Maybe you are lying on your bed trying to find a way for your sleeping problem. Guess what – you are not the only one. While we spend about one-third of our lives asleep, four out of five people say that they suffer from sleep problems at least once a week. You wake up feeling exhausted on the big day at work, unable to stay productive. Moreover, your problem can lead you to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
So, how to stop this? Sleep hygiene can help you get enough sleep in order to stay proactive during the day. This will directly affect your mental and physical health; hence, you have a huge reason to change your sleeping habits. There are certain steps you have to follow, so let’s solve your problem and turn it into a sleep hygiene.
Keep in sync with your body’s bedtime ritual
You probably know that you have to reinforce your body’s sleep-wake cycle. But schedules are more than that, they are about relaxing activities you do before you go to sleep. So, you have to prepare your body by taking a bath, reading a book, watching television, practicing relaxation exercises or anything that calm you down. By repeating these activities every night, your body will prepare for what is coming next.
On the other hand, stressful activities can cause the body to secrete the stress hormone cortisol, which can increase alertness. So, if you are emotionally stressed, try to write your problems down and focus on the things that relax you. Keep your rhythm consistent and try to limit the difference in your sleep schedule to no more than one hour.
Pay attention to what you eat and drink before bedtime
Drinking caffeinated drinks and eating late can keep you up at night, so try to eliminate this habit. That includes coffee, tea, chocolate, cola, some pain relievers and heavy food. Moreover, smokers should skip using tobacco products too close to bedtime. However, you shouldn’t go to bed with an empty stomach because discomfort might keep you up. Chamomile tea and a hot cup of milk can calm you before bedtime.
Take a quick nap if you have to
10 to 20 minutes of napping can help you boost your alertness and energy, so this is a good way to stay proactive during the day. However, late-day naps decrease sleep drive, so keep your nap short and do it before 5 p.m. Hence, turn your alarm on and don’t let it snooze because you will keep lying in the bed forever.
Choose a comfortable mattress
As you spend about a third of every day in the bed, you can imagine how your mattress can impact your sleep. If you have a mattress that doesn’t fit you all that well or it’s simply too old, this can cause a lot of problems such as back pain and insomnia. In case you wake up with an aching neck and a sore back, maybe it’s time for a change.
So, you can see that investing in comfortable bed can pay off. If you dedicate some time and attention to it, you’ll find a good online mattress sale* and still manage to buy a high-quality product. You have to choose a mattress based on your preferences because brand or price can’t guarantee you comfort. Some people like hard mattresses more than soft ones, but not everything is about firmness, but the material which distributes weight correctly.
*SKFit Life Does not endorse any product or company, please ensure that you do your own due diligence in your decision making process to find what is right for you.
Make an ideal sleeping environment
For many people, an ideal place for sleep usually includes cool, dark and quiet room. The first thing you have to do is to turn off all light and sound-emitting devices just before bedtime. If you can’t sleep because of noises such as traffic or your neighbors, earplugs can solve your problem. You can even see if the sound machine works for you since it’s done a good job for many troubled sleepers. Next, you can block out curtains or use a sleep mask if the light is the problem. Nevertheless, it can be hard for you to wake up in the morning since it will block the morning light.
Also, keep work out of the bed. Your bedroom is a calming area, so don’t let your brain associate it with stress.
Improve your sleep with a daily workout
Not only that physical activities are good for your shape and health, but for sleep, too. You will be less sleepy during the day, and sometimes just 10 minutes of working out a day can be helpful. Still, it can take several months of regular activity before you experience this effect. Hence, it’s better to try group workouts that last longer because more actively you exercise, the more powerful the sleep benefits you’ll get.
Many factors have an impact on your sleep, so you will have to change your life a little bit. Take one step after another, and you will see how your life changes. If you still have a problem after following these steps, don’t hesitate to speak with your doctor. Sometimes your health problems can cause insomnia, but usually, a comfortable sleeping environment can do the work.
Guest Blogger
Cooper Klein, they can be reached at cooper.n.klein@gmail.com or their website
