If you must know, sleep is an important function that allows your mind and body to refuel, keeping you fresh when you wake up from your beauty sleep. A lot of people these days neglect sleep but sleep is almost as important as exercising and a balanced diet.
However, sometimes we just find it difficult to fall asleep. We toss and turn and the next thing we know, its day time already. To ensure proper sleep, here are some pre-sleep habits that you can practice before getting to bed.
From this video, I feel like these tips actually make sense. Sleeping alone is not enough, we need to ensure the quality of sleep is there because eventually, it affects our health and lifestyles. Personally, when I don’t get enough sleep, the next day I’ll be like a zombie. I am just lazy, not fresh, extremely tired, and demotivated to do almost anything. I did try some of these tips and guess what, it actually worked. The next thing I know is waking up fresh and energized!
You don’t have to follow all these tips. Maybe one or two will do. Find the one that best suits you because you know you. I think these 7 tips are simple and good enough to ensure a good night’s sleep.
1. Exercise
Before we get to nighttime, let’s talk about what we do during the day to ensure we get a good sleep. Engaging in physical activities makes the quality of our sleep better. Whether is a 10 minutes walk or simple exercise, it doesn’t matter just as long you get your physical activity done. You can do exercises in the morning, afternoon or evening.
2. Diet
It is advisable to avoid eating when it’s almost bedtime. By doing so you trigger your gastric juice which makes you feel uncomfortable when you sleep. On a side note, avoid spicy food and citrus food is also a good thing to do. One common mistake that lots of people do it consuming alcohol. Alcohol might help you sleep better but it will affect the quality of your sleep. Trust me, you don’t want to eat before bed.
3. Naps
Taking naps for about 15-30 minutes is fine because they are refreshing and they give you some energy. Naps will reduce your sleepiness. If possible, try to avoid napping unless you really in desperate need of it.
4. Caffeine
Unless you want to be a night owl, the best time to consume coffee or anything with caffeine is before lunch. Caffeine is active for about six hours which means it can take 12 hours for it to be fully eliminated from your system. Also, caffeine is a diuretic, which makes you want to pee in the middle of the night.
5. Embrace the darkness
Eliminate all lights. When you have bright lights, it affects your melatonin hormones. Thus it makes it difficult for you to fall asleep and stay asleep. So dim your lights, blow out the candles, pull down those curtains, and keep it dark.
6. Cut blue lights
Decreasing the amount of blue light exposure helps you to fall asleep easily. Yeap, we’re talking about phones, tablets, computers, and laptops. Too much screen timing affects your melatonin hormones and you’ll face a hard time falling asleep.
7. Turn of alerts
Sleep should be a priority. Turn off notifications and alerts to avoid anyone disturbing you during the night. So what if there’s an emergency? Some phones these days have a customized do not disturb feature which allows calls to get through especially when they are dialed twice.
You don’t need pills or expensive supplements to make you fall asleep because it starts from you. With proper sleep, you not only wake up fresh but it will enable you to keep your mind focus and keep your body energized throughout the day. Try these simple methods and keep those Zs’ coming in no time!
Sources: Youtube Doctor Mike