5 Easy Ways to Sleep Better

The Island Now
Photo courtesy of Andrea- Piacquadio @ pexels

It is a well-known fact that a good night’s sleep is just as effective in keeping the doctor at bay as a healthy diet and regular exercise. Sleep deprivation has adverse effects on your body, hormones, and brain function. Sleep-deprived people are also at a higher risk of weight gain and chronic diseases compared to their well-rested counterparts.

Despite this, many people find it difficult to get to sleep. There are many reasons for this, the most prevalent being poor sleeping habits. If you fall into this camp, here are some tips to help you improve the quantity and quality of sleep you get.

1.   Increase Your Exposure to Bright Light in the Daytime

Your body has a natural clock that controls various hormonal, nervous, and bodily activities. This clock is known as the circadian rhythm. It is responsible for telling your body when it’s time to hit the hay and when it’s time to wake up. One of the factors affecting this rhythm is light.

Exposure to sunlight or bright light during the day keeps your circadian rhythm healthy, therefore reducing the time it takes to get to sleep and improving the quality of sleep you get throughout the night.

2.   Reduce Your Exposure to Blue Light in the Evening

While exposure to light throughout the day is beneficial to your sleep, at night, bright light messes with your circadian rhythm, making your brain think that it’s still daytime. This reduces the melatonin levels in your body, making it harder to relax and sleep deeply.

Blue light, the type emitted by computer and smartphone screens in large amounts has the biggest effect on your sleep. You can reduce your exposure to this light by installing blue light filters on your devices, using glasses that block blue light, and switching off your devices (and any other bright light sources) at least two hours before going to bed.

3.   Maintain a Consistent Sleeping and Waking time

The circadian rhythm aligns itself to sunrise and sunset. Sleeping and waking up at consistent times can, in the long term, improve your sleep quality. To make the most of this effect, ensure that the sleep and waking times you pick span most of the night (to minimize exposure to light) and that this window is long enough to ensure you get enough sleep.

After a few weeks of this, you may not even need an alarm clock to wake you up, and when you go to bed you won’t struggle to find sleep. This is evidence of a well-aligned sleep-wake cycle.

4.   Ensure You Have a Conducive Environment for Sleep

The environment where you sleep plays a key role in ensuring you get a good night’s sleep. Things such as noise, temperature, lighting, and bed have an impact on how well you sleep.

Your bed is arguably the biggest factor affecting your sleep. An uncomfortable sleep surface will not only deprive you of sleep for one night, but it might also leave you with a sore back, potentially ruining sleep over the next few days. Getting an Ecosa mattress can guarantee you a restful night because they value perfection. Each mattress is made to high standards and is tested before being shipped out.

5.   Avoid Caffeine in the Evening

Caffeine has a lot of benefits. A single dose enhances your energy, focus, and performance in sports. Late in the day, however, the excitement and stimulation caused by caffeine stop your body from naturally relaxing, thus worsening sleep quality. If you’re having trouble sleeping, avoid taking caffeine in the evening.

Final Thoughts

A good night’s sleep has a direct bearing on your productivity the next day and your overall health and well-being. It is recommended that adults get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. Good sleeping habits will help you get enough sleep and therefore help you evade the health risks brought about by insufficient sleep.

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