Sleep is the pinnacle of good health. If you don’t get enough good sleep on a regular basis, you’ll be less likely to maintain a workout routine. You’ll also be tempted to eat more food throughout the day in order to make up for the energy you missed out on during the night. Plus, you will feel less focused, more irritable, and be less productive in your life unless you catch up on the Z’s you need. Unfortunately, getting enough high-quality sleep is easier said than done. Whether it’s your busy schedule or your overactive mind getting in the way, going to sleep and staying asleep is often a frustrating challenge for many women. Fortunately, there are easy ways to improve the sleep you get every night.
1. Make a Schedule
Your body has its own internal clock, even if you don’t realize it. Going to sleep and waking up at approximately the same time every day helps ingrain your body’s internal clock. This makes it easier for you to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up without issue.
It’s very tempting to try to catch up on a week of light sleep on the weekends by sleeping until the late hours of the morning. However, this method is much worse for you and your sleep quality than sticking to a standard sleep schedule no matter what day of the week it is.
2. Form Habits
Forming habits and creating a ritual that you perform every night before you go to sleep has a big impact on the quality and ease of your sleep. A nightly bedtime ritual
Your ritual should be personalized to you. Maybe your ritual including journaling, or drinking tea, reading a chapter of a novel, or doing yoga poses for ten minutes. Whatever your ritual is, make sure it includes habits that relax your body and help you decompress your mind to prepare yourself mentally and physically for sleep.
3. Exercise, But at the Right Times
Exercise is the best of both worlds. A workout helps you feel more energetic and productive throughout the day, and it helps you sleep better and longer at night.
However, you have to be careful when it comes to when you exercise every day. It’s best to exercise in the morning when you first wake up. This timing allows you to reap the daytime and nighttime benefits of a workout. If you can’t get your cardio in first thing in the morning, try to exercise before evening. Exercising too late in the day can get you wired and make it difficult for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
4. Be Smart With Light
Light can seriously mess with your sleep. Keep the lights in your bedroom dimmed for at least an hour before you go to sleep. Also, as soon as it gets dark, set your electronic devices to night mode so that your eyes aren’t being blasted with harsh screen lights that are likely to keep you awake.
5. Journal
One of the main reasons quality sleep is hard for many women to achieve is an overactive mind. If you have something you’re worried about or excited about or anything you can’t get off your mind, it’s really difficult to get your brain to turn off and go to sleep.
A great way to empty your mind and mentally prepare yourself for sleep is to journal right before you go to bed. Pour your thoughts and feelings out on the page for five to ten minutes and you’ll feel much more relaxed and ready to surrender your mind to sleep.
6. Invest in Comfort
Stop putting off buying a new mattress or a new, more comfortable set of pillows. Assuming you aim to sleep for six to eight hours on a nightly basis, you spend one-quarter to one-third of your life in your bed. Comfort makes a huge difference in the quality of your sleep.
It is much easier to fall asleep and stay asleep on a mattress and pillow that feel great and immediately relax you. If you notice any discomfort while you sleep or after you wake up in the morning, it’s time to start shopping for a new mattress and/or set of pillows. Your quality sleep and your comfort are worth the expense.
7. Drink Tea
It is unclear whether drinking sleepy-time tea, warm milk, or other drinks designed to help you fall asleep and stay asleep actually improve your sleep. Regardless, placebos can be a powerful tool. Pick a warm drink and drink a cup or two of it every night before you go to sleep.
The relaxing ritual will calm you down and prepare your mind for sleep. Plus, it’ll help settle your stomach and prevent hunger pangs or discomfort throughout the night. Just make sure whichever drink you choose doesn’t include caffeine or any other natural stimulants in it!
Getting long hours of good sleep every night is extremely important for both your mental and your physical health. Use the advice in this post to make your sleep better and become a happier and healthier you.
