5 Simple Tips To Improve Your Sleep

Roughly one out of every three adults is sleep deprived. That’s a startling statistic, especially when you consider the severe consequences of sleep deprivation. A lack of sleep could lead to auto accidents, heart disease, obesity, and difficulty remembering past events. 

When you can’t get enough rest each night, you may wake up feeling confused or find it difficult to concentrate. Fortunately, you can improve your sleep by adopting a few healthy habits or trying out a few tricks. 

Let’s explore five of some of the best tips to improve sleep.

1. Just Say No

One of the best things you can do to improve your sleep is to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bedtime. These substances can change your psychological state and make it tricky to fall asleep. Alcohol may also disrupt standard sleep patterns, causing you to wake during the night or potentially sleepwalk.

Suppose you’ve been struggling with alcohol or nicotine addiction. In that case, there’s an excellent reason to find support and minimize your usage: More restful sleep that may result in a healthier body and happier mind.

2. Separate Your Environments

Are you spending hours each night working, watching TV, or exercising in your bedroom? If you’ve made a special place on your nightstand just for your laptop, it may be time to cut the cord. Not literally, of course!

Separating your sleep environment from your work and play areas is crucial to achieving high quality sleep. That’s because our brains build associations between places, activities, and states of being. When you lie down on a bed, you may begin to feel drowsy even if you were previously feeling energetic.

Alternatively, you might be able to wake yourself in the afternoon by taking a shower if you typically start your day with a quick shampoo and rinse. 

3. Enjoy a Nightly Massage

Massage therapy can help you feel relaxed and comfortable. And when your muscles aren’t cramping with tension and stress, you’ll probably be able to fall asleep more easily. However, live-in massage therapists can be pricey and difficult to find.

You may want to consider investing in an at-home massage therapy machine. The best option for you depends on your everyday pain points, and there are several different types of massage devices. 

The foot and calf massager could help work away painful pressure points, keeping you awake at night. You could also choose to get a handheld massage gun, but this option could be too powerful for the average shopper.

4. Lower Your Bedroom’s Temperature

If you’ve ever had trouble falling asleep due to high temperatures, then you’re not alone. When the air around us is too warm and humid, it can be challenging to catch some z’s. If possible, try lowering your bedroom’s temperature before sleep each night.

You can do this by installing a fan, lowering your home’s AC, or purchasing a miniature, portable AC unit. The ideal temperature for sleep is about 65℉. Just make sure that your bed’s comforter or blankets are comfy enough to snuggle down into!

5. Create a Pre-Sleep Ritual

Let’s take a moment to revisit the concept of associations. If you’ve followed the above steps, but you still struggle to fall and stay asleep, it may be time to develop a pre-sleep ritual.

This might sound a little strange, but it’s actually a thoughtful way of using your brain’s associations for good. Just as you might be able to sleep better in a room that you associate with sleep, you may be able to gain better rest by performing a series of actions each night before bed.

These actions could be as simple as brushing your teeth, washing your face, and reading part of a book. You could also choose to spend fifteen minutes dancing, then dress down into your pajamas before getting a glass of water. 

You can customize your pre-sleep ritual to include almost anything, though caffeinated beverages and over stimulating forms of entertainment (looking at you Netflix bingers) might be a poor choice. Suppose you can commit to performing your series of actions each night before sleep. In that case, your brain will begin to develop associations between those patterns of activities and a feeling of sleepiness.

Final Thoughts

Not getting enough sleep can be especially harmful. But improving your sleep quality doesn’t have to be tricky or expensive. By avoiding certain substances before bedtime, you could ensure that your body is prepared to rest and stay resting. 

When you separate your work environments, your mind will develop positive associations with your spaces that may help you fall asleep more easily. And lowering your bedroom’s temperature might help you snuggle beneath the blankets and enjoy some high quality slumber.

Lastly, creating a pre-sleep ritual may help reinforce associations and result in a heightened state of relaxation, ensuring a great night’s sleep.