Are you looking for ways to improve the quality of your sleep? Keep reading to find three easy tips to help you get those much needed zzz’s! From today, you can begin enjoying a better quality of sleep.
When you spend your days corralling children, staying on top of work, and trying to maintain a clean and functioning household, there is nothing quite as important to your mental and physical wellbeing as a good night’s sleep.
Those who don’t regularly get enough good quality sleep tend to experience more stress and an increased risk for certain mental health conditions than those who catch the right amount of Z’s. Plus, when your body isn’t well-rested, it’s simply impossible to comply with all the tasks that you’ve got to do the next day.
To help you get started on having better nights, keep reading through below.
3 Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Sleep
The good thing is that there are several different ways that you can improve the quality of sleep that you get each night. Here are three things that you might consider doing to help yourself get the rest that you not only need but deserve.
1. Invest In a Good Mattress
There’s no getting around the fact that mattresses are expensive. For this reason alone, you might not exactly adhere to the recommendation that you change out your bed for a new one at least every eight years. If it has been a while since your last mattress purchase, this is the best place to start on your road to better sleep.
With such a variety of mattresses on the market today, you can try out mattresses that have different materials to find the one that suits you the best. Remember that the type of mattress you go with should be one that fits your specific needs when it comes to comfort and support. It might mean making a bit of an investment, but it is an investment that is well worth it in the end.
Now that you’re spending on a good mattress, you may also want to take it one step further. Go ahead and purchase the best pillows for back sleepers. By doing so, you’ll see a huge difference in the overall quality of your sleep.
2. Find a Bedtime Routine
One of the things that could be getting in the way of a good night’s sleep is that habit that many people have of staying busy and active right up until they hit the pillow. While there is nothing wrong with being as productive as you can with the time that you are given, you need to be able to allow your mind and body to wind down before trying to sleep.
Try developing a bedtime routine for yourself. By going through the same motions each night, your brain will better understand that it is time to sleep. This can help decrease the production of cortisol, the hormone that enables you to stay alert while you are active and busy.
Read a book an hour before bed under low light, or take a relaxing bath each night. Anything that helps calm your mind would make for an excellent contribution to your bedtime routine.
To establish a bedtime routine, here are other tips that you can apply:
- Go to sleep and get up at the same time every day. Human beings are creatures of habit. When you sync your body to have this kind routine, your body clock will naturally adjust to it. This means that when it comes time for sleep, your body will go on a state of rest and sleepiness on its own.
- Avoid taking long naps. If you’ve got the luxury of time to take naps, be smart about this. When your afternoon naps are too long, this will inhibit you from feeling sleepy at night. As much as you can, keep your nap duration only at around twenty to thirty minutes.
- Control exposure to light right before bedtime. One of the common habits done by many today is that they browse through their gadgets right before they sleep. Unfortunately, this is doing you more harm than good. If you’ve been doing this and you’ve noticed that you can’t fall asleep fast and well enough, try changing this habit.
Avoiding exposure to light at night can help your mind understand that it’s evening, hence, it’s time to sleep. More so, your body secretes more melatonin, which is needed for sleep, when it’s dark. The less melatonin your body has, the more alert you become.
3. Eat Lighter Meals at Dinner
If you tend to over-indulge on heavier foods at the dinner table, you might be asking your digestive system to do too much just before bedtime. Your body takes hours to digest a meal.
By lying down before your stomach has had time to process certain foods, you increase the chances of experiencing things like acid reflux and heartburn.
To avoid this, opt for a lighter meal that is easier on your stomach before bed to avoid these significant sleep inhibitors.
Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Sleep
We hope you found these three tips ways to improve the quality of your sleep helpful! As easy to take your overall sleep quality for granted, do remember that a good sleep is essential for overall good health. So, no matter how busy or demanding your day may be, always give time for sleep and rest. Think of the tips enumerated above as investments for your health. Continue your learning by reading these great articles on sleep health.