Many people suffers from lack of a refreshing sleep. The benefits of having a regular high quality sleep is enormous and so is the long term detrimental consequences of not having that. Sometimes adjusting some behaviours can go a long way to help you to have a restorative sleep at night. Make sure you practice these steps with persistence as without consistent practice these wont do much good. As you practice implementing these modifications in your life your inner mechanism will soon learn to align with the goal to have a better sleep pattern.
Tip 1: Try to avoid screen as much as possible before bedtime. Studies have shown that, you should refrain from using light-emitting screen before sleep as it may cause increase arousal, sleep disturbance and irregularity in sleep schedule. Rather replace your smartphone with a bookor some other calming activities during late evening.
Tip 2: Follow a schedule. It is important to go to bed and wake up in the morning maintaining a schedule including the weekends. It reinforces our seep-wake cycle. This literally helps your body to develop a kinda mechanical habit that signals when it is time to fall asleep. Just make sure you are getting 7-8 hours in between. Here is an excellent resource on this.
Tip 3: Choose to eat and drink wisely. More often than not, we enjoy a heavy meal after the end of a long hard working day. Getting a packet of chips and binge watching TV is a common scenario. This may be the cause of your poor sleep. Do not eat food that have high fat or protein content in the evening. Spicy food should be avoided. A complex carbohydrate meal at least 2-4 hours before bedtime is preferable. Cut beverages like tea or coffee from late afternoon if you want to sleep tight. Read more on this.
Tip 4: Have a pro-sleep bedroom. Confused? Do not use your bedroom for other purposes if possible. Dim the light or even better keep it dark and cool. It is counterintuitive to have a clock reminding of the hours passing by without sleep and thereby perpetuating your anxiety. you can have a bedside lamp to read books but avoid bright light by any means before your sleeping schedule as it mess up with your brain signalling it is not yet time to go to sleep.
Tip 5: Physical activity is an important factor that can boost your sleep in big ways. Exposing yourself to the early morning sunlight and having physical exercise in the am periods can help you to have your desired sleep. For some people it may be ok to workout in the evening but be careful of the net effect as doing exercise late in the day may stimulate your body and mind that can cause interference with sleep.
There are ample evidences to support the idea that having a good sleep is of paramount importance and many health issues can stem out from sleep deprivation.
Take care of your sleep and have a fresh day!