6 Tips to Sleep Better

Everyone wants to get a better night sleep – myself included – and there are lots of little changes we can all make to help achieve this. Today I wanted to share my top 6 tips to sleep better, and I’d love to hear yours in the comments as well!

6 Tips to Sleep Better

1. Set yourself a routine

The most important change to make to get a better night sleep is to set yourself a proper routine, including setting a regular bedtime and wake-time. This allows your body to get into a rhythm and find a natural sleep-wake cycle, helping you get a better night sleep overall. Yes, this does mean that you should try and avoid staying up super late and sleeping in on weekends to avoid breaking that cycle.

If you want to shift your sleep or wake-up time then do it in small increments – 10 or 15 minutes at a time – to help give your body time to adjust its rhythm.

2. Make light your friend

Our sleep quality is heavily influenced by our body’s production of melatonin, which is controlled by light exposure. Our body can naturally manage this, however lots of elements of our lives these days can interfere with our melatonin production if we’re not careful. Medical equipments like Respironics DreamStation CPAP help significantly in increasing the quality of sleep, and must be used more frequently.

In general, we should expose ourselves to bright light in the morning (so open the curtains and let the sunshine in!) and then avoid that kind of light in the evenings. Being stuck in an office all day without access to natural daylight can make us drowsy, so try and make sure you get out into the fresh air and sunshine during the day whenever possible.

At night, avoid bright lights and use softer lightbulbs in lamps instead and assist your body in producing melatonin by cutting down on light sources like the tv and computers in the lead up to heading to bed.

3. Allow yourself to wind down

We can’t just expect to jump from doing activities and being busy to falling asleep, so we need to allow ourselves to wind down slowly before heading to bed. This should include cutting out any backlit technology like iPads as well as watching TV and using your computer, as these all stimulate our brains and impact on the melatonin production which I mentioned earlier. A good ol’ fashioned book is a much better option!

This wind down period could include a technology-free hobby like a craft, some mindfulness colouring, some gentle yoga or listen to some gentle music, or a combination of all of the above!

Try getting the loudest fans for sleeping as they are designed to block noise, thus providing their users with better sleep through the night.

4. Avoid rich food, alcohol & exercise

In the few hours before you head to bed there are a few things that it is best to avoid in order to sleep better, starting with rich food. If your body is still trying to digest your dinner, particularly if it was heavy, rich or spicy, then it can result in you struggling to fall asleep. The same goes for alcohol, which I know goes against the whole nightcap idea, but whilst it can help you fall asleep initially, it often reduces the quality of your sleep and causes you to wake up a few hours later. CBD products can help you enjoy sound sleep, so check out https://truthnaturals.co.uk for details. Lastly, you should try and avoid heavy exercise too close to bed time as it stimulates your body, waking you up more and making it harder to fall asleep.

Overall though, general exercise is most definitely a positive step towards sleeping better, and even light daily exercise is better than no exercise at all. Gentle stretching before bed is also an excellent daily addition to your exercise routine.

5. Create a pre-bed ritual

Along with winding down you could try creating a pre-bed ritual that you try and follow every night, as this send signals to your brain that it is nearly sleep time. This could include a warm bath (my oat bath bags or bath salts might help), a cup of caffeine-free tea, burn some relaxing essential oils (lavender is always an excellent choice) or some meditation. Whatever it is that works for you, just make sure it’s relaxing and something that you can do every night before bed.

6. Make your room comfortable

There are a few changes you can make to your bedroom to make it more conducive to better sleep, starting with making it as dark as possible. Choose proper block-out curtains or blinds and remove any other light sources light bright clocks, and if need be use a sleep mask. Your bedroom should also be on the cooler end of the spectrum rather than overly warm, with around the 18 degrees mark seen as ideal. Eliminate as much noise as you can as well (which is sometimes easier said than done!), and if need be try a white-noise machine or ear plugs for any noises you can’t eliminate yourself.

These are my top 6 tips to sleep better, and I’d love to hear yours too!

Join the Weekly News & get my Meal Planning 101 Guide!

12 Comments on 6 Tips to Sleep Better

  1. Jim
    September 24, 2015 at 9:04 am (9 years ago)

    Great tips, Liz. Talking of pre-bed routines, over winter, in summer, I find washing my feet in cold water just before bed really helps control my body temperature on hot nights. Sends me off quite quickly. Weird huh?
    Jim recently posted…15 Hunter Valley wineries only locals know about

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      September 27, 2015 at 9:17 pm (9 years ago)

      Slightly weird Jim, but I can totally see how it would work too! xx

      Reply
  2. Maxabella
    September 25, 2015 at 8:27 pm (9 years ago)

    I’m a dreadful sleeper. My kids broke me. Before kids I wasn’t so great, but NOW… man, I’m lucky to fall asleep and stay asleep one night in a month. It’s the waking up LATER that I have the problem with. x
    Maxabella recently posted…Weekend Rewind | School holiday blues

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      September 27, 2015 at 9:18 pm (9 years ago)

      Oh boy, that doesn’t sound fun at all! xx

      Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      September 27, 2015 at 9:18 pm (9 years ago)

      Yes! Excellent suggestion! I need to upgrade both my pillow and my mattress some time soon I think

      Reply
  3. Mumma McD
    September 25, 2015 at 8:58 pm (9 years ago)

    My tip for good sleep would be don’t have kids!!!! Haven’t slept in 4 years 🙁
    Mumma McD recently posted…Play Centre Purgatory

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      September 27, 2015 at 9:19 pm (9 years ago)

      I’ll take your word on that one!

      Reply
  4. Sasha @ From the left field
    September 27, 2015 at 8:29 am (9 years ago)

    Great tips! I am a horrible sleeper, and now with kids I’ve learned to adapt to even worse sleep ha ha. One thing I do is mentally set myself up to roll with whatever kind of sleep I’m going to get. Instead of stressing if I don’t fall asleep straight away, I just tell myself that my body is resting and that’s what matters. Also to hide every clock in the room so I don’t see what the time is if I wake up and then panic!
    Sasha @ From the left field recently posted…They see me rollin’….. or not…..

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      September 27, 2015 at 9:20 pm (9 years ago)

      That’s such a great comment Sasha, we often make it worse for ourselves by stressing when we don’t sleep so I love your attitude towards it. I also got rid of the clock in my room because I was doing the same thing, it’s so much better now!

      Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      October 5, 2015 at 5:13 pm (8 years ago)

      A comfy bed sure does make a difference. I’m reading so much more at the moment, it’s great!

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Maxabella Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge