Sleep Better with These Sleep Hacks

Getting the sleep you need is pivotal for not only your physical health but your sanity too. Poor sleep leads to many health issues, not to mention it can be related to mood disorders and indeed leads to irritation and cloudy thinking. Improving your quality of sleep should be a priority, and here are a few sleep hacks that could make a big difference.

Create a Sleep Oasis

Your bedroom should be a place of rest, relaxation, and peace. Finding ways to create a soothing environment that gets you ready to sleep could help you get more out of your sleep routine. Although you could certainly add your own touch by adding or removing anything from your room, here are some other suggestions to consider.

Clean up clutter and keep things looking tidy, because often a mess causes stress and a cluttered mind, making it more difficult to relax. Try to reduce the number of electronics in your room if possible, and if you really need them, limit their use before bed. Blue light can undoubtedly affect our brains and make it harder to wind down, so you could even look into light bulbs that reduce blue light.

Other tips include practicing aromatherapy, give your feet a foot back or massage, drink some non-caffeinated tea or other soothing drink or put on some relaxing music.

Go To Bed and Wake Up At the Same Time

Many people catch up on sleep or stay up later on the weekends. Unfortunately, even though it might seem like a good idea to get some extra sleep, it can throw you off your circadian rhythm. This means you are likely to have trouble getting to sleep on time on the weekdays, and it might end up putting you in a cycle.

Waking up at the same time every day, regardless of if it’s your day off or not, can be the answer. This can help you stick to the same sleep schedule, thus maintaining your circadian rhythm. You will find that waking up the same time on the weekends can actually lead you to feel better rested throughout the week.

Sleep Gadgets

High-tech sleep devices and gadgets can also help you get a leg up on your sleeping habits. Apps are a common and free or inexpensive choice, offering you soothing sounds to help you sleep and even tracking your sleep throughout the night.

Wearable devices are another option, and although they are more costly, they are better at collecting sleep data and can help you get an even better understanding of how you sleep at night. Weighted blankets also help a lot of people.

Sleep trackers are ideal because if you don’t understand what is wrong, it’s hard to fix the problem. Sleep trackers can tell you how much sleep you got and how well you slept.  Learn more about finding a sleep monitor to get better sleep and see if it’s the thing for you.

Sleep at an Incline

This may be a surprising one, but according to Dr. Günther W. Amann-Jennson animals like to sleep on the ground with their heads on an incline. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the cerebrospinal fluid that goes through the brain and specialized brain cells work together to flush out debris from the brain which has built up in the day. This process is known as glymphatic drainage.

Raising your bed just a few inches on one end can help your body to take advantage of this natural process. Sleeping perfectly horizontally causes the brain to swell because it doesn’t allow for glymphatic drainage, and it also puts pressure on the sinuses, gums, face, ears, and eyes.

Keep a Sleep Log or Diary

If you are struggling with nearly any aspect of your life, be it diet, exercise, or sleep, having a diary to record what you’ve done can give you some idea of what might be influencing your habits. A sleep diary or log will help you identify trends and patterns, giving you some idea of what you do right when you sleep well, and what mistakes you may have made when you slept poorly.

After identifying these patterns and conditions, it makes it possible to recreate them to help you start sleeping better on a regular basis, and avoiding whatever makes it hard to sleep. Record things like the time got up and went to bed, if you woke up during the night, how many times you hit snooze on your alarm, napping, caffeine and alcohol consumption, exercise, and diet.

Work on Lifestyle Changes

Smoking, drinking, stress, too much coffee, alcohol, poor diet, and a lack of exercise are all common culprits of a poor sleeping schedule. Exercising, but not too soon before bed can help you to be more tired when it comes time to sleep. Meditating or even therapy or other resources can help reduce stress, which is a widespread reason many people have trouble with sleep.

Eating healthier can also help, especially eating natural foods which take less energy to digest. You may also want to avoid eating or drinking before bed.

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