Melatonin can help combat jet lag, but what about better sleep in general? There’s nothing better than a good night’s sleep, but sometimes, it’s hard for us to maintain a sleep schedule that lets us wake up feeling bright-eyed and ready to take on the day. Here are our five simple tips for getting a better night’s sleep.
- Go to sleep and get up at the same time every day: Stick to a consistent sleep schedule to help set your body’s internal clock. Set a realistic time to go to bed that will work with your schedule and ensure you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep by the time you wake up to start your day.
- Avoid sleeping in: It can be tempting to hit that snooze button or just plain old sleep in on the weekends. But even a couple of hours difference in your sleep schedule can disrupt your internal clock, so try sticking to your schedule whenever possible and if necessary, opt for a daytime nap when possible.
- Avoid bright screens within 2 hours of your bedtime: While all light can be disruptive to your sleep, the blue light emitted by electronics interferes with your sleep even more. You can minimize the impact by using devices with smaller screens, turning the brightness down, or avoiding them all together for two hours before your bedtime.
- Cut down on caffeine: Caffeine can cause sleep problems up to ten to twelve hours after having consumed it. If you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, try cutting down your caffeine intake and eliminating caffeine after lunch.
- Fight after-dinner drowsiness: If you find yourself getting tired hours before your bed time, engage in something mildly stimulating to avoid falling asleep. Wash the dishes, call a friend, plan your outfit for the next day. If you give into the drowsiness too early, you run the risk of waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble falling back to sleep.
If after all these tips you still find ourselves battling, we suggest you check out our Sleep Category for a simple natural way to enjoy a nights rest.
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