Six Simple Tips for a Better Nights Sleep

Six Simple Tips for a Better Nights Sleep

A solid breakfast is a great way to start your day. But an even better way to start your day is getting a good nights sleep. Unfortunately, for many, getting a good nights sleep is easier said than done.

Mild sleep deprivation can not only wreak havoc with your productivity levels, it can wreak havoc with your general sense of well being. Recent studies even suggested that a sleep deprived person consumes up to 500 extra calories per day.

Should you find yourself trying to solve the puzzle of a good nights sleep, here are six tips that should send you moving in the right direction.

Limit Your Caffeine Consumption

If you’re a coffee fan, the first step towards getting a good nights sleep is to limit your daily caffeine intake. Caffeine is a stimulant and when consumed in sufficient quantities it can mess with just about anybodies sleep patterns.

For most people, cutting out caffeine beverages after six pm is enough to prevent sleep disturbances. Different people consume caffeine at different rates however and for some, it’s necessary to abstain from four pm.

Get More Exercise

In general, the more active you are during the day, the easier it will be for you to fall asleep at the end of it. If you’re job requires that you spend large portions of your day sitting down, trouble drifting off is therefore only natural.

Regular visits to the gym are obviously ideal but if you don’t have the time or the inclination, there are many alternative ways to get a bit of daily exercise.

Eat Early or Eat Light

If you eat a large meal late in the evening, you’re likely to find that your body is still digesting the food when you go to bed. Not only is feeling full when you’re going to sleep uncomfortable, it can make it significantly more difficult to drift off.

The solution is simple, either eat earlier or eat lighter. Of course, it’s important not to go too far in the opposite direction either. Waking up hungry in the middle of the night isn’t going to help your sleep patterns very much either.

Establish a Nightly Routine

Sometimes, it can be difficult to go from active mode to sleep mode. An easy way around this problem is to come up with a nightly routine that your body will slowly start to associate with sleep.

Reading a book or magazine is known to be highly effective but a bit of writing or web surfing can do the trick just as well. The point is to choose something that you find relaxing.

Keep Your Bedroom for Sleep

Another important part of letting your body know that it’s time to go to sleep is keeping the bedroom exclusively for sleeping. Other than intimacy, your bedroom should be reserved for its primary purpose, letting you get some rest.

Never work in your bedroom, don’t watch television there and if you want to talk to someone, keep the conversation light. Get into the habit of associating your bedroom with slumber.

Go to Bed on Time

Finally, it doesn’t matter how well you sleep if your alarm clock is going to wake you up five hours after you doze off. An essential part of getting a good nights sleep is therefore simply going to bed on time.

While many adults can function perfectly well on seven hours sleep per night, others need eight or nine hours. Establish how much sleep you need and get into the habit of going to sleep early enough to get it.