6 Vital Tips for Better Sleep
Feeling irritable, forgetful, and down-right fuzzy? Poor sleep could be to blame. When your body fails to get the rest that it needs, it can affect your mood, concentration levels, and athletic ability. Needless to say, ensuring that you get the right amount of sleep is essential to your wellness. It’s time to take control. Here are six simple tips for better sleep.
6 Tips for Better Sleep
1. Make Sure the Temperature is Right
Too hot, too cold, or just right? The temperature of your bedroom could play a larger role in how well you sleep than you think. Before you head to bed, take care of this small issue.
Setting the heat to between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit creates the ideal environment for optimal sleep, according to information from the National Sleep Foundation. The reason is that your body temperature decreases when preparing to sleep, and relaxing in a cooler room can actually help to move this process along.
2. Create a Relaxing Pre-Bedtime Routine
Do you take the time to unwind before you hit the hay? If the answer is no, you might want to change your ways. One of the best tips for better sleep you can take on board is to stick to a steady pre-bedtime routine.
Information from Harvard University recommends undertaking activities that help you unwind in the lead-up to sleeping. For example, you might want to have a warm, soothing bath, read a book, or try some yoga. When you find a routine that works for you, be certain to stick to it every evening.
3. Switch Off Your Smartphone
What’s the last thing you do at night? Be honest. The truth is that all too many of us are guilty of scrolling on our smartphones directly before we try to sleep. Research from the University of Haifa suggests that short-wavelength blue light, from smart devices, impacts not only the duration of our sleep but also the quality of it.
One of the best tips for better sleep is to keep your phone in another room. Doing so will mean that you’re not tempted to pick it up and check social media when you’re struggling to drift off. Failing that, you could also switch your phone off completely when you go to bed.
4. Take Part in Vigorous Exercise
Your workout regime and sleep could be intrinsically linked. One survey from the National Sleep Foundation found that the more you work out, the better you may sleep overall. The results of the study found that vigorous exercisers were twice as likely to have a good night’s sleep as non-exercisers.
That means that it could be time to give your current fitness routine a little boost! What’s more, it doesn’t matter what time of day you happen to exercise so long as it doesn’t hinder your sleeping pattern.
5. Avoid Afternoon Naps
Should you have a busy work life, a sneaky afternoon nap when you get home might seem like the ideal solution. However, information from Harvard University suggests that you should avoid having short bursts of sleep too late in the day. If you’re guilty of napping after 5:00 pm, the chances are that it will prevent you from naturally falling to sleep at night.
That’s not to say that you can’t nap at all. The experts advise that these refreshing periods of sleep should be kept short and that you should have them early in the day.
6. Play Soothing Music
When you’re lying awake in bed with a thousand thoughts flitting through your mind, it can be truly difficult to fall asleep. If you’re all-too-familiar with this problem, turning on some relaxing music could be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Recent research found that more than 60% of people now use music to help them get to sleep. Of course, you need to figure out what type of tune suits you and your lifestyle. Opting for a slow tempo song with no lyrics, such as classical or chillout music, could be the way to go.
Improving your sleeping routine is no small feat. It’s something that we all need to do as it will help us enhance every other area of our lives. If you’re ready to do something about your poor quality of rest, there’s no time like the present.
Why not try out some of these tips for better sleep tonight and see whether they make a difference? You never know — you might just find that you have the best night’s rest ever. Give it a go.