If you are having trouble getting a good night's sleep, it is time to weed out all the culprit factors to improve the quality of naps. Family responsibilities, workload, and other day-to-day hustle can leave your body and mind restless both physically and emotionally. This can cause your sleep quality to be elusive at times.
While you may not be able to eliminate all the external factors interfering with your sleep, you can certainly adopt some habits to improve sleep quality for sure. Let us dive right in to look at some of the most efficient tips for a good night's nap.
#1 – Sticking to a Bedtime Schedule
First thing first, you must establish a sleeping routine or a bedtime schedule and try to adhere to it as much as you can. As an adult, you must at least get 7 hours of sleep every night. Therefore, you must go to bed at a specific time every night.
While it is unavoidable at times, you must try to limit any changes in your bedtime routine. This means whether this is a weekday or a weekend, you must go to bed at the same hour. This will help you reinforce a sleep-wake cycle in your body and mind.
In case you cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes of lying in bed, leave the bedroom, and do something to relax. For instance, listen to music or read a book, then try to go back to bed when you feel tired. You can repeat this as often as you need.
#2 - Paying Attention to Your Diet
Never go to bed stuffed or hungry. You must avoid any large or heavy portions of meals within an hour or two before going to bed, as this will keep you up all night. It is best to avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol before bedtime.
Both nicotine and caffeine are notoriously popular for their stimulating effects and may wreak havoc on your sleep quality. On the other hand, alcohol may make you feel sleepy but is going to disrupt your sleep during the night.
#3 – Limiting Any Daytime Naps
While it is tempting to take a quick nap during the day, it can hamper your night's sleep. While you can take a quick power nap for all its benefits, having irregular or long naps during the day or evening will have adverse effects on how you sleep at night.
So limit or avoid taking those tempting long naps during the day while watching TV or relaxing listening to your favorite tunes. The reason is that sleeping during the day confused your body’s internal clock and keep you struggling to fall asleep at night.
According to a study, participants felt sleepier and tired throughout the day after taking a long daytime nap. While a quick nap of fewer than 30 minutes can help enhance your brain’s function, longer daytime sleep can be harmful to your sleep quality as well as overall health.
#4 - Creating a Sleeping Environment
You will have to create an environment that can induce sleepiness. This often refers to a dark, cool, and quiet room. You must use dark curtains to limit the light exposure as this is the biggest disruption factor when you are trying to doze off after a hard day’s work.
Avoid using mobile phones in bed as their screen light can interfere with your sleeping cycle by stimulating your brain to stay active. You can even indulge in some calming activities such as a nice warm bath, meditation, etc.
Research shows that external sounds such as traffic noise are one of the biggest causes of poor sleep quality. In case you live on a busy street or by the roadside, you can use earbuds to cancel out any external noises.
According to a study, 50 percent of the women participants slept better within diminished lighting and noise in the bedroom environment.
#5 – Taking on a Physical Activity
If you have a stagnant lifestyle of waking up, going to work, spend the day sitting and come back home, you are most likely struggle to have a decent sleep at night. Think about it – you are barely doing anything for your body to feel the exertion, which is the main reason why your mind and body want to sleep, i.e., to replenish the depleted energy tank.
Why not take a physical activity such as weight training, jogging, and a walk in the park or swimming. Any time of physical activity will help you burn calories and feel spent by the time you hit the pillow. Simply spending some time in the open fresh air may be helpful to induce sleep at night time.
#6 – Managing Stress
Try to leave your worries behind when you are in bed. Some people have the habit of thinking about their entire day as they rest their heads on the pillow. While this may sound like a superb idea to spend some time with your thoughts, it is not.
Your sleep time requires you to relax and try to switch off any worries, stress, or what someone said to upset you. This will kick the emotions and chemicals within your body that may cause sleeping disorders. If the problem on your mind is too important, write it down and sleep over it. Pretty sure you are going to feel a whole lot different about it when you wake up. In case you are suffering from insomnia, you can try relaxation techniques such as meditation to improve your chances of falling asleep.
#7 – Using the Right Pillow
According to research by Harvard, your pillow may be causing you discomfort, which results in bad sleep quality. The research explains that as you sleep, your neck stays in a bent posture for an extended time period. The wrong pillow may not offer adequate support and bend your neck at the wrong angle, causing discomfort during the night, resulting in sleep deprivation.
Therefore, you must invest in a pillow that can help you relax by adapting to the shape of your neck and head. For instance, the Kanuda orthopedic pillow uses innovative technology to contour your head and neck structure and support your spine.
This orthopedic pillow uses a combination of ergonomic engineering and craniosacral therapy techniques to help relieve muscle tension behind the head and around the neck. Try Kanuda orthopedic pillows today, and you will never complain about being restless at night again.
Conclusion
All of us experience an occasional sleepless night – it is normal. However, if you are consistently having trouble sleeping at night and it’s affecting your physical and mental health, then it is time to identify and treat the underlying issue. The above-mentioned tips will most likely eliminate any obvious culprits and help you sleep better at night – Try them and Sleep well!
To learn more about good sleep and proper pillow, check out more of our blog posts!
