Sleeping Through The Night
6 Awesome Tips To Make It
Sleeping through the night is a skill that not all of us possess. There are so many parameters affecting us when it comes to sleeping well so getting them all right can be quite a challenge.
But there are actually some easy measures that anyone can take in order to improve their sleep. Let's check out some of them right here!
1. Don't Drink Too Much
The number one cause that can really interrupt our sleep is that we have to go pee-pee... Yeah, that's right. The reason it's so destructive for our sleep is that we can't just turn around and go back to sleep, but we have get out of bed and do our business. And I'm not just talking about after drinking alcohol here, this is true for whatever you drink too much of :-)
Turning on the bathroom light and being up for a few minutes can be enough to really mess with your sleep cycles. If you happen to wake up too much, then you might find it hard to fall back to sleep again.
On the other hand, not drinking enough before going to sleep is not good either since you might end up with a headache the next morning. But just be wise with how much liquid you drink before bedtime. Be especially careful with beer or tea since these drinks tend to increase your metabolism, thereby very likely to make you want to visit the toilet in just a few hours.
2. Eat Well
Haven't we all woken up in the middle of the night with these intense food cravings? It's like we just have to get up to put something in our belly or we have no chance of falling back to sleep again. Well there are a couple of things you can do to avoid this from happening:
- Don't eat dinner too late because it might create a craving for sugar a short while after. This will surely wake you up.
- Don't exercise too late in the evening, instead use the mornings for exercising.
- Eat something very light just before going to bed. A banana and a glass of milk is ideal because if contains acids that will help you fall asleep faster as well.
- Don't eat snacks all day long. If you keep eating with just a few hours in between throughout the day, it's very hard for your body to detach from this habit and therefore it will keep craving snacks all night as well.
- Don't go to bed too late. If you go to bed too long time after you had dinner, then you're in a tough situation. Your body wants more food but it's not healthy to have a big meal just before sleeping so try to make it a habit to go to sleep at the same time every day.
As you can see, there is a lot do's and don'ts listed here. Just try them and very soon you might be sleeping through the nights.
3. Make It Quiet
Isn't it nice when it's so quiet that you can hear your own heartbeat? This is the best environment for securing a long and uninterrupted sleep. Without any irritating noise or sudden sounds, you increase your chances a lot for a good sleep.
I know it's pretty tempting to fall asleep with the TV on, but let me tell you - don't do it! It will mess with the quality of your sleep. No doubt. I don't recommend using a timer either, since the best thing is to fall asleep in a calm state where the mind can relax. TV prevents this and affects your sleep a lot.
It's of course a bit tricky if you can hear the traffic or need to have the AC on during the night. But there are solutions. The one that always works is of course earplugs. However, having some white noise during the night has not shown much affect according to research so I would recommend using a fan to block all potential sudden sounds.
4. Set The Right Temperature
It's very easy to wake up if the bedroom is either too cold or too warm. You might not even remember in the morning that you woke up, but every time you do it your sleep will be negatively affected.
I remember a night very recently when the room temperature affected me quite badly. Since it was pretty cold outside we had just started using an extra warm bed cover. And right before going to bed I happened to turn on the heater to maximum (don't ask me how that happened...).
The results: I woke up 1am in a room with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celcius)! And it actually takes quite long to get the temperature down so let's just say I didn't feel very refreshed when I woke up the next morning.
So first find out your optimal sleeping temperature. Then adjust the heater settings, use a suitable bed cover, perhaps open a window, etc. Just take some time to work it out. It will help you a lot when it comes to sleeping through the night.
Another cool option is to use a chillow pillow - yeah, you heard it right. Search for it on Amazon.
5. Make It Comfortable
Tossing and turning in bed is something most of us do very well. Unfortunately it's not a skill that benefits us very much :-)
The simple rule is: the more comfortable you are - the less you will move around - and the less you will wake up in the middle of the night.
So what can you do? First thing is to check your bed, your sheets and your pillow:
- How old are they?
- Are they clean?
- Have you selected them or do you just happen to use them?
- What better alternatives are there nowadays?
Especially for the mattress, it's critical that it's neither too soft 'or too hard. Any type of ache in your body will inevitably results in a wake up. I suggest taking some time at the stores to find your softness. Just take a nap right there, why not, I say!
6. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
If you are really serious about sleeping through the night, then you better live that way too. Unfortunately our bodies doesn't work on command so we can't just fall asleep when we like too and we can't just sleep like an angel unless our bodies are in a happy state.
Personally, I've found it very helpful to relax a little bit before going to sleep. For example, most of us find it pretty hard to go straight from web browsing to sleeping. Therefore a small step in between there can be very helpful. It doesn't have to be an hour of reading in bed or meditating. I find it enough to just eat a small night meal in peace, read a little bit and brush my teeth etc. This is way better than going directly from TV to bed, or from computer to bed.
Two other things you can do to prepare yourself for a good night’s sleep is to:
- Exercise every day. This will increase your metabolism, thereby making your body craving for sleep even stronger, which in turn will improve your chances of sleeping through the night.
- Go to bed at the same time every day. Our bodies like habits, so make it easy for yourself by forming habits around life's most common problems.
So remember that sleeping well is not just about the conditions during the night. If you want to sleep through the night, then adjust your life to make it happen. I believe we all can do it.
If you want to learn even more, then I can recommend another valuable article with 9 little known ways to sleep so it counts. Check it out and sleep well :-)
Early Riser > Sleep Well > Sleeping Through The Night
Thanks for reading! By Matthew M. McEwan
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