All those cups of coffee that you’ve had in the day to keep you awake may have kicked in, but it’s also staying in longer than it should.
Now, you’re faced with the trouble to sleep. Had you just had a good night’s sleep the night before, you wouldn’t have needed that extra dose of caffeine, to begin with.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. While there are those that are really conscious about their sleeping habits, there are those that just find it difficult to sleep. Some people find themselves twisting and turning every night regardless of how they want to sleep.
Over time, sleep deprivation can cause countless health problems that can prevent you from functioning at your best.
Perhaps it could be the stressors of the day, anxieties of tomorrow, or that you’re simply born an insomniac. Now, it’s common for people to feel like they aren’t sleeping well enough.
There’s nothing like waking up after a great night's sleep feeling refreshed and feeling more like yourself.
Your bedroom, after all, should be designed to give you that relaxed feeling after a long day out at work. If you’re someone who hasn’t had this feeling for a while, then here are some tips to help you sleep better at night:
Buy Blue Light Blocking Glasses
This first tip applies to those of you that have no other choice but to use your gadgets, even late at night.
While it’s generally recommended to keep gadgets out of your bedroom, there are ways for you to still use it, without feeling much of the negative effects of the gadget’s light exposure.
Most of our electronic devices commonly have blue light, and this blue light if exposed too much to the eyes can leave them feeling super tired, dry, and sore. This will cause more problems later down the line if something isn’t done about it.
That’s where blue light blocking glasses come in. These glasses block out the blue light, and after just a few days of using them, you’ll see a huge improvement in your vision and how you feel in the mornings.
Other benefits of blue light blocking glasses include the following:
- Blocks close to a majority of the blue light, so it’s ideal for night time use when blue light has detrimental effects on a person’s sleep.
- Tints everything to a yellowish side, providing you with better contrast.
- Improves your daily sleep habits.
Buy A New Mattress
Probably the most important thing for any bed is the mattress you have. When you’re after a significant improvement in your sleep quality, it’s important that you settle for no less than the best mattress.
The mattress you have can significantly affect the quality of your sleep and your overall health and wellness, which is why you should invest in a high-quality mattress that supports your preferred sleeping position.
Additionally, as any sleep specialist will tell you, if your mattress’ springs or suspension system aren’t as firm as they used to be, it can definitely make for a bad night’s sleep. Instead of getting enough sleep every night, a damaged mattress will only cause severe body pain that’ll prevent you from getting any shuteye.
This kind of mattress can also become the reason why you’ll start the day being grumpy.
Whatever firmness you like, it should be firm enough that it's supporting your whole body weight. It’ll be challenging for you to sleep every night if your mattress is too soft that you’ll sink too much or too stiff that you can’t feel any comfort when you’re lying on it.
Depending on the material and your preference, memory foam is excellent for easily distributing your body weight.
Memory foams also provide temperature-control support, which means that your body temperature will be regulated whenever you’re using it. This is especially true with ‘air foam' memory foam, a relatively newer technology that combines the cooling effects of air with the support of memory foam. In any event, both will likely ensure that your sleep won’t be interrupted because you’re sweating or shivering at night.
If you're looking for some inspiration on what to buy, there are definitely some good mattresses to invest your money in. There’s a mattress for every need that you may have, and for every budget as well.
You can buy from many stores online or even around your area.
Owning a comfortable mattress is great, but it's even better with a supportive bed frame. We recommend reading reviews from the experts before purchasing a bed frame so you'll know exactly if what you're buying is worth it.
Aside from making it easy for you to get some shuteye, your bed frame can also influence the ambiance of your bedroom, which is why you should be careful when buying one.
The sleep experts at SleepSources have put together an in-depth review covering the best bed frames for memory foam mattresses. They'll help you choose the bed frame that's right for you and your mattress, which will result in more restful sleep.
As a rule, a mattress should be changed every eight years. If your mattress has lived way longer than this timeframe, then it’s a good time to make this investment now. Albeit costly, a mattress is like an investment for your health.
Regardless of how you think your mattress is right now, if you’re using it for more than eight years, it’s time to replace it with a brand new one.
Continually using an old mattress will likely cause allergies and asthma attacks since bed bugs and other pests might already thrive inside it.
When you sleep well, your health improves. This begins with something as crucial as the place where you lay your body in for the eight hours of sleep every evening.
Blackout Blinds For Your Bedroom
When you are going to bed, it’s good to create the right atmosphere. If there’s any light from an outdoor street light or from a nearby property, it can cause a nuisance, making it difficult to fall asleep.
This is especially true if your lifestyle requires you to work at night, and then sleep during the daytime.
So, something like blackout blinds would be great for completely blocking out any light in your room so that you can drift off effortlessly. As the name suggests, blackout blinds can prevent light from entering your bedroom.
This kind of blinds can also help regulate the temperature indoors, making your bedroom look dimmer and feel cooler. Alternatively, if you can’t afford to fit blackout blinds, an eye mask will do just the job.
Ban Electronic Devices From Your Bedroom
We spend so much time on our mobile devices, laptops, and various other devices that it's only good to put a ban on electronic devices in the bedroom. It’ll stop you from going on it right before bed, which ends up keeping your mind active, making sleeping tougher than usual.
So, try banning these devices and if you have a partner, make them do the same so that it resists any temptation for you to use yours in the bedroom. It's always good motivation to have someone in the same boat as you.
Use White Noise
You may have heard about a white noise machine to put babies to sleep. Well, it works just as well for adults, too. White noise helps any noise that may otherwise disturb you fading into the background.
Examples of things that sound like white noise include rain, a waterfall, an air conditioner, a fan, and the humming of a car engine (when you’re inside the car).
Using white noise helps external sounds blend into the background so that your brain pays less attention to individual noises and can sleep in undisturbed peace, even if you live by a busy road, have noisy neighbors, or a noisy barking dog!
Other benefits of using a white noise machine include the following:
- Helps to calm anxiety.
- Makes you feel more rejuvenated in the morning.
- Keeps you from waking up too frequently at night.
There are different noise colors that you can use to get a good night’s sleep, too. These include brown and pink noise, which are very similar to white noise but use different frequencies (find out about the differences in Soundproof Panda).
If you want to give white noise a try, you can download a free app, use a Youtube video, or get a purpose-made white noise machine.
Conclusion
A good night’s sleep is important to your health, and it's very beneficial to your energy levels and state of mind to get plenty of rest. You can’t expect to wake up the next day feeling like you’ve got all the energy that you need if you don’t give yourself that proper shut-eye.
Never under-estimate the power of great sleep. So, follow these tips and see the difference it makes to the amount of quality sleep you get overtime.
