Quality sleep is crucial to your mental and physical health as it can have a direct impact on your state and mood for the day. If you fall short on sleep, it can take a serious toll on your body and compromise your emotional balance, even affecting your productivity and daytime energy. In an ideal world, everybody would have enough time to get the recommended eight hours of sleep every night. In the real world, however, many people struggle to get the sleep they need due to various factors keeping them up and foggy till 3 a.m. In fact, according to the National Institute of Health, roughly about 70 million in America alone have sleep problems, which extends over to the next morning as it leads to daytime lethargy and lack of mental clarity. If you’re tired of tossing and turning every night, here are a few simple tips that can help you sleep so you’ll never have to feel like you’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed come morning:
Tip #1: Set a Regular Sleeping Schedule
The recommended amount of sleep for healthy adults is seven to eight hours per night, nothing more or less. The best way to achieve this goal is to train your body clock by setting up a strict sleeping schedule so that your body and mind will naturally feel the need to sleep at the right time and wake up on the dot without any lingering feelings of exhaustion or fogginess. Be sure to set a time that is feasible for you. While it may be tempting to sleep in during the weekends, it is better for your body to limit the difference to no more than an hour to reinforce your body’s sleep-wake rhythm.
Tip #2: Create a Sleep-Inducing Environment
Design an environment that inspires relaxing and calming vibes to establish the conditions you need for sleep. This can include setting up a comfortable bed and pillows as well as controlling a cool and optimal temperature that will help trigger your sleepiness. Cloak your space in darkness, or if you want to sleep with a night light on, be sure to keep it low and choose colors that are relaxing to the eyes, such as an orange or red light. Also, keep white noise to a bare minimum by using earplugs. Mute any notifications on your phone and only allow your alarm to ring.
Tip #3: Include Exercise In Your Daily Routine
Vigorous exercise is best, but for people who do not have the time or are not fond of exerting too much physically demanding effort, light, physical activity at any time of the day are enough. Even if you enjoy a heavy workout, keep it to earlier in the day because light exercise triggers an increase in body temperature, and the post-exercise drop later in the evening can help lull you to sleep.
Tip #4: Establish a Soothing Pre-Sleep Routine
Many people tend to bring home stress after clocking out of work, and the effects of this mental and physical strain can last for hours and affect your sleep. It’s hard to simply leave your worries out the door when you get home, so be sure to ease the transition by setting up a relaxing pre-sleep routine. Your daily routine can involve anything that you may find soothing, such as drawing a warm bath, reading a book, or practicing breathing and meditative exercises at least an hour before your bedtime. Avoid activities that are demanding or stimulating as it can cause your body to secrete more stress hormones known as cortisol, which is associated with increasing alertness.