Valuable Tips To Optimise Your Sleep Schedule 

Our sleep is just as important as anything else we will do in life. Unfortunately, many people will experience insomnia at some point in their lives, which can have detrimental effects on your quality of life as well as your overall health. 

There are many studies on the benefits of getting a great night’s sleep. How to have a great night’s sleep is not necessarily taught to us, but some surprising habits can predict a good night’s sleep if carried out consistently. 

During The Day

Habits that you carry out during the day can directly correlate to the quality of sleep you have that same night. If you are looking for evidence-based tips to help you get a great night’s sleep, check out our following daytime habits:

Don’t Eat Late

If you are someone who predominantly eats later in the evening, or at least within the last 2 hours of going to sleep, then you might be disrupting your ability to go to sleep. You should especially avoid acidic, spicy, and sweet foods that can lead to a surge of energy being released. Try to eat foods towards the end of the day that are not too carb intense, and that also releases a low amount of energy.

Don’t Consume Too Much Caffeine 

Caffeine is widely used by most of the population, but many people do not acknowledge the implications that caffeine has later in the day. It is estimated that caffeine can stay in your blood for around 6-8 hours, therefore if you are looking to go to sleep by 10 pm you should ideally void caffeine after 1 pm. Keep in mind that caffeine is also within sugary energy drinks, so avoid consuming these as well.

Exercise During The Day

If you want to optimise your sleep, you should consider completing a 30-minute round of exercise every day. Have you ever spent your day inside not using energy up and as a result struggled to sleep? That is due to the simple fact that you are in a surplus of your energy supply. Doing at least a 30-minute round of exercise will lead to an easier transition to sleep later in the evening.

Make Your Bed

Every morning after you step out of bed, you should make sure that your bed is made. Making your bed in the morning is a really good habit to implement because you are subconsciously telling yourself that you value the space that you sleep in, and therefore wish to keep it looking comfy. If your current bed setup is making you uncomfortable, consider changing your sheets to a softer material, or better yet invest in a weighted blanket to induce you into a deeper sleep.

What To Do In The Evening

The evening should be a time spent winding down, and being ready to fall into a peaceful frame of mind. Here are the habits you should be implementing in the evening:

Have All Tasks Complete 

If you are the type of person who stays awake with racing thoughts of the tasks you need to do, you should prioritise having all your tasks done by the evening. Leaving important tasks for the day after is a bad habit to have if you are a nighttime overthinker. At least 2 hours before you intend to go to sleep, you should write down all the tasks you need to do before you go to bed. This might include cleaning, or it might be as simple as placing your clothes out ready for the next day. Save the stress of tossing and turning, and get all your jobs done.

Take A Hot Bath 

Having a relaxing bath before bed is a great way to wind down for the evening. Baths or hot showers have shown signs of improving sleep quality if completed before sleep. You might also include some aromatherapy or natural skin care products in your baths, and relax in some lavender bath bubbles to encourage your sleep even more.

Turn Down The Lights 

Avoid any exposure to bright lights within the last few hours of your evening before sleep. Bright lights are known to encourage the feeling of being awake while disrupting our sleep-wake cycles at night time. This would include staying off bright phone screens, and television, and turning your general lights down. If it is still daylight when you are going to sleep, consider getting some blackout curtains to reduce the sunlight exposure. Have a dim light on for the last hour before you go to sleep, and experience the ease of falling into a deep sleep.

Listen To Relaxing Music 

If you are used to keeping the television on in the background or you are looking for alternate options to encourage sleep, you should start playing relaxing music whilst you sleep. There are many sleep music materials available online for free, and they are specifically created to encourage and maintain our sleep through the night. Sleep soundtracks are also thought to reduce the number of times you wake up during your sleep, allowing you to have a disruption-free sleep.