I’ve been through phases in my life when sleep eludes me. Sometimes I blame my children but they’re not always the cause. I know when my body needs better quality sleep because my brain craves it. When I’m lacking sleep everything is difficult. I get short-tempered, my head aches and even simple tasks become a burden.
Do you stir at the slightest noise? Do you find it difficult to drift off into a deep sleep? Once you identify the causes of these problems, not only will your sleep improve but everything in your day will seem easier once you’re in the pattern of getting a good night’s sleep. I know what a difference it makes to me when I get a truly restful better quality sleep.
Itching to find out some hidden sleep traps that are possibly affecting the quality of your sleep? Then let’s check them out!
Do you think that you sleep well enough at night? Chances are, if you’re reading this right now, you suspect that you aren’t sleeping as well as you would like.
But worry not, as there are simple things you can change tonight that will greatly improve your quality of sleep.
While overall amount of sleep is important, it is equally important that your time asleep be truly restorative.
Here are the 5 tricks to getting better quality sleep…
Tip 1: Turn Off All the Lights – Sleep In The Dark
The number of people sleeping with the lights on has consistently increased, with their reasons ranging from trivial to extreme.
However, to get better quality sleep you need to understand that what often coincides with this exposure to light is disruption of your body’s natural circadian rhythm.
In the dark, the neurotransmitter/hormone melatonin is produced, which promotes deep restful, better quality sleep.
However, artificial exposure to light breaks down this chemical, so that you are not truly experiencing the restorative effects of deep sleep.
The simple fix to this is to ensure you sleep in a room as dark as possible. You should notice a difference in the way your body feels following a week of better quality sleep in the dark.
Tip 2: Get Rid of the Noise to Stop Sounds Waking You Often
Let’s say that your room is perfectly dark, but you are still tossing and turning due to the tiniest annoying noise. Let’s just say true silence is deafening. What can be done about that?
Obviously sound proofing is a viable option, but there is one thing that is superior to that.
Introducing white noise, a controlled, consistent low “hum” that tends to drown out other minor nuisances.
Take for example a fan running in the room. It is not noisy enough to be acutely annoying, but is still soothing with its ever present whirring.
There also exist specialized white noise machines (see the image on the left or click here), which can mimic sounds such as rain, a fan or waves gently crashing on the shoreline. They can also provide their own specific “white noises” which drown out other sounds gently.
By using white noise, from a ceiling fan or a white noise machine, it can contribute to a truly serene sleep experience. I know many people who have had no success with any other sleep techniques find success by using
Tip 3: Earlier Meals – Don’t Eat Too Much Before Bed
Though it might sound straightforward that eating too close to bedtime is a bad plan, a staggeringly large number of people still do so religiously, night after night. This poses a problem for a couple reasons.
Firstly, eating a large meal causes food to rest on your stomach for a longer time, which can cause discomfort and inability to sleep.
Secondly, with food in your stomach, the likelihood of experiencing reflux is much higher when you lay down. Many people experience nocturnal acid reflux, which can be serious if inhaled into the lungs unconsciously.
Tip 4: Stop Consuming Stimulants Late Into The Day
Most of us drink some sort of stimulant based beverage during the day, whether that be coffee, tea, soda or something else similar. If you’re not sure which drinks contain stimulants, you’ll need to do a bit of research online to make sure you’re not sabotaging your chance to sleep.
These are generally accepted to be safe, but can be troublesome when taken too late in the day.
While caffeine is common in many of them, it does take about 4 hours to be completely eliminated by the body.
So, if you go to bed at 10pm every night, keep clear of stimulating drinks after 6pm if you must have one last booster late during the day. After that time, try to stick to decaffinated coffee or a herbal tea instead.
Tip 5: How Old is Your Mattress – Is it Letting You Down?
When a bout of sleeplessness ensues, the first thing people seem to turn to is some sort of sleep aid.
While there are good and bad sleep aids, other avenues should be explored first. Your mattress is one such avenue.
If you’ve had your mattress for more than a few years, chances are it’s less effective than it was previously. This may be an easy fix for better quality sleep. Springs go out of place, sponge sinks in and bed bugs accumulate. All of these issues make sleep less restorative and instead a nightly battle.
Assess the condition of your mattress and the mattress topper if you have one. It may be time to go shopping.
And even if your mattress looks like it’s still in good condition you may want to consider an all-natural mattress as a change from your current one. Some people react to the fire-retardant and other chemicals in their mattress. We spend a third of our lives on our bed so I believe you should try to make it as comfortable and as natural as possible. Take a look at this all-natural mattress, click here.
Ultimately you need to assess each of these 5 ways to get better quality sleep. But if you want to start with one and try it, this could make a big difference straight away.
Here are some more articles you may be interested in reading…
⇒ Want the best natural latex mattress for better sleep? See it here.
⇒ Would sleep music help you to relax at night? See more details here.
⇒ How to make lavender pillow spray to prepare your bedroom for better sleep. See how to do it here.