How to Sleep Better at Night
Updated on 07 Feb 2024 • 5 min read • posted by Tania
Do you often struggle to fall asleep, spending hours laying in your bed eyes wide open? Or perhaps you manage to get to sleep but you have difficulty staying asleep and always wake up tired?
Sleep problems are, unfortunately, pretty common.
Between 10% and 30% of adults suffer from chronic insomnia. What’s more, 4 out of 5 people say they suffer from sleep problems at least once a week, leaving them feeling exhausted the next day. And this can negatively affect your ability to concentrate, and retain information, ultimately impacting your productivity. Indeed, not only does sleep allow your body to repair itself but it also helps your brain consolidate your memory and improves information retention.
To feel at your best, and be productive you need to sleep well. That’s why in this blog post, we’ve decided to share eleven ways to sleep better.
Maintain a Sleep Schedule
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule is equally important for you as an adult as it helps you connect with your natural circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms refer to the internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycles over a period of 24 hours.
A bedtime routine allows your brain to differentiate day and night. Therefore, it’s important to adopt a sleep routine, even on weekends, as it will help to maintain your body’s internal clock and allow you to fall asleep and wake up more easily.
To optimize your body and mind recovery during sleep, you should try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. It’ll help your body's internal clock, improving sleep quality and making it easier to wake up feeling refreshed.
Develop a Wind-Down Ritual
In his book “Why We Sleep”, Matthew Walker emphasizes that to ease into sleep, there’s nothing better than implementing your ideal pre-sleep routine. So, once you’ve decided what time you’ll be going to bed every day, start thinking about what the hour before bedtime should look like. The wind-down ritual should be calming, a way to slow down and organize your thoughts. It can be:
- a hot bath
- lighting some candles
- reading your favorite book
- practicing mindfulness
- turning on relaxation music
- listening to calming stories or audiobooks
- aromatherapy
- minimizing distracting noises.
Avoid Heavy Meals Before Bedtime
This will help you avoid acid reflux and indigestion, and help you sleep better. However, make sure to not go to bed hungry to avoid waking up during the night. Another thing we’d recommend is to eat foods that are high in melatonin such as berries, yogurt, or nuts. And you can also have chamomile or lavender tea to help soothe your mind and relax before sleep.
No Caffeine 8-10 hours Before Sleep
On the Huberman Lab Podcast , Dr. Walker, a sleep expert from UC Berkeley, advised to avoid caffeine in advance. Preferably 8-10 hours before bedtime, ideally 12-14 hours before. Caffeine can drop your deep sleep by 30% and you won’t feel restored by sleep. Consequently, you’ll need to drink a few cups of coffee to wake up perpetuating this cycle of dependency.
Adjust the Sleep Position
Your sleep quality can greatly depend on your sleeping position—back, stomach, or side. While back sleeping was once considered best, it can actually contribute to sleep apnea and snoring for some people.
Side sleeping is often recommended for its potential to improve sleep quality by maintaining natural spine alignment and reducing airway blockages.
Also, the right mattress and pillow will support the preferred position. Side sleepers should choose pillows that support the head, neck, and shoulders. While back sleepers might opt for a thinner pillow to minimize neck strain.
Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation has been proven to help fight insomnia and improve sleep. Practicing for a few minutes before bed will help clear your mind, focus on the moment and prevent you from worrying about the past or the future. Besides, mindfulness meditation triggers a relaxation response in the body, which will help you to fall asleep naturally.
Optimize Your Bedroom for Sleep
As human beings, we should spend approximately one-third of our lives sleeping! One of the best tips for better sleep is to create a good sleep environment. That’s because your brain needs to associate your bedroom with sleep.
Your bedroom should be designed for sleep. It’s not a study, home office, or gym. Therefore, remove all items that don’t relate to sleep. Additionally, pay attention to the temperature of your room. Finding the most comfortable temperature for your sleep environment is crucial. The temperature around 60-67°F is considered optimal for most people.
Avoid Electronics
If you have a TV or a laptop in your bedroom, remove them too. Electronics emit blue light which has been shown to reduce the production of melatonin, a hormone designed to respond to darkness and help us sleep. Besides, watching TV or being on your phone before bed keeps the brain active and engaged, preventing you from sleeping. Keep your phone on airplane mode so you won’t be woken up by notifications. Plus, you’ll still be able to set your alarm.
Place Alarm Clock Far from Bed
Alarm clocks can be very distracting. Staring at the numbers on it can prevent you from relaxing and falling asleep. So, make sure, it’s facing away from you and keep it across the room if you can.
Control the Light Exposure
Light affects the production of melatonin, promoting wakefulness. However, many modern-day activities can affect melatonin production and alter your body's natural rhythm. Here's how to regulate your exposure to light:
During the day:
- Get up and expose yourself to bright sunlight in the morning.
- Spend more time outside during the day.
- Let natural light into your home or workspace.
At night:
- Avoid using bright screens 1-2 hours before bedtime.
- Keep the room dark when it's time to sleep (use blackout curtains).
- Keep the lights down if you get up during the night.
Include Exercise in Your Daily Routine
Exercising is great for both your mental and physical health. But guess what? It’s also amazing to help improve your sleep! Many studies have shown that exercise helps improve the quality of sleep as well as its duration.
The National Sleep Foundation even recommends 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise every day to relieve insomnia and improve sleep quality.
Some aerobic exercises you can do include:
- brisk walking
- swimming
- cycling
- running
- jogging
- playing Tennis, Soccer or Basketball.
And if you want additional exercise tips for better sleep, the foundation also recommends resistance training (up to 12 repetitions a piece), or yoga.
What are the Benefits of Good Sleep
Sleep better at night is essential for our overall well-being and health. So we highlighted the key benefits of good quality sleep:
It restores and rejuvenates, helping us to feel refreshed and energized for the day ahead.
Enhances brain function, allowing us to process and retain new information, improve problem-solving skills, and enhance creativity.
Improves mood and reduces feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression.
Strengthens the immune system and physical health, particularly by promoting cellular repair and recovery.
Sleep Better – Feel Better
Research shows that as adults, we need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night for our brain and body to recharge and reset.
Even though exercising and eating a balanced diet contribute to a healthy lifestyle, sleep is equally important. That’s why you should always make sleep a priority and strive to sleep for 7 hours minimum.
Whether you have a presentation to finish overnight or need to revise for an exam, know that sleep deprivation will negatively impact your productivity and you won’t perform the next day.
So, call it a night, pack your electronics away, turn the lights off and enjoy a restful sleep for better concentration and productivity.
