We understand the pain of someone who lies down on bed and sleep eludes them! As you try every other hack, you know, toss and turn, count sheep and scroll down your Instagram feed, and yet you cannot bring your eyelashes to meet your lower lid. You may wonder how you could do, to fall asleep. Well, don’t worry, we have got you covered, some easy-to-follow tips to help you sleep faster.
The average adult needs at least seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Getting quality sleep can help consolidate your memories, reduce your risk of hypertension, diabetes, and depression. So, how do you improve your sleep hygiene? Well, you can follow these hacks to improve your sleep hygiene and your sleep quality.
Build a Routine
A proper sleep schedule can go a long way in helping you sleep better. While it’s tempting to stay awake and watch your favorite show all night long, it can affect your health in more ways than one. And while speaking of a routine, your sleep schedule during the weekends plays a vital role too.
So, get up at the same time every morning and hit the sack at the same time every night. It may seem impossible for you at first. You gradually get the hang of it, and when your sleep quality starts improving, it becomes easier for you to stick to your routine.
Avoid Naps
Naps are life, but it is like the sugary treat that takes your weight loss goals for a toss. While the teeny-tiny little naps seem enticing, it may affect your nighttime sleep. This is especially true if your nap lasts for over half an hour!
Practice Relaxing Techniques
Tossing and turning in bed or scrolling through social media feed seems like the only thing to do when sleep eludes you. However, it does no good. Instead, try building a soothing routine around bedtime. This is similar to building a nap time routine for children. You could listen to music, read something relaxing, or do something that takes your mind off the stressors in life! Try, these relaxing activities, and again try getting back to sleep.
Reduce Screen Time
Our bodies have a circadian rhythm. This means, as soon as the sun goes down, your pineal gland starts sending melatonin into your bloodstream. So, it is best to dim your lights, especially your blue lights, emanating from your gadgets. So, when you keep your TV lights on, it starts affecting your sleep quality.
It means, even if you fall asleep, you may not get the quality dreamless sleep that will help you feel well-rested. This applies to the use of other gadgets too. While it is enticing to stare into your phone endlessly, it is doing no good to your body, mind, and sleep patterns. So, instead of spending some time with the screen, you can brew yourself a lovely caffeine-free tea, such as basil tea, chamomile, which will lull you to sleep.
Do Not Exercise Before Bedtime
Exercise for at least half an hour every day. However, do not do it too close to your bedtime as it would disrupt your sleep. This happens because when you exercise, there is a steady release of endorphins, which can make you more alert. So instead of slowing down and coerce your mind to restful sleep, it may do just the opposite. It also ups your core body temperature making it impossible to fall into a restful sleep.
Remember how every time something exciting happened in your life and you cannot sleep? Well, this is a similar situation. So, while exercising is important, what is equally important is at what time do you exercise. We prefer to do away with our exercise before lunch. You choose what works for you.
These are just a few of the many hacks that could help you fall asleep with ease. Besides these, you could also try changing your diet, the time you wake up every day, and follow a healthy routine. However, none of these hacks work. Talk to your healthcare professional as it could be a sign of an underlying illness. Your doctor should be able to identify the problem and help you overcome it too!