*This is a collaborative post*
Getting a good night’s sleep can have a noticeable effect on both your body and mind. The rest you get will impact on your focus and attention span, your mood and irritability, and basically your overall performance each day. Many people would agree that they do not get enough sleep, as on average an adult should be getting around 6-8 hours or more each night. It’s not just about the amount of sleep you get, as if it is all very light and poor quality you will wake to feel even more tired. Luckily, there are a few simple things you can do to improve both the length and standard of your sleep in order to get out of bed every morning feeling refreshed and ready to face whatever the day ahead throws at you. If you often your eyes slowly closing at your desk or dread the thought of having to drag yourself from the comfort of your duvet, implement these hacks into your daily life to see a dramatic shift in your sleeping patterns!
Photo by elizabeth lies on Unsplash
Address Your Stress
The most common reason for a bad night sleep is an excess of stress. This stress will only get worse when you wake up feeling exhausted, so it can seem tough to break the cycle. Addressing the root causes of why you’re not feeling so great is the best place to start. When you find yourself lying in bed at night thinking, write down those thoughts on a piece of paper. This can help you to feel as though its been extracted from your mind to face in the morning, and when you do get around to reading the note you can decide what to do. Sometimes just the process of putting pen to paper can help you realise that whatever you are worrying about shouldn’t be given the power to stop you from sleeping. If your troubling thoughts need some attention, make time for yourself and think of some ways to handle the situation to defuse the issue and seek a solution. If you’re having some troubles at home, find some family law lawyers that can give you professional advice and help you with the legal side of the matter. Perhaps your workload is too high or you do not enjoy your job, as many people complain of employment related stresses keeping them up at night. It’s important to remember that you are not alone in any situation, and there will always be somewhere there to support and assist you if you just reach out to them and let them know that you aren’t alright.
Eat Better, Move More
The lifestyle you lead can have a huge impact on your sleeping pattern. The things you eat and drink and the amount of sport and exercise you do each week will ultimately determine the quality of your rest, as without enough care and attention your health can suffer as well as your sleep. There are things like CBD oil, which are said to help with sleep amongst other things, but this seems like a band-aid, rather than a solution and ignores the more fundamental factors.
Your entire diet can affect your night’s sleep, but your caffeine consumption will alter this more than anything else. When you are struggling to stay awake, you may want to turn to a big mug of coffee in attempt to perk you up. However, if you are drinking any after lunch time it can affect your ability to actually fall asleep and the quality of your rest when your eyes eventually close. Kicking the habit might be tough to begin with, so it’s important you can understand that a caffeine dependence will cause havoc inside your body, your mind and your sleep. What you eat each day will have an impact too, but especially the final meal or snack. Making sure you can rest easy without feeling hungry is essential, but make sure that you don’t eat any spicy or fatty foods before bed that can cause irritation to your stomach and reflux in the night. It’s hard to get outside and exercise, especially when you’re tired and grouchy, but it can greatly improve the quality of the sleep you get. When you go to bed after a day exerting energy, you have a greater chance of spending more time in a ‘deep sleep’ state (this is supposedly the most healing cycle for your body to enter during sleep), so you are more likely to wake up feeling more refreshed and invigorated. As well as this, you are using up your excess energy stores when you burn up a sweat, so you will be able to sleep for an increased length due to feeling a little more tired and burned out. Doing some form of exercise regularly will not only improve your sleep, but many other sections of your overall health and well-being too. You may believe you are too busy as a parent, but there are so many ways you can get active with your family so there aren’t many excuses not to get started.
Making The Right Environment
Your bedroom layout, the quality of your mattress and pillows, and just about every other thing inside your bedroom can affect your sleep. Maintaining a cool temperature during the night is said to make the best environment for a good night’s rest, so keep a fan handy when the summer rolls around. Make sure that no light can enter through your windows by investing in some kind of blackout blinds or curtains, otherwise as soon as the sun rises you will be woken up by the rays. Keep your phone or tablet out of reach so you are not tempted to switch them on during the night, as the artificial white light from the screen can actually force you to stay awake as your body associates this with daytime. Without a comfortable bed, you will have absolutely no chance of sleeping well. It’s so important that you invest in the right frame, mattress, duvet and pillows that suits your own preferences and can make you feel relaxed and ready to fall asleep.
Destress, eat right, move often and change your bedroom to get the best night sleep ever.
