It’s a wonderful feeling when you’ve had the perfect night’s sleep. You feel energized, alert, and ready for the day ahead. Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t as easy as it might seem though, and it’s something many people have to work at.
Here are five simple tips to help you get better sleep.
Regular bed times
You set a time for when you need to wake up so why not set a time for when you go to bed? Your body has a natural clock that is fairly attuned to the 24-hour schedule, so stick to this by keeping a regular bed time.
It’s easy to get carried away with what you’re doing and stay up late, but you suffer the consequences the next day and it doesn’t allow your body to get into a good routine. Instead, set an alarm for bed time and stick to it.
Don’t exercise close to bed time
Exercise is pretty much at the opposite end of the scale to sleep. It makes you feel alert, gets your heart pumping, and your mind working in overdrive.
These aren’t great attributes to help you sleep, so it’s a good idea to make sure you finish exercise at least three hours before you plan on sleeping. This gives your body time to slow down a bit and get back to a state where it can easily sleep.
Be careful with what you consume
We all know it’s probably not a great idea to drink an espresso right before you go to sleep. However, there are lots of different substances that can affect your sleep.
One that can have a significant impact on the quality of your sleep is alcohol. Your body has to work hard to process alcohol, and so it doesn’t get quite the same level of rest if you’ve drank a fair bit before bed.
We often hear the term “nightcap” but in reality, it’s a good idea to avoid alcohol before bed.
The one-hour routine
You don’t just wake up in the morning and start doing laps around your bedroom. It takes time to get into the swing of things and the same can be said about going to bed.
You need to give yourself time to get prepared for sleep, so it can help to start preparing one hour before your bed time. Get all your routines done such as brushing your teeth and putting on your skin care face serums, take a warm shower, and another great idea is to write a personal journal.
This helps prepare your brain and body for healthy sleep.
Remove distractions
When you go to bed, good sleep needs to be your priority, which means removing distractions.
If you struggle with the distraction of electronic devices, then these can be left outside, taking away the temptation. Many people hear the buzz of their phone and can’t help but check it, and this makes it so much more difficult to get good sleep.
Find the things that are distracting you from your sleep and remove them from your room.
