With life becoming more and more demanding as we get older, it’s imperative that we enjoy good quality sleep in order to wake up feeling energized and ready to take on the day ahead. With an increasing amount of adults complaining of interrupted night’s sleep, unpredictable sleep patterns and even insomnia, it has never been more important to understand how we can improve the quality of our sleep. Therefore, here are our simple steps to achieving some good old fashioned, quality shuteye.
Shutdown Screens
Try to avoid looking at phones when you get into bed as the brightness of the backlit screen actually signals your brain to wake up. The science to this is that as the sun goes down our bodies start releasing the happy hormone, melatonin, which makes us sleepy. However, any bright lights may interfere with this process. Therefore, if you must check your phone, make sure the light is on its dimmest setting.
It is tempting to check your phone if you are expecting an important email or message. However, this can also set you on edge, which is not conducive to feeling relaxed, or getting ready to doze off, so try to resist the temptation.
Find the Right Mattress for You
If you find you are not sleeping well, it may be your mattress that is the problem. So shopping around for a mattress that suits your body and way of sleeping is highly advisable. There are many different sorts of mattresses so if you find you are tossing and turning at night, now is the time to start shopping around. There are some great mattresses at great prices on the market currently, so check out these mattresses under $1000 to see what type would suit you best.
Try to De-Stress Before Sleeping
Going to bed feeling stressed or nervous can really interfere with a great night’s sleep, so make sure you are looking after yourself in the evenings to bring your stress levels down to a minimum. Working late or staying up worrying about the children exams is only going to have you lying for hours staring at the ceiling. Feelings of anxiety release the hormone ‘cortisol’, which should be higher in the morning to wake you up. Therefore, if your levels of cortisol are high at night this can keep you awake. Cortisol is also, unfortunately a known factor to contribute towards fat around your waist so we need to try to avoid releasing this hormone as much as possible.
Try downing work tools as early as possible, try a spot of yoga and meditation and try to calm down all anxious thoughts with soothing and rational thoughts and affirmations.
Spend Less Time in Bed
There is ample scientific research that actually states that we should not go to bed until we are feeling sleepy. Going to bed when we are not feeling tired enough to drop off can lead to feelings of frustration when we do not drop off fast enough.
We all need a good hearty lie in from time to time, but research also reveals that we should usually aim to get out of bed the same time in the morning in order to allow our bodies to get into a rhythm. The same should apply in the evening. Going to bed at the same time at night, will allow your body to fall into a pattern that will help program when it should sleep and when it should wake, much easier.
