A good sleep at night is important for all individual’s health as it is plays a vital role in physical and mental health. But people now-a-days are not able to gain sound and quality sleep which is directly or indirectly affecting the health of individuals. There may be lots of factors that may affect sound sleep at night like unhealthy daytime habits and lifestyle choices.
While you might not be able to control the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. So, some tips which can help people to get quality sleep are given below:
Control exposure to light:
- Expose yourself to bright sunlight in morning.
- Spend more time outside during day time.
- Let as much natural light into home or in workplace as possible.
- Avoid bright screens within 1-2 hours of your bedtime.
- Do not read with backlit devices.
- Say no to late night television.
- When it’s time to sleep, make sure your room is dark.
- Keep your light down when you get up during night.
Be smart on what you eat or drink:
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. It can keep you away from falling asleep and make insomnia worse.
- Do not eat heavy foods and big meals too late.
- Finish eating at least an hour before bed.
- Warm milk and chamomile tea are best choices.
- Do not drink anything in last 2 hours before bed.
- Do not go to bed hungry or stuffed.
Exercise during day:
- Try to exercise 20-30 minutes a day.
- Do not exercise within 2 hours of bedtime.
- Try to finish moderate to vigorous workouts at least 3 hours before bed time.
- Relaxing, low-impact exercises such as yoga or gentle stretching in the evening can help promote sleep.
- Gentle mind-body exercises, like yoga or tai chi are great to do just before you hit a sack.
Improve your sleep environment:
- keep noise down.
- Keep your room cool.
- Make sure your bed is comfortable.
- Lower the lights.
- Reserve your bed for sleeping and sex.
Optimizing sleep schedule:
- Set a fixed wake up time.
- Budget time for sleep.
- Adjust your schedule gradually.
