6 Smart Bedtime Habits to Adopt to Sleep Better
By Nmami Agarwal 05-Mar 2022 Reading Time: 4 Mins
It’s easier for some people to sleep, but for some, it is quite a struggle. A night of good sleep is essential for health and well-being. A person’s good sleep is deeply ingrained in a person’s lifestyle. As we all already know, sleeping directly affects the mental and the physical state of a person, it can also take a toll on your daytime energy, emotional balance, productivity, and even your weight. Struggling for sleep can show up in your daily activities.
Here are some tips for better sleeping-
1- Sticking to a schedule
Sleeping for eight hours every day is a basic necessity for a healthy adult, try and maintain a sleep schedule like waking up at the same time every day and sleeping at a fixed time. Try to limit any differences in the sleeping schedule on weekends or weekdays. Having a consistent routine helps the body reinforce a sleep-wake cycle.
2- Paying attention to food and nutrition
Going to bed hungry or full can be a problem. Avoid stuffing yourself before heading to bed, having heavy or large meals can lead to discomfort before sleeping. Avoid caffeine before bed as well, since it can affect quality sleep.
3- Creating a peaceful environment
Having the perfect environment for sleep and creating a level of comfort is also important before going to sleep. Exposure to light can make it challenging to fall asleep. Avoid looking at screens for too long before bed, consider room-darkening shades for the wall, or use plugs that create an environment for you to sleep.
Try practicing any calming activity that suits you before going to bed, taking a bath can be one of them.
4- Limit daytime naps
Having long daytime naps can affect the quality of night sleep, limit your daytime naps to about half an hour and avoid doing that later in the day. Spending time outside can help tire the body out and control day naps.
5- Less Stress
Stress before sleep can lead to overthinking and it increases brain activity, which eventually doesn’t let a person sleep. Try resolving your daily tasks and worries before bedtime, and jot down any points that you need to remember and set them aside for the next day.
Managing stress is a good start and might help in the future, start with the basics like sorting and delegating tasks.
6- Including physical activity
Having a good routine with workout benefits the body in many ways including tiring the body out and increasing the heart rate. One thing you should keep in mind is to not be too active right before sleep since the adrenaline rush from the activity can affect the sleep routine.
Footnote-
The biggest problems that can lead to bad sleeping habits are unhealthy daytime habits or bad lifestyle choices and affect the mood, behavior, heart health, creativity, vitality, and weight of a person.