1. Complete Darkness
One key thing you need to do when you’re looking to improve your sleep is to minimize the light in your room. Far too many people sleep with lights on. Any light that is shinned through can disturb your sleep. This includes street lights from outside and even ambient light in your room. One of the easiest ways to minimize light from disturbing your sleep is by wearing a sleep mask. These masks are designed to keep light from disrupting your sleep.
This is a good idea if you have a partner that turns on the light or that watches TV while you’re trying to sleep. Ideally, you can outfit your room with blackout curtains that block ambient light from getting in. There is plenty of research that shows that the body will stop producing melatonin if it’s exposed to light. Because of this, you want to avoid light exposure at all costs while sleeping.
If you enjoy reading before bed, simply install dim lights that you can use in bed. You can even get a book light that will shine a light on the pages. Also, avoid using tablets or smartphones to read at night since they emit blue light that can hamper your sleep. Any exposure to blue light or even regular light can suppress melatonin production. However, dim light isn’t going to negatively suppress melatonin production to the point where it impacts your sleep.
2. Reduce Ambient Sound
Another thing that you need to do is keep ambient noise from disturbing your sleep. You want to minimize any noise or distraction that can keep you from falling asleep or that could disturb your sleep. This includes any notifications from your phone. Turn your phone into Do Not Disturb mode and you won’t have to worry about any work emails waking you up. If you live in an urban setting with a lot of street noise, you’ll want to try to minimize the disturbance by getting sound dampening panels or by using white noise to drown the sound out.
3. Avoid Caffeine
While caffeine is perfectly fine to drink in the morning as your pick-me-up, it’s something you’ll want to avoid later in the day. Stopping caffeine consumption after 3 pm is ideal. That way, you don’t have to worry about it negatively impacting the quality of your sleep. You need to stop drinking anything with caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime. Studies have shown that it can negatively impact your sleep as late as 6 hours after consuming it. This includes everything that contains caffeine including sodas, coffee, and chocolate.
4. Avoid Alcohol
Many operate under the assumption that alcohol can help with sleep. While it’s a depressant and it can make you feel sluggish, that doesn’t mean it’s good for your sleep. It can help you fall asleep, but it can be counterproductive to the quality of your sleep. This is because it can negatively impact your sleep cycles. It can keep you from entering deep sleep which is the REM stage of your sleep. This is when your body and mind get the most rest. Therefore, by keeping you from cycling through it, you’ll wake up feeling less refreshed.
5.Avoid Spicy Foods
Spicy foods may be delicious, but they aren’t good for your sleep. Any spicy foods that you eat before bedtime can negatively impact the overall quality of your sleep. These foods can cause digestive issues that can disturb your sleep. If you are going to eat something before bed, keep it light. You can munch on things like nuts to help keep you full throughout the night.
6. Stick To Sleep and Sex
You want your bedroom to be a sanctuary for sleep and sex. Take a look at Rooms to Go quality furniture to create the perfect space. It shouldn’t be a place you eat, play games, or even watch TV. Keeping it reserved for sleep and sex will ensure that your body and brain know it’s time to sleep when you hop in bed at night.
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