Do you want to have better quality sleep? Then be sure to check out these tips on how to achieve just that from AXA Health’s Mental Health Services Clinical Lead, Dr Mark Windwood.
1. Be active during daytime hours
In order to feel tired at night, you should strive to exercise during the daytime hours. When you’re active it actually improves your metabolism and helps to reduce your levels of anxiety and stress. This will definitely make you sleep better. So, you should try to exercise during the day, the earlier the better. However, if you prefer to workout in the night, make sure that there is enough time for you to relax before bed.
2. Avoid smoking and pay attention to what you consume
You should avoid eating anything spicy or heavy for dinner or just before you go to sleep. This is because you need to give your body time to actually digest that food before you can sleep comfortably. With that said, you shouldn’t go to bed hungry either and if you need to, you should have a small snack before bed. Make sure and avoid drinking coffee or other caffeinated products after lunch since it will stay in your system for more than 6 hours and negatively affect your sleep.
Many people often enjoy drinking wine before bed, however, alcohol can actually disturb your sleep and negatively impact the quality of your sleep. This can cause you to wake up multiple times at night.
Also, be sure to avoid smoking since nicotine is a stimulant. According to numerous studies, people who don’t smoke actually enjoy better quality sleep that those who do smoke.
3. Your bedroom should be a space that is conducive to sleep
You should make your bedroom the perfect place to rest and sleep by ensuring it is clean, dark, cool and very comfortable. It is best to set the temperature at 18 to 24C. If your bedroom has too much light you should use shades on your windows or even blackout curtains. Be sure to also use ear plugs and eye shades if necessary. In order to make your bedroom more comfortable and relaxing, paint it in a soothing color. You should also ensure your bedroom doesn’t have any electronic devices, phones or even televisions so that you don’t get distracted from sleeping. If your bedding is old, make sure that you replace them so that you’re completely comfortable when you go to bed. Read these Nectar Mattress reviews and consider an upgrade.
4. Develop a bedtime ritual
A night time routine is a great way to help your body and mind prepare for sleep. This routine can be as simple as taking a nice warm bath before bed, listening to Classical or relaxing music and enjoying some milk. With that said, make sure you don’t engage in intense activities before bed.
5. Relax
There are lots of ways that you can unwind and completely relax such as yoga, meditation etc. If you don’t know how to do these, there are numerous books and videos that can show you how to start. You will need to experiment to figure out which ones you prefer. You can even use aromatherapy and tea to help soothe and relax you for bed.
6. Don’t stay in bed if you can’t sleep
If you’ve been trying to sleep for more than 20 minutes, you should get out of bed and try to engage in a relaxing activity. For example, you can listen to music, read a relaxing book etc. Then, when you start to feel tired again, you should go back to bed. If you have a tendency to sleep or nap during the day, make sure to wake yourself up and engage in more active tasks so you can only sleep at night.
7. Don’t oversleep on weekends
Always stick to your sleep schedule, even when its the weekend. By sleeping and waking up at the same time every day, it will help you to create an excellent routine.