4 Ways to Ensure That You’re Getting Enough Sleep

A good night’s sleep is good for the soul, or so your doctor keeps telling you. They’re not wrong, sleep is your bodies healing process, ridding the toxins of the day while you slumber soundly. To fall asleep is one thing; to then stay that way for the entire night giving your system a chance to renew, recharge and repair is not something many people can master. While there are uncontrollable factors like stress and illness that interfere in your sleeping patterns, adopting better habits can encourage a deep and uninterrupted sleep. Start with these easy tips.

Set a Bedtime Alarm

This may sound a bit bizarre, you normally make an alarm to wake up so why should you make one to go to sleep? Think about your waking up process. You usually set your alarm for 6 a.m, but every time you hear that incessant blaring in the morning the snooze button gets a bashing. You end up hitting it every ten minutes for the next half hour, until the final alarm goes off and you emerge from under the covers feeling groggy and aware that a liquid breakfast will have to suffice. If it’s a struggle to pull yourself out of bed in the morning, it’s clear that you are not getting enough sleep. Instead of giving the snooze button a workout, make your bed time earlier by setting an alarm that tells you when to go to bed. Californian based sleep consultant, Patty Tucker, swears by this method exclaiming that the simplest things are the most powerful.

Be Smart About Napping

While slipping into bed for an afternoon nap is an effective way to recharge, adults need to be wary that it can heighten insomnia and make heading to bed at your normal time a challenge. If you have prior issues dealing with insomnia, consider eliminating day-time napping. If you need to nap, don’t leave it too late in the day and limit your slumber to no more than thirty minutes.

Create a Zen-like bedroom

A cluttered room full of knick knacks, bright lights, and screens can disrupt your ability to wind down before bed time. By creating a cool, dark and quiet bedroom that’s ideal for sleeping, you’ll find that your brain will prepare itself, switching off easily. It’s not just changing the objects in your room that help create a peaceful environment, investing in a new latex mattress will help avoid back problems and ailments associated with broken sleep.

Avoid Screens before Bed

Do you browse through the endless nonsense of the Facebook newsfeed before you hit the hay? While you may think that you are relieving the tension of the day by scrolling through TMZ, answering emails or indulging in one, maybe two, ok five episodes of Vampire Diaries before bed, you are tricking your brain into thinking that it’s still day time. Researchers at the Lighting Research Centre conducted a study that confirms that the UV light built into your device supress’s melatonin by as much as twenty percent. Your brain is misled into thinking that it’s still daytime, keeping it from performing its natural unwinding process. You are essentially engaged right up until the moment you realise holy cow, is it 2 a.m?