Better Sleep Makes A Better You.
We all know how critical it is to get a good night’s rest, but do we actually get enough sleep on the regular to benefit from those Z’s? Sleeping sound-fully allows us to recharge for the following day, give our bodies a chance to repair itself, and simply makes our brain work properly. We all remember those days where we didn’t get enough sleep and ended up being restless, grouchy, and possibly making some weird decisions that we wouldn’t normally make, so why not prep yourself and your home for the best sleep possible?
Curb your afternoon caffeine intake.
Sure we all love to get our favorite latte as were heading back home, but did you know that caffeine (a stimulant) lingers in the system for hours? That late night cappuccino, or even soda you are drinking with dinner can hinder your body’s ability to wind-down when it comes to sleepy time so opt for caffeine-free drinks like water, flavored seltzers, or decaf coffee. P.S caffeine-free soft drinks do exist!
Get your workouts on the regular.
Ever notice how much better you sleep after a good workout? Multiply that by doing it daily and imagine what it could do. Regular workouts (even if not daily) help reduce stress levels and anxiety. It is also thought to strengthen our circadian rhythms (the way our body knows daytime we should be awake and nighttime we should be sleeping). If weight training is not your thing, look into an activity that could be, like swimming, pilates, or at home training at the kitchen counter and the bathroom sink!
Make the bedroom cool and dark.
Pretty, gauzy curtains look great when the sun shines through, but does not help if you have city street lights shining into your room at night. Our bodies prefer to sleep at a slightly cooler temperature, and we need it dark to remind our bodies its time to sleep. Keep the nightstand lamps on a low setting if you plan to stay up to read, and set your thermostat comfortably so you won’t be kicking or tugging at the sheets in the middle of the night.
Make the bedroom for sleep or sexy time.
If you head to your bedroom to catch the last few hours of TV you are not doing yourself any favors. Training your body to keep the bedroom as a sleeping or sexy time area requires shutting the laptop down, and keeping the TV out of the room. Bright screens disrupt our melatonin making, and distract us from what’s important – necessary Z’s or good times with our honey’s.
Put the phone away.
We know it’s hard, but the phone needs to go. We are now more than ever hooked to our phones with constant notifications of what is going on in the outer world – but is it really necessary to see the latest cupcake photos your bestie posted late at night? Turn the notifications to silent past a certain time of night and keep the phone facing down so the bright lights don’t distract and tempt you to look. If you can, invest in a real alarm clock and keep the phone out of your bedroom altogether.
Sleep is a necessity to remain a normal functioning human being, why deprive yourself of that? If it results in feeling better and even looking better, there is really no reason to keep those benefits out of reach. What helps you sleep at night? Share in the comments below.
this is good article … thank you very mush …
I can say that putting away my phone before sleeping before going to bed is a hard thing to do, but I should really do it. I am not getting enough sleep started last month and it ended up that I am unfocused on working hours. I can see also that I am not blooming as much as before. I also easily get annoyed with unnecessary noise in the middle of my sleep that turns out that I can’t go back to sleep. I would really apply these tips. Actually, I am also planning to have a noise machine to eliminate such annoying noise at night.
Well, there was the time, when the sleep was nowhere, I tried multiple times to sleep in Night, but all my efforts were fail, but soon I got to know, the reason of my sleepless nights, that was my daily days, which i spend doing nothing.
So, I started working out, started running, restructured my daily schedule and then the sleep was back as I was bot tired. I am happy now days.
Hi Claudia, I completely agree that better sleep makes a better you. And one way to have a good night sleep is having a regular workout. Indeed, exercising provides endless benefits – from making your body fit and in shape to reducing stress levels, it also helps improve sleep quality. That’s why, if you have been working out in the gym or at home, you’ve already been reaping the fruits of your labor.
Thanks for this article! Steve
The cell phone in bed habit was the hardest one to break. I had to resort to turning the phone completely off and leaving it across the bedroom. I definitely notice the difference.
Now if I could just get my partner to do the same….
Thanks Claudia for this article, I am finding hard-time with my sleep recently, I think my room should be cooler
Thanks Jen for the helpful tips. I love my phone so much I will use it until I fall asleep and sometimes I wake up on top of it. After reading these tips I will try and put them to practice. Hopeful I will get rid of this phone addiction.
I used to workout daily but I stop because of too much work.I will have to get back on the routine again. Actual the workout thing used to help me alot.
If you were close by me, I will have love for you to be my person mentor,because I love what you write about.
Hi Claudia,
I am running a blog on sleep disorders and I came across this article through Google, these are really some cool tips to follow to get good night sleep.
Avoiding caffeine, quit smoking, leading healthy life with good workouts can help us to get the good amount of night sleep, thanks for sharing the information, see you soon.
Wonderful post, and I am also a phone fiend as it seems are most of the other commentators here!!! It is a very difficult habit to break, but I have a suggestion that might help others. If you treat it like any other obsession/ addiction, (let’s be honest because it kind if is addictive to stare at ones phone), and basically try to wean yourself off it.
You can start by creating an actual bedtime and then work backwards by allotting time to use your phone. Gradually you can reduce the time and hopefully remove it from the bedroom all together.
Me and my wife have been slowly working towards this goal and it really does work..for us at least 🙂
Thanks Jen for the helpful tips. I love my phone so much I will use it until I fall asleep and sometimes I wake up on top of it. After reading these tips I will try and put them to practice. Hopeful I will get rid of this phone addiction.
I used to workout daily but I stop because of too much work.I will have to get back on the routine again. Actual the workout thing used to help me alot.
If you were close by me, I will have love for you to be my person mentor,because I love what you write about.
I suffer from sleeping problems pretty much all the time, I definitely am going to try out these tricks and see if it makes a difference
The easiest way is to take a cup of chamomile before going to bed. It always works for me.
Don’t do workouts late in the evening, as the body need some time to relax and prepare to sleep. Also avoid watch TV at least half an hour before going to bed.
Just turn of your TV. Turn OFF, not in stand by mode. Your last meal must be at least two hours before going to bed.
This post is really helpful .Thanks for sharing