How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
One never realizes how important sleep is until that one morning when you are dragging yourself out of bed, trying to get the kids ready for school and yourself ready for work. Your head is all foggy and you can’t seem to get it together. Whatever the reason for not getting ample sleep the night before, you are somewhat of a mess.
I have been getting a decent night’s rest – about 8 hours. My husband – a whole different story. He gets up at least once during the night, and at times can’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours. I feel so bad so I was determined to find out what I can do to help.
KEEP YOUR BEDROOM DARK: Once it is time for bed, your window coverings should be closed, not allowing light in. The darker the better.
KEEP THE TEMPERATURE COOL: I am always cold but I know that when the room has a chill to it, I sleep that much better. There’s something about cuddling under the blankets and laying on a cold pillow!
SPEAKING OF PILLOWS: Shop for a new pillow. Research which pillow will best suit your sleeping style. Do you sleep on your back, your belly or your side? If you sleep on your belly, pillows for stomach sleepers is the best choice for you.
EXERCISE: Exercising during the day is known to help you get zzz’s that night. Even going for a long walk will be beneficial.
NO SCREENS: This, to me, is the hardest. Ostracize all LCD screens, including but not limited to tablets, laptops, smartphones, and TVs.
COFFEE BAN: Not all together – did I scare you? BUT, after 3 PM, you should limit or cut off caffeine. I also recommend this for sugar too.
BEVERAGES: Wine, even though it can help put you to sleep, will more than likely be the culprit for you getting up in the middle of the night if you consume at night. Try to limit any liquid intake later in the evening. Drinking too much before you go to bed can cause you to get up in the middle of night to visit the bathroom.
If you do get up in the middle of the night, I read in Thrive by Ariana Huffington, to count backwards from 300 by 3’s. She said that you shouldn’t get past 250. I’m definitely going to try this next time I catch myself staring at the ceiling.
What are some sleeping tips that help you smile when you wake up the next morning?
But I HAVE to have my tv in the room!!!! It’s nice to fall asleep to. Great list! 😀
Lol, Dayne I hear you! I put it on a sleep timer.
Thanks I will try some of them, because I can not sleep at night, but I love my coffee and wine lol
Wine and coffee are my downfalls too Daphine. 😉
This is perfect since I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. No screens & coffee ban are going to be hard. I’ll definitely try this tomorrow since I already failed on the coffee ban. Thank you. 🙂
Jazmine, I fail the coffee part every day, the wine part quite often too lol. These may not affect you, but you can test it out to see.
Love this! I have such issues sleeping and I definitely think that a new pillow could help out a lot, as well as exercising more during the day. Thanks for the suggestions!
Liz, I’m glad this post helped you out! Thank you for reading!
These are really great tips! My thing is that I have to have MY pillow!
Thank you and LOL I understand. I have MY blanket that I swear allows for me to have a better night’s sleep than without it!
I need to work on my sleep.. Thank you for the awesome tips
Jessica, it’s hard when there’s so much going on in our lives!
I can’t sleep with any light on. It has to be pitch black in the room. lol
We have black out shades BUT keep the TV on a sleep timer. When we wake up we want it to be pitch black.
I’m going to follow these steps! I hope it works, wish me luck!
Good luck Allison! Tell me how it works out 🙂
lol I love that I am reading this at almost 2am. 🙂
LOLOL Bernadette…there are nights when I am doing exactly the same thing 🙂
I am guilty of putting a nice relaxation video on my phone and drifting off. It’s more about the sound than the video, so i try to make it as dark as possible. We are even looking into installing a ceiling fan in our room because you’re right: being cool is SO important. We’ve been getting a little restless with how warm our room has been (even with the AC on!)
Andrea, I think you are on your way to a good night’s sleep!