Insomnia and other sleeping disorders impact 50-70 million American adults. They can make it hard to fall asleep, limit how restful your sleep can be, or even make it difficult to stay asleep. This lack of sleep can hurt your productivity, your focus, your athletic performance and even hurt your mood.
Thankfully, there are some things you can do to beat insomnia and improve the quality of the sleep you are getting every night. This article is going to take a closer look at a few of them to help you get the rest you deserve.
Optimize Your Sleep Environment
The first tip is to optimize your sleeping environment. This often begins with your mattress. Your mattress needs to not only provide comfort, but it also needs to support your body. Be sure to do some research and find the best mattress for your needs, and always make sure to get the right size.
However, there is more to your sleeping environment than a mattress. You also need to think about the bedding you choose, your pillow, the temperature of your bedroom, how quiet the room can get, and more.
Sleep and Wake at Consistent Times
The times in which you go to sleep and wake up can also have an impact on the quality of your rest. Our body gets used to certain sleep and wake times, and the closer you stick to those, the better your sleep will be. If you are always waking up and going to bed at different times, it can be very confusing to your body.
It will be unsure whether it should be producing hormones that are waking you up, or ones that are helping you sleep. Of course, your sleep schedule doesn’t need to be exact, but it should be relatively close.
Wind Down Before Going to Bed
If you want to sleep better, find time to relax and unwind before going to sleep. If you try to sleep right after watching an action movie or after working out, you may find it challenging. This is because your body will not have had the chance to release the relaxation hormones required to help us sleep.
Always take an hour (or more) before bed to wind down and destress before attempting to sleep. If not, you may find it harder than usual to sleep, and may not wake up feeling your best, either.
Watch What You Eat
While everyone knows not to drink coffee before bed, that isn’t the only thing you need to watch out for. Oftentimes, eating certain things before bed can make it harder to fall asleep, or can lead you to wake up more during the night. In particular, you want to watch out for overly heavy foods, foods that are very spicy, or incredibly protein-heavy meals. If you do need to eat before bed, keep it light and healthy.
Consider Going to a Professional
If the other things we have mentioned haven’t been able to help, it’s a good idea to reach out to a professional. They are educated on all things sleep and can help identify why your sleep is poor, and what you can do to improve it. They may recommend medication for you, some natural sleep aids or even changes to your lifestyle.
In conclusion, we hope this article has been able to help you improve your sleep. While it can take some time to fix a bad sleeping schedule, it can certainly be done.
