At one point in our lives, nearly all of us will have difficulties sleeping. But with a couple of simple guidelines, we can have a better sleep tonight.
1. Get up and go to bed at the same time every day
Our bodies tend to appreciate routine - find a way to get in to bed and get up in the morning at a similar time. Once you've figured out your body's sleep needs, it makes sense to make an effort to meeting those every day. We can condition our body to follow a regular pattern to meet these needs through our circadian rhythm to initiate and maintain sleep.
2. Your sleep environment needs to be comfortable
Pretty simply, your environment needs to be dark, comfortable, quiet and most importantly, cool. Light and noise can be disruptive and wake us up and we know that a cool environment makes for an environment that's most conducive to sleep. It also needs to be a place for relaxation rather than a source of stress.
3. What you eat beforehand can have an impact
We need to reduce our consumption of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol. The obvious sources of the stimulant caffeine are coffee, soft drinks, some tea and even chocolate. Contrary to popular belief, a nightcap might make you drowsy, but is unbelievably disruptive to your sleep and sleep stages.
4. Exercise
Simple! By tiring your mind and body out with exercise, it will make it that much easier for your body to drift off at bed time.
5. Make sleep a priority
Don't sacrifice sleep. By letting your day time obligations run in to sleep time, you're not only disrupting that evenings sleep, it has a carry on effect to the rest of the week. On top of that, fun stuff like socialising, watching movies, eating out etc., can quickly cut in to our sleep time if we let it. It's important we schedule our sleep time and stick to that schedule.
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*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
