you can to get a good night’s sleep, and here are a few tips to help ensure you can do just that:
• Have a night time routine. After a busy day you need to get yourself in the right mind-set for sleep, because it isn’t always that easy to switch off. That means you need to spend time relaxing—listen to some gentle music, take a bath or do some yoga, and make sure the laptop/iPad/other gadgets don’t go anywhere near your bed if you want to fully relax.
• Keep regular hours. You want to get into a routine as much as you can, ensuring your body gets into a rhythm and knows when it’s time to get sleepy, so try to go to bed and get up at roughly the same time to help programme it.
• Cut down on coffee and other stimulants. Caffeine-containing substances (coffee, tea and even chocolate) can all interfere with your ability to get a good night’s sleep, so try to cut down and at the very least avoid them in the evening—swap for a herbal tea or hot milky drink instead, both of which can help promote sleep rather than stall it.
• Don’t smoke. Yes, smoking can even interfere with your sleep patterns with smokers taking longer to fall asleep and generally experiencing more sleep disruption too, adding something else to your list of reasons to quit.
• Don’t drink too much. Alcohol can be just as damaging to your sleep. Although it might feel like it relaxes you and could even help knock you out, the quality of your sleep will be compromised—you don’t breathe as well and sleep will be much more broken.
• Go natural. Herbal teas have long been thought to help ease you into sleep, so try the likes of peppermint, chamomile, lavender, hops and orange blossom to see if they work for you.
• Exercise more. Regular exercise (such as swimming, jogging or walking) can help relieve stress so will mean there’s less to occupy your mind when you try to fall asleep, and of course, it’ll help tire your body out as well as your mind. Just don’t exercise too close to bed time or it’ll have the opposite effect as all that adrenalin will still be pumping!
• Get a suitable bed. Your bed can be key to the whole thing, so make sure you choose wisely—you want a suitable frame and a high-quality mattress to provide the right level of support, ensuring you’re as comfortable as possible so can enjoy deep, restful sleep.
These are just a few tips to bear in mind if you want a great night’s sleep, and most of them can be easily implemented. Even finding the right bed shouldn’t be too much of a chore—a bit of research into beds for sale will mean you’ll soon find the perfect model to suit, giving you those quality zzzs you need.
