A good sleep is vital for good health and can allow you to make healthier decisions for yourself and family.
In present world, many people have got themselves into a habit of cutting down on their sleep primarily due to work or family priorities.
In recent times it has also been observed that many people are cutting out on their sleep for fun and other activities.
This has essentially caused sleep deprivation as people are less vigilant on improving their lifestyle to sleep better.
While many people are realizing the importance of being healthy a common notion around health and staying healthy has always been to exercise more or be physically active.
Sleep is mostly undermined and considered less important by many since due to lack of proper sleep you really don’t get to see any major adverse effects so soon.
Sleep disorder is one of the most prominent health issues in developed countries like United States. One in every three adults in United States is found to get less sleep than the recommended amount of sleep.
For a healthy adult the recommended amount of sleep is 7 hours or more.
As per recent studies, not getting enough sleep is linked to many chronic diseases and conditions such as – type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression.
Their are other major side effects of not getting enough sleep which are – Motor vehicle accidents and human error at work.
Mostly the reason for these have been found to be less sleep and cause serious injuries to the person and others around them.
Sleep disorders though may seem minor at first can be serious health issues and can often be diagnosed and treated.
Now as we understand that a good sleep is not just a luxury but essential for everybody let us learn how to sleep better and fast.
Tips on how to sleep better and beat Insomnia
Complex problems can have simpler solutions.
Simple changes to lifestyle can bring a huge difference in your quality of sleep which will eventually improve your health and improve your professional as well as personal life.
Here are the 10 ways to sleep fast and better
Program your body to keep regular sleep hours
Our body is quite programmable which means that if you tend to do certain things at certain time during the day, it aligns itself to that timing.
Good thing is that you can try to train your body quite easily for all such stuffs including sleep.
The amount of sleep you need changes as you age.
To get better sleep, plan to get to bed and wake up roughly at the same time everyday.
Following this routine for few days and weeks will start enabling your body to accustom to it and will improve your body response to sleep during these times.
Get better sleep by changing your mattress and pillow
Sleep is the time your body plans to recover from fatigue and do other maintenance activities which are essential for maintaining good health.
An uncomfortable bed, mattress or pillow may therefore spoil your sleep experience and even though you may sleep for long hours, you won’t get good quality sleep.
It is therefore recommended to ensure you have a comfortable bed to get a quality sleep.
If you have a mattress that is either too soft or too hard for you then it may be time to get a new one for you. Same goes for pillows as well.
If you have a smaller bed, or the bed is too old, cranky and noisy then you may want to replace it with one that fits you and your needs.
An uncomfortable bed will just make you more eager to keep tossing and turning while you sleep and will degrade your quality of sleep.
As a result you will be more tired even after sleeping for long hours. Therefore, go for a new bed, mattress or pillow that suits your needs.
Create a restful sleeping environment
A bedroom should serve the purpose it is meant to serve.
It should be a peaceful place for rest, sleep, recover and enable you to function properly for rest of the day.
Ensure your bedroom temperature, lightning and noise is controlled so that you can sleep fast quick and easy.
If you are living in a place with high temperature, ensure the bedroom is well ventilated and you have mechanism to keep you cool and comfy.
If however you are living in a place with low temperature then ensure to keep your room warm and cosy.
You can use room heater to keep the bedroom warm and switch it on before you plan to go to bed.
You may want to check on your window curtains and shades to see if you need new ones or more thicker to keep away bright light.
Keeping pet away from Bedroom
Pets often are quite good in managing stress and helps improve your mental health however they need constant attention.
Often your pet may be disturbing your sleep so if that is the case, it would be a good idea not to sleep in the same room as your pet.
Cut down on Caffeine for good sleep
Consuming Tea, Coffee, Energy drinks or Soft drinks especially in the evening may be one of the cause of your sleep problems.
Caffeine is known to interfere with sleep cycles and may give you momentary boost but could seriously degrade your sleep cycles.
Cutting down on their consumption may be quite helpful in getting you better sleep.
If you do get regular bad migraines, Caffeine may be helpful as a relief method.
However, you must be careful as too much Caffeine may interfere with the quality of sleep that you should get.
Do not have too much Alcohol before Sleeping
While some people can argue that they can easily fall asleep by consuming alcohol.
However, the fact we need to understand is that alcohol does not get you into deep sleep which is what is required for you.
Consuming alcohol may make you sleep initially but it will disrupt your sleep later during the night.
You make wake up feeling thirsty or may have to use toilets more often.
Quit smoking to improve your sleep
Nicotine is a chemical present in cigarettes that acts as a stimulant.
It has been found that people who smoke take longer to fall asleep. They also wake up at night more frequently and have disrupted sleep.
Therefore it is advised not to smoke just before going on for bed. If however you do have to smoke, then plan to smoke at-least – 30 mins to 1 hour before sleeping.
Smoking is injurious to health. You can plan to seek external help to assist you in quitting smoking.
Exercise Regularly for good sleep
Exercise is good for health not just because it helps you keep your weight on check but also since it is a great stress reliever.
However, doing vigorous exercises such as running, power training or gym very close to your bedtime may in-fact hinder your sleep.
Read more – Understand the secrets of body mass index
So it be is better to plan exercise timings appropriately and let your body prepare for a better sleep.
Relax yourself before going to Bed for good sleep
Most people tend to head straight to bed as they approach bed time before planning to wind down by relaxing themselves.
The result is that their mind is often stuck in something they were doing just before going to sleep and hence stay awake for lot longer.
Mostly this is due to the fact that though we have planned to sleep, our mind is still trying to process important things related to the last activity.
Therefore, it is recommended that people should give sometime to relaxing activities before going to sleep.
Few relaxing methods that you can try for a good sleep is –
- A warm bath can help you relax your body
- A quick meditation session may be helpful
- Listen to relaxation music
- Reading a book may often free up your mind and can easily make you fall asleep
- Avoid using smartphones and tablets just before going to sleep
- Avoid doing any activity that may increase your stress levels such as catching up on news or social media
Write down your thoughts and worries for better sleep
To many people, it happens quite often that as you plan to go to bed and close your eyes, you start to wander around or start worrying about multiple things.
Sometimes the feeling can be quite overwhelming and may just not allow you to sleep for hours.
A good way in such scenarios is not to fight these thoughts.
Instead, acknowledge them but certainly not work on them there and then.
A good way to acknowledge these worrying thoughts is to list them down and assign a date and time to action on them.
You can either note them down in a small notebook or even post-it notes that you can keep handy.
Just ensure to keep them in a safe place so you can take a look at them later and action on them at the given time.
This reassuring activity enables you to plan better and makes your head clear of these thoughts.
Bottom Line
Sleep is essential part of our daily routine, as it helps us to maintain good health and gives time for our body to recover.
We should focus not just on getting long hours of sleep but improve overall quality of our sleep.
In case after trying above mentioned lifestyle changes you are still having sleeping disorder you should always consult a doctor.
Based on your condition Doctors can prescribe you certain medication and suggest custom changes to your lifestyle that may improve your condition.
