We all know how important sleep is for both our physical and mental health, but it’s definitely gotten a lot harder to prioritize this, especially with everything else going on in our lives. When our days are filled with endless tasks and responsibilities, sleep begins to take a backseat in our priority list, but this can be detrimental to our overall well-being.
A lot of things happen during these seven to eight hours each night, and most of these revolve around restoring and repairing the body. It’s during sleep that the body undergoes restorative processes for physical rejuvenation such as muscle growth and repair. Sleep is also crucial for the optimal functioning of your cognitive functions like critical thinking, memory retention, and problem-solving abilities, as well as emotional processing.
These are only some of the many benefits that you can reap, but only when you get enough sleep each night. While it may seem hard to do this in our busy and fast-paced world, these tips and tricks may help you snooze much more easily at the end of every day.
Contents
Establish a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Our bodies follow a specific rhythm throughout the day called the circadian rhythm, which dictates many processes in the body, including alertness and sleepiness. By going to bed and waking up around the same time every day, your body’s internal clock will learn to align itself with this consistency and help you achieve a much more restful sleep more easily.
This is because you’re allowing your body to anticipate when it’s time to sleep and wake up by sticking to this regular schedule. You’ll actually also find that you’ll wake up feeling refreshed and energized for the day ahead of you.
Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
As important as it is to stick to a regular sleep schedule, the activities leading up to your sleep are also important as these can help signal your body that it’s time to wind down. When choosing activities, make sure to stick to more calming and relaxing activities rather than intense and stimulating ones. Some examples include reading a book, taking a warm bath, indulging in a skincare routine, or engaging in some light stretching or yoga.
With that, it’s also crucial that you avoid bright screens and devices at least an hour before your bedtime including your phones, tablets, laptops, and televisions. Extensive research has been done on the effects of screen time on sleep quality, many of which have found that the exposure to the blue light emitted by your devices makes it significantly harder to fall asleep.
Optimize Your Sleep Environment
To help your body wind down more smoothly, it’s best to create an environment that’s conducive to restful sleep. This includes closing the blinds to shut out any bright lights from outside, as well as reducing as much noise as you can. You can also invest in some comfortable sheets for your bed, as well as pajamas to help you feel much more comfortable.
Another great way to make your bedroom feel more soothing and relaxing is by lowering the temperature. Your air conditioner can play a major role in the quality of your sleep as it helps lower your body’s temperature to more optimal levels, but this can only happen when your unit is properly cared for.
Regular maintenance is one of the best ways to ensure that your AC is working at its best, and Luce air conditioning services cover a wide range of your air conditioning needs such as installations, cleanings, repairs, and maintenance to help you improve the quality of your sleep.
Exercise Regularly
Engaging in regular physical activity can help improve your sleep quality by depleting your energy and aiding in the lowering of your core body temperature. It’s recommended that you get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most of the time, but it’s important that you avoid any intense or vigorous workouts too close to bedtime. Activities like running, HIIT workouts, and others can stimulate your mind and body too much and make it harder to sleep.
Limit Naps Throughout the Day
While short naps that span around 20 minutes can help give you that shot of energy you need, taking anything longer during the day can severely disrupt your sleep patterns and make it harder to sleep at night. When taking naps, it’s best to limit this to around 20 to 30 minutes and to schedule this earlier in the day to avoid interfering with your nighttime sleep.
It may seem like we’re constantly bombarded with things that we have to do, but remember that it’s also important to take the time to rest. Getting enough sleep every day will ensure that you’re functioning at your best both physically and mentally, which will allow you to make the most out of your day and put your best foot forward.
