The majority of us don’t get the amount or quality of restful sleep that we need, which can have repercussions in practically every area of our life. Sleep is vital to our physical and mental well-being.
A lack of sleep can have a negative impact on our daily productivity by making us frustrated, depressed, irritable, and fatigued. It can also cause problems with learning, memory, and concentration. In the long run, not getting enough sleep can also lead to more serious health concerns, such as being overweight, having a lowered immune system, having high blood pressure, and having heart disease.
If you haven’t been getting enough rest lately, you’re in luck because there are a few straightforward steps you can do to improve the quality of your slumber.
The following advice will assist you in sleeping better on a natural basis by suggesting some easy adjustments to your lifestyle and nutrition, as well as suggesting the use of a sleep aid like the Hatch Restore.
1. Don’t Eat Right Before You Go to Bed
We’ve all experienced a hunger for something late at night. Eating too late in the evening is one of the most common mistakes that people do, and it can have a negative impact on the quality of their sleep.
Why is it not a good idea to eat right before going to bed? It’s not about putting on extra weight.
A study that was conducted in 2021 and published in the British Journal of Nutrition discovered that people who ate or drank anything in the hour leading up to bedtime were more likely to experience “wake after sleep onset” (WASO) than those who did not eat. This was the case even when compared to people who did not eat at all.
Consuming a substantial meal shortly before going to bed might place a strain on your digestive system as well as the rest of your body at a time when it should be resting. Indigestion, heartburn, and acid reflux are just some of the symptoms that it might bring on, all of which have the potential to make sleeping difficult.
Consuming foods heavy in carbohydrates and sugar in the hours leading up to bedtime has been shown to not only diminish the quality of sleep one gets but also to make it more difficult to fall asleep.
Even while eating before going to bed makes us more likely to gain weight, this is not because our metabolism slows down throughout the night. It is more likely because we make bad decisions about our meals and consume an excessive amount of extra calories. Studies have also associated insufficient sleep with elevated levels of our hunger hormone ghrelin, which can induce us to desire to eat more during the day . This might cause us to feel like we have less control over our eating habits.
YOU MAY LIKE: Habits of successful people: How To Boost Productivity Habits
The final meal of the day should be consumed at least two to three hours before going to bed, as recommended by medical professionals. If you discover that you are getting hungry late at night, it is possible that you are not consuming sufficient amounts of high-quality food during the day. Aim to consume a larger amount of food for both breakfast and lunch.
You might also divide your evening meal into two portions to make digestion less taxing on the stomach, which in turn will assist you in falling asleep more quickly.
2. Avoid Drinking Liquids Before Bed
The most obvious justification for avoiding drinks in the hours leading up to bedtime is the increased likelihood that you will have to get up several times during the night to use the restroom. Additionally, those disruptions might cause you to feel sleepy the following day.
Along the same lines as the effects of meals, the use of sugary beverages such as soda and fruit juices can also put off the beginning of the sleep cycle. Consuming beverages that are high in caffeine or alcohol before bedtime makes it far more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.
3. If you want to fall asleep faster, avoid drinking alcohol.
According to a number of studies, the sedative effects of alcohol can make it easier for an individual to initially fall asleep. However, as the alcohol in your blood is metabolized by the liver, it can cause an increase in the number of interruptions that occur later on in your sleep cycle.
Additionally, it is possible to develop a tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol, which can lead to an increase in the quantity required to achieve the same level of sedation.
Additionally, drinking alcohol can have a bad impact on one’s sleep by :
Preventing entry into a deep slumber.
Reduced total amount of time spent sleeping
Snoring more than ever before and the sleep ailment known as sleep apnea, which causes the muscles in the airways to relax and breathing to cease while a person is sleeping.
In addition, drinking alcohol can, over time, cause a rise in worry and stress levels, which can also have a bad impact on your ability to sleep. If you’re having trouble getting a decent night’s sleep, reducing the amount of alcohol you drink can be a smart place to start.
4. Consume Coffee Earlier in the Day If you’ve ever had a cup of coffee too close to
bedtime, there’s a good chance that the caffeine kept you up all night counting the minutes until your alarm was going to go off. If this has happened to you, drinking coffee earlier in the day can help prevent this from happening.
Consuming caffeine, which may be found in beverages such as coffee, tea, and hot cocoa, is known to activate the nervous system and cause sleep problems in a variety of different ways, according to scientific research. Additionally, as we become older, our bodies become less efficient at breaking down caffeine, which can make us more sensitive to the side effects of consuming caffeine.
The start of sleep can be further postponed when caffeine is consumed .
Interfere with our natural cycle of sleeping and waking up (circadian rhythm)
Reduce the amount of sleep you get and its quality.
Make us feel less satisfied with our sleep.
Reduce the amount of time spent in the restorative stage of sleep known as slow-wave sleep , which is responsible for the awake and aware feeling we get in the morning.
According to the findings of a study that was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, even caffeine that was consumed six hours before bedtime can block the sleep-inducing chemical adenosine that is produced in the brain, which can reduce the amount of time spent sleeping by up to an hour.
So when exactly should you have that final mug of coffee for the day? There is no ideal time to consume caffeine because this will depend on how sensitive you are to caffeine as well as when you typically go to bed.
Aim to have your final cup of coffee or another source of caffeine between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, or within 7 to 8 hours before going to bed.
5. Put Yourself in an Area with Lots of Bright Light
It might sound unusual, but a growing body of studies is indicating that exposing oneself to bright light during the day can help you fall asleep at night while also enhancing the quality of your sleep. [Citation needed] [Citation needed]
Some researchers in the field of science believe that exposure to bright light helps regulate our natural circadian rhythm, which is the 24-hour cycle that our bodies follow and which informs us when to get up and when to start winding down for the day.
According to the findings of a study that was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who were exposed to bright light first thing in the morning slept for longer periods of time and felt more refreshed upon waking.
If you want to reap the benefits of bright light for sleep, you should aim to expose yourself to direct light for at least 10 to 15 minutes during the first hour of waking up. Direct light (not light filtered through glass) should be used, and you shouldn’t wear sunglasses or visors.
Try going for a stroll first thing in the morning during the warmer months.
We really enjoy utilizing the Hatch Restore when we are in places with shorter days and lower temperatures. This high-tech alarm clock and “sleep assistant” also features an integrated lamp that comes in a variety of colors and comes with a library of several “sunrises” that will wake you up in the same manner as the sun.
6. During the evening, try to limit your exposure to blue light.
Blue light is a specific color of light that can be emitted by electronic screens and other types of equipment.
Blue light has been found in a great number of studies to be disruptive to sleep . At night, the brain and eyes are more susceptible to the negative effects of some forms of blue light, despite the fact that certain wavelengths of blue light are beneficial during the day.
If you want to limit the amount of blue light that you are subjected to in the evening, try to avoid using electronic devices at least one hour before you go to bed.
You also have the option of utilizing a night light filter on your laptop or smartphone. During the evening hours, they have the ability to not only reduce the brightness of the screen but also eliminate colors with a blue tint. This option will be pre-installed on more recent hardware and can be accessed through the settings menu. If yours does not, you might want to consider downloading an app.
7. Get in plenty of physical activity.
Exercising can assist boost mood, provide stress relief, lead to increased muscular growth, and lead to increased fat loss. Daytime exercise can also assist enhance the quality of your total sleep by increasing the amount of time spent in deep sleep.
People who exercised for at least 150 minutes each week had better sleep quality and slept longer than adults who didn’t exercise, according to a study that was published in The Journal of Sleep Research. The study was conducted on people who didn’t exercise.
The majority of specialists in the field of public health currently advise that individuals engage in at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity.
In order to maximize the effects, you should perform strength training twice each week.
The following are some suggestions that will assist you in getting started:
You should begin with 20 to 30 minutes each day and gradually build up to longer sessions as your fitness level improves.
Get a minimum of 7000 steps throughout each day: Studies have shown that increasing the number of steps you take each day can help you live longer .
Perform both cardiovascular activity and strength training: They each condition a separate set of muscles and offer their own unique set of advantages. Both of these things can help one get a better night’s sleep.
Avoid engaging in physically taxing activities soon before going to bed. This may cause some people’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol to rise, making it more difficult for them to fall asleep.
8. Limit Daytime Naps
There is a widespread misconception that taking a nap during the day is an effective approach to enhance one’s quality of sleep. However, sleep specialists recommend avoiding daytime naps wherever possible. A nap has the potential to throw off the natural rhythm of your sleep pattern, which can ultimately result in poor sleep quality.
Instead, make it a priority to maintain a regular sleep pattern so that you can obtain the necessary amount of rest. During the day, limit naps to times when you are actually weary or when you are healing from an illness or injury.
9. Create a consistent routine for your sleeping habits
Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule offers numerous advantages, including an increase in the quality of one’s sleep and a general improvement in one’s health. The following are some suggestions that will assist you in developing a routine that will get you back on track.
Make a plan. Take some time before going to bed to plan out or develop a list of what you want to accomplish the following day. This can assist clear your mind of any distracting thoughts and make you ready for a restful night’s sleep.
Set a consistent time for going to bed. Maintaining a consistent bedtime throughout the week makes for more peaceful sleep.
Make sure that your room is cool. It is best to sleep in a room that is between 15 and 19 degrees Celsius (or 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit). It brings down our core temperature, which in turn makes falling asleep easier.
Try to keep the evening as quiet and dark as possible. Because the noise and light it produces can keep you awake at night, you should try to avoid using electronic gadgets or watching television in the evening.
Within a week to ten days, if you stick to a set regimen for going to bed and getting up, you should start to notice an increase in the quality of your sleep and wake up feeling more refreshed.
10. To simplify the process of establishing a nighttime routine, make use of the Hatch Restore.
According to a number of studies, maintaining a regular time for going to bed will help you get a better night’s rest. If you’ve attempted to establish a regular sleep regimen but haven’t been successful, give the Hatch restore, which is our favorite sleep device, a shot.
The Hatch Restore is a “smart sleep assistant” that is an all-in-one smart alarm clock that is also a bedside reading lamp, a soundscape, and a meditation machine designed to make it easier to set up a routine for getting to sleep and staying asleep. It also has the moniker of “smart sleep assistant.”
If you have trouble winding down at night, it is an incredible tool that can help you get to sleep faster and stay there using a library of calming sounds, lights, meditations, and bedtime stories. If you have trouble winding down at night, it is an incredible tool that can help you get to sleep faster and stay there.
It includes a range of illumination options, including sunsets that can help you rest at night and sunrises that can help you get up naturally. This is a really cool feature that it has.
The Hatch Restore app makes it simple to create a custom scheduled and multi-step sleeping routine that is tailored to your specific needs. Check out our comprehensive review of the Hatch Restore here.
Establishing a soothing pre-sleep bedtime ritual can be done with the help of the Hatch Restore.
Keep a consistent pattern of sleeping and waking up.
A number of beautiful sunrises will play as you gently open your eyes.
You should equip your bedroom with a bedside alarm clock, a music and meditation machine, and a dimmable multi-color bulb. a complete solution Out of the box This is what you can find at Hatch Restore:
9 different sleep soundscapes (light rain and river creek)
10 unique sunrises that brighten gradually, just like the sun does when it rises.
10 distinctive alarm clock tones (chirping birds, meditative flutes, etc.)
Sounds similar to white and pink noise designed to help you filter out noises from the outside world.
The opportunity to upgrade to their collection of premium items from their library
YOU MAY LIKE: Important goals to change your life in the new year
