Sleep affects every part of our lives in a tremendous way, and we often take that for granted. Not enough quality sleep? You’ll encounter frequent brain fog, a lack of energy for standard daily activities, and significantly more stress and emotional distress. Needing more quality sleep is no joke, so we want to give you everything you need to know so you can get your best sleep at night.
Wind Down Earlier
The days of watching TV and browsing on your computer until midnight are behind you. That kind of life might be doable in college, but it’s certainly not doable now (and let’s be clear: it’s never been healthy). Make it a habit to cut electronics off a couple of hours before bed to allow your brain to wind down without the distraction of your favorite TV show. If you can, try to get in bed about 30 minutes before you’d like to go to sleep and spend that time reading or chatting casually with your partner. Have trouble doing this consistently? Set an alarm to remind yourself that it’s time to cut things off and wind down.
Don’t Let Heavy Thoughts and Emotions Keep You Up
Got a lot on your mind? Instead of reading for 30 minutes before bed, try writing, and get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper. That’ll be incredibly beneficial if you’re one of those people who stews on heavy thoughts at night. Allow yourself some grace to get those thoughts out and to pick them back up in the morning. Also, if you decide to chat with your partner before bed, steer clear of heavy subjects. Emotions tend to run high at night when you’re tired, so keep it pretty casual to stay away from spats that might keep you up or cause emotional distress.
Leave the Phone Outside the Bedroom
Our smartphones are the worst culprits robbing us of good sleep. Whether we’re checking emails, browsing Instagram, or looking through old photos, they somehow manage to keep us up when we’re not intentional about putting them away. Smartphones now have a blue-light blocker to keep the brain from being physically effected (blue light is known to keep the brain stimulated), but that’s simply not enough. Put your phone outside of the bedroom so that you don’t browse it til all hours of the night – blue lights blocked or not.
Utilize Lavender, Chamomile, and White Noise
Perhaps your body just has a tough time canceling out energies that aren’t calming. If you’re someone that wakes up in the middle of the night with lots of thoughts and the jitters, try diffusing a little lavender oil with some chamomile, two scents known for their calming effects. Lastly, fall asleep (and stay asleep) with a white noise machine that cancels out creaks and odd room noise.
Don’t Get Too Much Sleep
Too much sleep can have the same effect as not enough sleep, so ensure that you’re setting an alarm and sticking to it. Snoozing is a very bad way to get sleep, so do your best to be up and at ’em after one alarm ring. Generally speaking, plan to get your good sleep on the PM side of your sleep
instead of the AM side of it.
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