According to a recent study, nearly 51% of adults in the UK fail to get enough sleep each night.
While this is unavoidable from time to time, when this becomes commonplace, you’re likely to build up a sleep debt. If you are not familiar with the term, this refers to the difference between the amount of sleep you need vs the sleep you get. This is a debt that must be ‘paid’ (in sleep) to properly recover and to continue to function as normal.
Fortunately, there are many steps that you can take to repay your sleep rest – ensuring that you get the rest you deserve.
Cut down on caffeine. There’s a reason why so many people brew coffee almost instantly after waking up – it’s a powerful stimulant that can wipe away any signs of fatigue. However, caffeine can stay in your system for up to 12 hours, which means that drinking coffee later in the day could be the reason why you aren’t getting enough rest. As such, you should avoid reaching for the java (or other caffeinated beverages) after 2 pm!
Create a more relaxing bedroom environment. Our sleeping habits are also often controlled by the environment we’re in. For example, if you’re surrounded by noisy neighbours or your apartment/house backs onto a busy road, it can be hard to drift off peacefully. Fortunately, this does not mean that you have to move house in order to guarantee yourself some shut-eye. Instead, you can look into alternatives such as residential soundproofing or installing sound-cancelling earplugs before bed.
You may also want to use this as an opportunity to redecorate your bedroom, featuring some of the top bedroom colours that are known to evoke feelings of peace and serenity. Finally, you should make sure that you are as comfortable as humanly possible when settling into bed, whether you prefer to keep things cool with a light sheet or create a cocoon with pillows, blankets, and throws. Figuring out your ideal sleeping conditions will make it much easier for you to get as much sleep as possible.
Stop using your phone in bed. Our phones are often the first thing we look at in the morning and the last thing we look at at night. However, the latter can be incredibly damaging when it comes to falling asleep quickly. This is because the blue light emitted by your phone can influence your body’s sleep/wake cycle and slow down the production of melatonin – the hormone that helps you fall asleep. Furthermore, if you’re already dealing with feelings of stress and anxiety, being on your phone can heighten this, again making it harder for you to drift off.
As such, you should avoid using your phone late at night, especially when you’ve already settled down in bed. One way in which you can make this a little easier is by ‘locking’ your apps after a certain time so that you cannot access them. You should also turn on your phone’s blue light filter after 7 pm.
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© Copyright 2024 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife
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