. Your bedroom should be a relaxing, quiet, enjoyable, and clean place.
Set Your Bedroom Temperature
Try to sleep at around 68°F (20°C) room temperature. Your body and bedroom temperature can also significantly affect sleep quality. As you may have experienced in summer or hot places, getting a good night’s sleep when it is too warm can be very difficult. Increased body and bedroom temperatures can affect sleep quality and increase alertness.
Do You Have an Underlying Sleep Disorder?
An underlying state of health can be the cause of your sleep problems. A common problem is sleep apnea, which leads to inconsistent and interrupted breathing. Other commonly medically diagnosed problems include sleep movement disorders and circadian rhythm disorders, which are common among shift workers. If you are always struggling with sleep, it is advisable to consult your doctor.
Practice Taking Care of Yourself
The physical, emotional, and sometimes financial demands before us can be the enemies of good sleep. Stress hormones keep you tense and ready to take on your phone, tablet, or email at any time. By taking care of yourself, you can distinguish when it is necessary to put stress aside, which is also one of the most effective ways to deal with it.
In a schedule packed with various business meetings and various family events, few people find time to enjoy a good book or set aside money to enjoy a spa for a few hours. Still, most people are able to find small pleasures such as reading a magazine, watching a favorite series, or enjoying a hot bath. Choose a few activities to help you relax and practice several times a week to relieve stress.
Find Your Bedtime Routine
You may find that you need less or more time to adapt. Your bedtime routine should be when you are in your bedroom camera, you have turned off all the electronic devices, and the noises and lights are low. Try to keep your bedtime routine roughly the same, and at the same time every night. Set the alarm to approximately the same time every morning. Remember, your body doesn’t understand the difference between a Saturday and a Monday morning, so try to respect your waking time even on weekends. Your body will thank you for this!
Caffeine and Alcohol
Many people view caffeine as a fuel that they pour into themselves after a sleepless night, after which they can stay awake all day. The problem is that one cup of coffee stays in your body for 8 hours after you drink it, and it affects your heart rate. Avoiding caffeine after 2 PM can have a huge impact on improving your sleep.
While a glass of red wine may be able to help you sleep, it consumes plenty of energy and water at the same time. Dehydration and digestion can keep you awake, even when you are very tired.