Whether you are trying to resolve a specific sleep problem, or just want to feel more productive, mentally sharp, and emotionally balanced during the day, investing in your nightly seven to nine hours’ shut-eye is an investment in your quality of life.
It is a myth that your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules. Most people can reset their biological clock, but this is a gradual process that takes time. For instance, it can take more than a week to adjust after traveling across time zones or switching to the night shift.
Experiment with any of the following sleep tips to see which work best for you:
Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Support your biological clock by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends.
Improve your sleep environment. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool and remove all electronic equipment like laptops and cell phones. Resist the urge to read e-mails or checking social media in bed. Reserve your bed for sleeping and not for work.
Develop a relaxing bedtime routine. Avoid stressful conversations or disturbing TV shows late at night. Instead, wind down and calm your mind by taking a warm bath, reading by a dim light, listening to calming music or practicing a relaxation technique to prepare for sleep.
Regular exercise can improve the symptoms of many sleep disorders. Aim for 30 minutes or more of activity on most days — not too close to bedtime. If you do not have time for a gym routine, a brisk walk with the dog would do wonders to clear your head.
Take a closer look at your habits and particularly what you eat and drink. Smoking or consuming too much caffeine, alcohol, and sugary foods can all disrupt your sleep, as can eating heavy meals or drinking a lot of fluids too close to bedtime.
If the stress of managing work and family life, relationship problems or deadlines are keeping you awake at night, you need to seek help with stress management. We cannot really avoid stress but facing and handling it in a productive way can help us sleep better at night.
Keep a notebook next to your bed. If you wake up during the night feeling anxious about something, make a brief note of it and actively postpone worrying about it until the next day. Plan your diary to resolve your worries and meet your obligations in day time.
Rule out medical causes for your sleep disturbance. It may be a symptom of a physical or mental health issue, or a side-effect of medication you are taking. You might be suffering from adrenal fatigue and will need to see a doctor for blood tests. A visit to a sleep clinic will expose sleep apnoea, a common cause for excessive snoring which could result in a heart attack if not addressed.
There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount your body needs to function optimally. Just because you are able to operate on six or seven hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed.
