Seven Sleep Hacks You Need to Know
Sleep is something that we spend more than a third of our lives doing. Yet a lot of us are no very good at it. We spend most of the night tossing and turning, our eyes wide open and our minds becoming increasingly frustrated.
Why do we suck at sleeping? Because we refuse to take it seriously. We steal from it, undermine it and abuse it without a second thought. As a consequence, we suffer the effects of lethargy, stress and fat gain.
Well, it’s time to stop the madness. Here are seven sleep hacks to transform your night time routine.
Hack #1: The Bedroom Makeover
You want your bedroom to have 3 key characteristics. It should be;
Quiet
Cool
Dark
Research indicates that the best bedroom temperature for the best night’s slumber is 20-22 degrees celsius. Your mattress should not be overly firm. You also want to use shades to ensure that the room is as dark as possible. Your goal should be to eliminate all light and noise from the bedroom.
Hack #2: Exercise
Regular exercise will help you to sleep better. Apart from the recovery required from physical exertion, you will also have a calmer mind to help relieve stress. Get into the habit of exercising for a minimum of 30-minutes per day, but don’t do so within 2 hours of going to bed, as it will hype you up too much.
Hack #3: Ditch the Stimulants
You want to be winding down in the evening, not revving up. So it stands to reason that you should avoid stimulants in the few hours before you go to bed. This includes caffeine and sugar. So, make sure that you are sugar and coffee free in the 3 hours before going to be.
Hack #4: Banish Technology
Make your bedroom a tech-free area. This includes your phone! It also includes a television set. Technology will stimulate you, which is the opposite to what you are trying to achieve.
Hack #5: Bedroom Routine
Getting into a regular bedtime routine is essential to a peaceful night’s sleep. It is best to get to bed before 11pm, and build a regular routine around the time you put your pjs on and clean your teeth. This will allow your body’ circadian rhythm cycles to kick in. If you’re out of sync with those rhythms you will be unable to replenish your body throughout the night.
Hack #6: Winding Down
The hour leading up to bed-time, should be when you wind down. Rather than watching horror movies on Netflix while drinking coffee and eating ice-cream, the wiser course is to read quietly and then take a warm bath. By the time you enter your bedroom, your energy level should be down to about 2 or 3 and you should be all set to crash.
Hack #7: Melatonin
While we don’t advise taking sleeping pulls to help you drift off to sleep, we do suggest you try a natural alternative if you are really struggling to get the shut eye you need. Melatonin is a hormone that has many positive effects in the human body, including helping us get to sleep. You can purchase this supplement over the counter or online.
Summary
Taking your sleep seriously is one of the best things you can do to promote your overall health and well-being. Incorporate our 7 key hacks into your routine and you’ll soon be sleeping like a baby!
