Menu
If you’re feeling tired and worn down, you will love these tips to improve your sleeping habits. Stop settling for restless nights and daily fatigue. Read on.
Gaining enough sleep every night is essential for all ages. Just like how exercise and a healthy diet are important. Well, the same is true for sleep. But, somehow, due to people’s daily busy schedule, they tend to neglect the number of sleeping hours they get every night.
Soon, you can forget what it’s like to have good sleeping habits. As a result, you feel tired, moody and lacking the energy to do what you gotta do in your day.
Plus, a lack of sleep can negatively affect your overall health, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease and respiratory failure.
As you might know, I’m a bestselling author and happiness researcher. I wrote a book called Happy Habits.
In my research, I learned that enjoying good sleeping habits is absolutely essential to both good health and good mood.
In this article I will share some helpful “habit formation” suggestions to improve your sleeping habits.
If you are experiencing the effects of poor sleep, try the following.
This may seem impossible at first. But this is one of the most effective ways to help you sleep easier at night. Having a sleeping schedule means sleeping and waking up every day at the same time. This must also be done even on your days off or weekends.
Following this sleeping pattern will help your body remember which time it’s supposed to sleep and wake up, without needing an alarm clock.
If you are suffering from a sleep disorder, such as insomnia or sleep apnea, following a sleeping schedule may help you better manage your condition. If you have sleep apnea, you may use a CPAP machine from a reliable brand, such as sleeplay.com, to help you achieve that good night’s sleep.
It’s ubiquitous how people take their cellphones and laptops with them in bed. It may be a difficult habit to break, but to achieve that quality sleep your body needs, refrain from bringing these gadgets in your bed.
Another is that these devices emit LED lighting, which can trick the mind into thinking that it is still daytime. Exposure to LED lighting right before sleep can reverse melatonin’s secretion (a sleep hormone), which tells your body it’s time to prepare for sleep.
Caffeine is a stimulant that can keep your brain awake.
And so it’s best to avoid caffeine for at least five to seven hours before bedtime.
If you’re really up for warm drinks before bedtime, try herbal teas or warm milk instead.
Teas such as chamomile tea are known to help drinkers feel relaxed, helping them sleep faster.
Avoid going to bed while hungry or too stuffed. In particular, prevent consuming heavy or large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime as this makes your digestive system work harder through the night, making it harder for you to fall asleep. Need help to control overeating? Check out the research-based tools in my Stop Emotional Eating Video Course.
Instead of scrolling through your Instagram feed, do relaxing activities to help you gain a longer quality sleep. Activities like yoga, meditation, journaling, or reading a book might help your mind and body relax and get ready for sleep.
One way to de-stress your whole being is by taking a long warm shower before bedtime.
While you’re in the shower, your mind is given enough time to reorganize its thoughts and release any anxieties you had for the day.
Moreover, warm water helps your body muscles loosen up and help you eliminate muscle tension.
Your bedroom is one of the significant factors that may affect the quality of your sleep. To start, make up your bed every morning after you wake up so you won’t get home and see untangled blankets and sheets, which will only stress you out. To make your bedroom a sleep-inducing environment, make sure the temperature is according to your liking. Your room lights must not be too bright, and your bed shouldn’t be too close to windows, doors, or anything that may be the source of the noise. Also, pick the mattress that best fits your preferences.
Never associate your bedroom with other activities, such as eating, doing paper works, or watching tv. Instead, make sure your bedroom itself is exclusively for sleep only. This will teach your brain to unwind itself once you’re inside the space. Better yet, place your bed at the center of your bedroom to emphasize the purpose of your room, which is for relaxation and sleep.
In case you have your pet at home and they keep you awake most of the night, it’s time to teach your pet to sleep happily in their own bed.
Being proactive during the day actually helps you to feel sleepy at night. Regular exercise also improves the symptoms of insomnia and sleep apnea, as well as increases the amount of time you spend in the deep, restorative sleep stages. The more vigorously you exercise, the more sleep benefits you can gain.
The most important tip of all is to remain consistent. To build a healthy sleeping habit for yourself you must consistently follow all the tips mentioned above. If done regularly, this will soon be systemized in your brain and body.
It would be best if you treat sleep seriously as it plays a vital role in your overall health. For many people, trying to implement all these tips can be overwhelming. But, remember that you can start with small changes and work your way up toward healthier sleeping habits.