Proper sleep is important to virtually every aspect of your daily life. From driving to working to interacting with friends and family members, sleep provides you with the physical and mental energy to tackle the challenges of the waking world. On the flip side, insufficient sleep quality can leave you perpetually tired, irritable, and inattentive. Not only can this adversely impact your career and personal relationships, but it can also have undesirable effects on your physical health, as well. Fortunately for troubled sleepers, enhancing the quality of your nightly respite doesn’t have to be an uphill battle.
Upgrade to a Luxury Mattress
Comfort plays a tremendous role in determining your overall sleep quality. Needless to say, if your current mattress is old, lumpy, or just plain uncomfortable, upgrading to a high-quality, sustainable mattress stands to increase your overnight comfort levels exponentially. Since good mattresses tend to be pricey, many of us frequently opt for the cheapest possible options. While the desire to save money is certainly understandable, it generally doesn’t pay too cheap out when shopping for the right mattress. Sure, you may wind up spending less, but the low price is likely to be reflected in how much comfort a cheap mattress offers. Furthermore, many discount mattresses have much shorter lifespans than luxury mattresses, meaning they may ultimately cost you more in the long run.
Engage in Relaxing Pre-Bedtime Activities
Climbing into bed with a racing mind is practically guaranteed to result in difficulty falling asleep. So, if you have a tendency to engage in stimulating activities like video game playing, social media surfing, or any other pastimes that involve screen time before bed, you may want to rethink this habit. To help facilitate a peaceful night’s rest, make a point of shutting off your various screens at least 30 minutes before trying to fall asleep. Use this time to engage in relaxing activities like reading, breathing exercises, and meditation. As you’ll find, a clear, relaxed mind can be a boon to a good night’s sleep.
Block Out Excessive Light
If your bedroom is located in an area that receives a fair amount of sunlight, this can make sleeping through the early morning hours fairly difficult. Additionally, if you work nights, excessive sunlight stands to impede the entirety of your sleep time. In the interest of keeping excess sunlight at bay, consider outfitting your bedroom windows with specialized sun-blocking curtains. As the name suggests, these curtains are composed of thick materials and designed to minimize the amount of sunlight that finds its way into your sleeping space.
If you’re not keen on the idea of replacing your current window dressings, blackout screens can be a cost-effective alternative to sun-blocking curtains. Most of these screens cost between $10 and $20, making them affordable on even the most stringent budget. It should be noted, however, that the stick-on variety of blackout screens generally can’t be reused after being removed.
Stick to a Consistent Sleep Schedule
Although most of us try to be consistent with regard to our sleep schedules, going to bed at a set time every night is more difficult for some people than others. For example, if you work from home or are self-employed and able to make your own hours, your daily schedule is likely to feature far less structure than the schedules kept by people who work in traditional 9:00 to 5:00 settings. So, if a lack of external structure has prevented you from keeping a consistent sleep schedule, changing this is liable to take some work. Going to sleep at a consistent time may initially prove very challenging, but after a few weeks of improved slumber, it’s likely to come as second nature.
Poor quality of sleep stands to impact every area of your life. From driving to working to spending time with friends and family, improper sleeping habits can make weathering the daily grind an arduous undertaking. While certain sleep issues require an advanced level of treatment, many problems regarding the quality of slumber can be solved by simple changes in behavior. So, if the quality of your nightly respite leaves a lot to be desired, taking the previously discussed measures is likely to prove useful.
