Sleeping Problems? Here's 10 Tips For Better Sleep At Night

Trouble Sleeping? Here’s 10 Tips For Better Sleep

Better Slumber

Let’s face it in today’s world getting a good night’s rest is almost impossible. We are working longer hours. We have 24/7 access to the internet including social media, which let’s face we have all been caught indulging in our obsession with knowing what everyone else is up to when we should be sleeping. These aside, there are many factors that are keeping us awake at night, so here are some tips on how to get good sleep:

Buy A Good Mattress

The benefits of having a good mattress cannot be overstated. Choosing the right one can ensure you are offered utmost comfort. It can help you feel cozy and safe. If finances permit, buy the best mattress within your budget, it can support your body weight evenly and make sure you don’t wake up in pain, improving your health and overall mood especially right after waking. So what makes a good mattress you might be asking yourself right now? Well, for starters, having the right size so that your legs aren’t falling off the side. Or the right size so that you can move around without bumping into your sufficient other. The material that it is made out of can really make a difference too. Personally I recommend going for a latex or memory foam mattress.

Stop Drinking Caffeinated Drinks So Late

If you are like 90% of the people I know and work with, then you are drinking a coffee or an energy drink at some point throughout the day. I don’t fault you any bit as I sit here drinking an energy drink as I write this. But come on seriously, I have worked with people who are chugging an energy drink right before going home and getting ready for bed. Then they are up the next morning complaining about trouble sleeping. I, of course, feign ignorance and say “Gee I don’t know why you’re unable to sleep” when really I am screaming in my head, “No wonder, you drank a whole can right before you went home!” So perhaps it’s an idea to stop; no energy drinks or drinking coffee before bed. These drinks are designed to keep you awake.

Take The TV Out Of The Room

Okay so while this may seem silly to most people, take the television out of the room. For starters, the light that the TV emits can disrupt your normal sleeping patterns. Our bodies are designed to fall asleep when there is no light. Don’t even get me started on the volume of the TV at night while you are trying to rest. I for one am unable to sleep while I listen to the sounds of the TV and surely I am not the only one. So do yourself and your partner a favor and throw the TV out of the bedroom.

No Sugar Before Bed

Sugary food before going to sleep

When it comes to adopting healthy sleep habits, no eating sugar before bed is a tough one. Admittedly I love to cuddle of up with a bowl of ice cream and put on the latest episode of Law and Order before going to bed. However, we all know that sugar keeps you awake. If you want to test this theory simply give a whole bunch of candy to your friend’s child and watch what happens, swiftly planning your escape route before executing your mission. Not only does sugar keep you awake, when you finally do nod off, but the blood sugar levels will also spike and crash before you even wake up, which in turn weakens the digestive system and leads to adrenal exhaustion.

Exercise A Little

As if you needed another reason to get to the gym. However, if you’re having trouble sleeping, then working out before bed can help your body get better prepared for sleep and is often considered an effective cure for insomnia. After you get done working out your body is tired from exerting so much energy that catching your zzzz’s ought to be easy. I am not saying you need to run a marathon but you should be doing something to use up your excess energy. However there is a catch to this one; exercising too close to bedtime will, in fact, keep you from falling asleep. The best time to exercise before bed is an hour or so prior.

Use The Bed For Its Designed Uses

The bed is really only designed for a few things. Sleeping in your bed is the preferred method. Of course, you can do so in your car too, though I wouldn’t recommend it, not much room and rather cold. You can also sleep on the couch because you spent one too many hours at the pub, again I wouldn’t recommend this. The best place is in your bed, you can stretch out and get comfortable. Laying flat on your back, side or stomach is best only when there is optimal spinal support and pressure point relief from all the possible areas of the body which could experience pain. Therefore, if you’re still wondering how to sleep better, on your mattress, in bed, is the key.

Listen To Soothing Music

Listening to music before sleeping

I am not sure about you but listening to relaxing music to help you sleep right before nodding off is pretty amazing. For some people, listening to the sounds of the ocean or even thunderstorms is awesome too. Personally, I love to open the windows on a rainy day and fall asleep listening to the raindrops, but this may not help everyone and could possibly have an adverse effect. Go through your music collection, see which songs or instrumentals help you relax the most, and perhaps play on a low volume to help unwind which might hopefully help fall asleep faster.

Don’t Go To Sleep Too Early

If you need to wake up early, try to give yourself as much sleep time as possible close to your normal bedtime hour, but never sleep too much or excessively early. The body of an adult can function fine on just 6-8 hours, even though the recommended sleep time is approx 10 hours. Trying to go to bed early can sometimes be counter-productive and instead cause you to wake up too early. Or instead, perhaps you’re tossing and turning because there is too much going on in your head, and your mind is racing about everything that you need to do. In that case, it would have been more productive to stay up an hour later and at least do some of the things that actually need doing. Lying awake in bed too early before your body clock is programmed to sleep can cause you to stay awake, huffing and puffing, getting hot and bothered which will, of course, keep you awake longer.

Don’t Go To Sleep Too Late

Going to sleep late at night

Not only can going to bed excessively early be bad for your normally healthy sleep habits but also sleeping late is almost certainly on every occasion bad for your health and body clock. The effects of sleeping late can bring you to stress about making sure you wake up on time, thus reducing your quality of sleep. Give yourself approx 10 hours of kip time if possible; your body clock will soon get used to this pattern and soon become reliant upon this amount of kip thus becoming tiresome around the programmed hour in question. Programming your body clock is key in the fight against sleeping problems in this case.

Attempt To Sleep

If you’re still wondering how to fall asleep fast, the most basic tip that I or any expert in the field of slumber would give you is to actually proactively help yourself to eradicate your sleeping problems. Quite often, we are our own enemy. What that means is, turn off the phone, turn off the computer, turn off the television, and turn off your brain, it’s time to shut your eyes and go to sleep.