You’ve tossed and turned all night. Every time you look at your clock, it’s a different time—eleven pm. One am. Three am. Pretty soon, it will be time for you to get up and go to work, and once again, you haven’t gotten an adequate night of quality sleep.
You aren’t alone. Estimates are that anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of the global population has trouble falling asleep at night. This number jumps to 50 to 60 percent for certain demographics, including the elderly. Your suffering doesn’t have to continue. You can train your body to fall into a deep and restful sleep using these hacks to get the quality of sleep you need.
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“Power Down” At Least An Hour Before Bed
Sometimes we end up having trouble sleeping because we are in work or activity mode when we should be getting ready for bed. Most of us continue preparing for the next day, working or scrolling on our phones just minutes before we go to bed. Then we are surprised when we can’t slip into sleep.
You won’t be able to sleep if your body hasn’t been prepared for it. Just as you prepare for a session at the gym with warm-ups and stretches, prepare to go to bed every night.
What does that involve? Firstly, you should try to finish all next day preparations at least two hours before going to bed. Stop scrolling on your phone, tablet, or any other activity you do at night at least half an hour before you go to sleep. The idea is to get your body into the habit of relaxing enough that falling asleep easily once you go to bed should be routine. Just as you power down your devices at night, you should also allow your body to do the same.
Establish Good Sleep Habits
The above is just one part of establishing good sleep habits. The others are reducing interruptions or events that will make it troublesome for you to fall asleep or stay asleep. Having good sleep hygiene dictates that you do this. It will be all the better for you to Snooze EZ at night when you need it most. For example, you should turn off your devices so that notifications do not wake you up in the middle of the night.
Additionally, you should try to go to bed at the same time every night. The body gets into the habit of being in bed at a certain time and prepares itself accordingly. Try to maintain this sleep schedule even on weekends and holidays so that the habit of going to sleep at that time becomes ingrained. Try to wake up at the same time in the morning as well.
Make Your Bedroom A Sleep Heaven
Do not bring your work, or any other activity, into your bed other than sleep. When you do this, your body stops associating your bed with sleep and stays in work mode, TV watching mode, or phone scrolling mode. Confine sleep to your bed, and eventually, your body will get the idea.
Make your bedroom as conducive to sleep as possible. Therefore, it should be a comfortable temperature. It will help if your walls are painted in what is considered a relaxing color, such as shades of blue and green. Your bed linens should also be as comfortable as you can make them. A mattress or pillows that are too hard or soft could be wrecking your sleep. Your sheets and blankets could also be keeping your body too warm or be making your skin itch.
Watch The Caffeine
Coffee, tea, and energy drinks give us the energy we need to keep going throughout our day. If you find yourself reaching for those beverages after six in the evening, you may be setting yourself up for a sleepless night.
These beverages, or the caffeine contained within them, are meant to stimulate the nervous system and increase awareness. While this enhances your performance during the day, it’s the worst possible thing to drink at night when you want to sleep.
Commit to not having these drinks later than three in the afternoon. If you must have coffee later, consider switching to decaf.
Break Out The Lavender And Chamomile
There are several natural remedies that the sleepless have sworn by for centuries to help them fall asleep. Of late, science has also backed up the efficacy of these folk remedies. These are lavender and chamomile.
Did you know that chamomile can be consumed as a tea to promote relaxation before bedtime? Meanwhile, you can have a warm bath or shower with lavender-scented soap. Lavender has been shown to have beneficial effects on sleep.
Not being able to sleep at night is unfortunate. Not to worry though, there are several methods you can employ to get the sleep you need.
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