Easy tips to help you get enough sleep and keep you healthy
Getting adequate sleep is essential to maintain good health, as important as your diet and regular exercise. When it comes to sleep quality matters the most and getting enough good quality sleep can be a struggle for many. When you don’t get enough sleep, it can cause various interference with your natural sleep cycle that impact your day-to-day functioning. Researchers and experts believe that one should get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
The amount of shut-eye you need can also depend on other factors, such as whether you have inconsistent sleep patterns, are sleep deprived (which means you have a sleep debt) or frequently getting up during the night.
When one is well rested and has adequate amount of sleep daily, they are mentally sharper, they are quick at getting tasks done, their decision making is on point and they tend to make less mistakes.
However, if you are short of sleep, then you will notice a decline in daily functionality – taking longer to get the task done, slower processing, indecisiveness and tend to be clumsy. This also applies to anyone who feels rested even only after a few hours of shut-eye each night.
So how can you get enough of uninterrupted sleep each night?
Here are six ways that will help improve your sleeping habits that will help you get adequate good quality sleep each night:
1. Sleeping schedule – Going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday will help you set your circadian rhythm (body clock). It can be challenging to be consistent with your sleeping schedule but once you do get into the habit of it, it gets easier. This step will help you achieve good quality adequate uninterrupted sleep. And the most important thing is to avoid hitting that snooze button.
2. Dimming the lights – The lighting in your room plays a major role in putting you to sleep. About an hour before or so turn off all the bright lights, electronics, televisions, laptops, phones and turn on the dim lights. The blue lights from the screen will prevent you from sleep hence it is important to turn them off. Whereas the dim lights will help you feel much more relaxed.
3. Bedtime ritual – After switching to dim lights use that hour to allow yourself to get ready to hit the bed. Few things to keep in mind before you get ready to sleep – make sure that your stomach is light, use this time to relax your mind and body, this process will signal your brain that sleep is around the corner. To help you relax you can have a cup of hot/warm beverage tea/milk, brush your teeth and as you get on the bed try to do some relaxation techniques such as meditation, or breathing exercises. The idea is to use that hour to unwind and relax.
4. Prepare your room – Setting up your room is crucial to falling asleep. Make sure your bedroom is quiet, cool and dark. Switch on the air conditioner and let the temperature of the room come down. This will help you fall asleep faster as it will help lower your body temperature. Add lavender or a calming essential oil – in a diffuser, and inhale it as you wind down, meditate and switch off your thoughts and mind.
5. Plan your day – What you do during the day has an impact on your sleep at night. Make sure you get some form of exercise done during the day, also it is essential that you step out to get some fresh air, avoid drinking coffee in the evening, as it can hinder your sleep cycle if you have it before or close to bedtime. Instead, you can have white tea instead.
6. Power naps – 20 minutes of power napping in the middle of the day will help improve your cognitive functionality. It will help you feel refreshed especially if you are feeling sleep deprived. However, you find yourself tossing at night it is advised that you limit your nap time and take them early on during the day.
With age sleeping could become troublesome due to various reasons. But you can take charge of the situation and make up your mind to get quality sleep as much as possible. You can plan your day, set night time rituals and truly enjoy the process of going to bed each night. Practising these strategies will help you ease anxiety, keep you calm and help you live life to the fullest.
