“I can’t imagine doing what I do without a good night’s sleep.” — Serena Williams
According to The Sleep Foundation’s Research found that people who get 7–8 hours sleep have:
- better memory then people who slept less then 8 hours
- people felt less stress then usual that leads to better mental health
- height spike in energy level as compare to people didn’t meet there sleep requirement
Basically, a good night’s sleep is like nature’s energy drink.
So what is sleep hygiene anyway?
It’s just a habit that helps to have a good sleep
Good sleep hygiene is a must because of how necessary getting good sleep is for our both mental and physical health, as well as for our overall quality of life.
Anything you do during the day, not just before bed, can affect the quality of your sleep. This could include any of:
- Food and drink choices
- Schedule
- Evening routine
If you don’t sleep well, you can take several steps, both during the day and before you go to bed, to improve your sleep.
Let’s take a closer look at 4 ways to improve your sleep hygiene for better sleep.
Here are some tips to improve your sleep
1. Create a calming bedtime routine and Maintain it
“Sleep is the best meditation.”
— Dalai Lama
Finding an ideal bedtime routine always takes time you should do an experiment
Try different things:
- Read your favorite book you have not finished
- You don’t have to drain all your energy before your bedtime
- Trying journaling to know yourself better its just like dating yourself
- You can do this simple exercise Stretch, breathe, and relax
- You can listen to your favorite music
Once you tried different things you can see what things really work for you and you just need to follow them.
2. Create a calming atmosphere in your bedroom
The environment is a powerful force that shapes our behavior. If you want to change your habits, you need to change your environment.”- james clear
This is one of the best quotes from the Atomic Habit
Our environment does affect us before bedtime so here are some things you can do to make your atmosphere calming
- Dim the lights
- Set the room temperature according to your needs
- Make your bed
Doing these little things can help you harmonize with the calming atmosphere.
3. Control your light exposure
“The bedroom is a sanctuary for sleep. It should be dark, quiet, and cool.” — Dr. Matthew Walker, author of “Why We Sleep”
Remember those when you couldn’t able to sleep just because of those lights
well because our body produces melatonin which produces the growth hormone that helps us to sleep
So close the lights and say no to screen time before bedtime routine.
3. Say no to caffeine before your bedtime
“Sometimes ‘no’ is the kindest word.”
— Vironika Tugaleva
Caffeine can interfere with your sleep. It blocks adenosine, a chemical that helps us to sleep
Even if you drink caffeine six hours before bed, it can disrupt your sleep.
Try to limit your daily caffeine intake to 400 milligrams. Don’t have more than 200 milligrams in one sitting.
4. Manage your stress
The truth is unless you let go — forgive yourself, forgive the situation, realize the past is over — you cannot move forward. — Steve Maraboli
When we wake up, we just want to complete our to-do list as soon as possible, but when we can’t tick off all the tasks on our to-do list, we just feel a lot of regrets, and we wish that we could have done better.
We come to realize that it’s okay to slow down and work at our own pace. In the end, valuable things need time to build.
Many things happen during your day, but at bedtime, you shouldn’t dwell on them and Let go of the past.
The final words
It’s a gentle reminder that it may take some time to find your calming bedtime routine but in the end, it’s worth it.
