5 ways to sleep better at night
Friday, November 9th, 2007
Photo by TeeRish.We live amongst a sleep deprived nation. In fact, according to statistics, around 40% of the American population is sleep deprived—that’s about 100 million Americans!
Besides sleep deprivation, many yet suffer from poor quality sleep. We toss and turn, have restless dreams, awake during the night, have trouble falling asleep… It’s an astonishingly common problem, so here’s five ways to improve your sleep situation.
#1 - Don’t eat before bed.
Your stomach and digestive system needs to sleep sometime too, and contrary to what you might think, they doesn’t just shut off when you do! Try to eat large healthy breakfasts, medium sized lunches and light dinners. If you can’t do that, make sure your last meal of the day is around 2 hours before your expected bed time.
#2 - Exercise during the day.
Exercising during the day is not only good for you (and makes you feel good), but it also helps you sleep better. Part of the reason for this is the fact that it burn excess energy and essentially “tires” out your body, making your body to want rest.
#3 - Don’t start getting active before bed.
When it’s getting around time to retire for the night, wind down. Don’t start cramming in as much as possible until you’re too tired, then go to bed and expect to sleep like a baby. Studies show that your mind is most active just before bed, so if it’s quality shut-eye you’re wanting, don’t get your mind geered up right before you want to wind down.
#4 - Develop a “bedtime ritual”.
This plays into point #3 about winding down before it’s time for you to go to bed. Develop a bedtime ritual of things you do before you go to bed that are relaxing, non-stimulating, and promote sleepiness.
Suggestions:
- Read something relaxing, like something on health, poetry, a magazine, etc.
- Drink decaffeinated tea like chamomile. Skip the sugar (replace with honey or a natural sweetener like Stevia) if possible.
- Take a hot shower or bath.
- Do some easy yoga or stretching before bed.
- Casually sketch, draw, write poetry, etc. - Get the “creativeness” out of you, but be sure not to stimulate motivation to do more right before bed.
#5 - Don’t work in your bedroom.
Keep your work in your office, your food in your kitchen, your meals in your dining room, and your sleeping in your bed. Don’t work in bed. It’s more of a psychological habit-former if anything, but it has been shown that people who work in bed and become used to it will eventually (if only subconsciously) treat their bed like their second office. You don’t sleep in your office, so don’t do work in your bedroom.
The bedroom should be a place of tranquility and relaxation. Soothing colors, dimmer lights, etc. By keeping work out of your bedroom and treating it like a place to rest, every time you retire to your bedroom, you’re sending a message to your brain that says, “I left the work and stress at the door, and now I’m going to sleep”.
