A good night’s sleep can make all the difference in your physical and mental health. Aside from affecting your health, lack of sleep will negatively impact productivity at work, your emotional balance, and in extreme cases, even your weight. So, how do you ensure that you get some good sleep when you toss and turn half the night and are wide awake at 3 am? Well, while sound sleep seems elusive in today’s fast-paced world, the truth is that it is achievable. Below are some tips that will help you avoid Insomnia and ensure that you get some sound sleep at night.
1. Expose yourself to bright light during the day
This will ensure that your body’s natural clock is working correctly. The body’s natural clock, otherwise known as the circadian rhythm needs natural light to keep it healthy. When the clock is working well, you can expect to have more energy during the day and sleep better at night.
A study on people with sleep issues shows that bright light exposure for at least two hours can tremendously improve the quality of sleep. A similar study conducted on older people showed that exposure to light not only enhanced the duration of sleep by up to two hours but also the sleep efficiency increased by about 80%.
Ideally, you should enjoy a bit of sunlight daily. If this is not practical, you should invest in artificial bulbs or other devices that produce a bright light.
2. Avoid caffeine in the evening
That refreshing mug of coffee at 4 pm could be keeping you awake at night. While caffeine has numerous benefits, lack of sleep is among its notable downsides. If you need coffee to boost your energy or enhance your performance, ensure that you take your coffee in the morning. Also, limit your intake of the same to a cup or two.
A study indicates that caffeine levels can stay elevated for up to 8 hours after intake in people who are extremely sensitive to caffeine. If you suspect that your coffee drinking habit could be the cause of your insomnia, you should keep off this beverage any time after 4 pm.
The good news is that you do not have to quit coffee if you crave it or cannot do without it for one reason or another. Thanks to decaffeinated coffee, you can enjoy your drink without compromising on your sleep.
3. Avoid sleeping during the day
This goes without saying. If you take a nap during the day, then you will most likely have difficulties when it comes to sleeping at night. Napping can confuse the body’s natural clock in some people, which explains why those individuals will have a hard time sleeping later at night.
There are enough studies that point out that naps are beneficial in more ways than one. That said, daytime naps should not go beyond 30 minutes. It is the longer naps that lead to Insomnia and reduce the quality of sleep.
It is important to note that daytime napping is not a problem for everyone. Most people who regularly nap during the day do not have any difficulties falling asleep at night. However, if you are a nap person, stick to nighttime sleep if you do not want to stay awake for a good part of the night. Sleep comes easy when tired after a busy, action-packed day.
4. Ensure that your bedroom environment is conducive for sleeping
Everything from the furniture arrangement to the noise levels in your bedroom can affect the quality of sleep. If your bedroom has clutter, you may have a hard time finding any comfortable sleep in it. The same applies if the traffic noise outside can get right into your bedroom. Based on research, blocking exterior noise can indeed help a great deal in improving the quality of sleep at night.
As a start, ensure that your bedroom is clean. Remove any unnecessary furniture or items to keep your sleeping space uncluttered. Get drapes that can minimize the noise that gets into your bedroom. Lastly, dim the lights to turn your bedroom into a relaxing space.
Some studies also show that sleep comes easy when you go reserve the bedroom for sleep and sex. While working or watching your favorite movie in your bedroom may seem like a treat, the truth is that it can harm your sleep.
5. Exercise
Regular exercise will help you sleep better, and this is a fact that has backing from science. For people with serious sleeping issues, enough evidence shows that exercise can work better than drugs. If you exercise regularly, you will have an easier time falling asleep. Nighttime wakefulness will go down, not to mention the fact that your overall sleep time will increase by a considerable margin.
While exercise works, it is important also to do it right. For one, you should never workout just before bedtime, as this can be counterproductive. Exercise is a natural stimulator, and this together with the adrenaline produced when you work out may cause difficulties when you do so later in the day. Ideally, you should work out in the morning. If you cannot do this for whatever reason, ensure that you get a few hours of rest after your workout before you can get into bed.
Final Thoughts
All the above tips are simple and applicable with relative ease. In most cases, Insomnia is treatable without medical intervention as the natural body clock communicates with the body when it is time to sleep. If you have no success getting some sound sleep even after applying the above tips, you should try Zopiclone. Lack of sleep can be an indication of something more serious and if all fails, you need to see a physician. There is no harm in identifying the cause early enough so that you can nip the problem in the bud.
