A well-rested mind is a fountain of creativity

The sound of your alarm shocks you out of a deep sleep, one you’ve been fighting for all night.
This is the fourth time you’ve hit the snooze button and you’re now struck with the panic and frustration of having overslept.
You’ve been tossing and turning for what felt like the entire night. With despair, you remember waking up at 3 a.m. needing the toilet…..again.

Did you really even get back to sleep?

You feel heavy, groggy, and stressed before the day has even begun. A night like this can make the following day drag torturously by.

It affects your mood, your concentration, and your energy levels and over the long term, the effect is even worse, Your memory suffers, your immune system weakens and you are at risk of raised blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

Sleep is not something to only do ‘when you’re dead’, it is absolutely critical to your experience of life. You snooze, you win! Despite this, a study has shown that 67% of UK adults suffer from disrupted sleep and 23% don’t manage more than five hours a night.

Simple Ways To Improve Your Sleep

Exercise

It’s not easy, but making exercise a part of your daily Routine is amazing for your health in so many ways. Regular exercise can improve your daytime energy levels, as well as give you a satisfying feeling of well-earned tiredness that will have you drifting off into deep and restful slumber at bedtime.

Yoga, cardio, strength training, walking, gardening, tree-climbing. It doesn’t really matter what you do, just get your body moving every day in some way.

Consistent small steps make a really big difference.

Avoid intense training within 2 hours of bedtime though, as you’ll most likely still be buzzing with energy when you want to sleep.

Increase exposure to natural daylight

Ever noticed how pleasantly tired you feel after a day out at the beach or in the countryside?

Getting outside helps to keep your body’s sleep-wake cycle in sync with the cycle of day and night. Studies have shown that spending time in a natural environment can help improve sleep, and researchers recommend a week of camping as a way to thoroughly reset your body clock to help you sleep longer and deeper.

• Have breakfast outside,
• Go for a morning run in the park,
• Take a short, brisk walk in the woods, or
• Walk to work

If you don’t have time to walk, at the very least open your car windows during your commute.

Keep a consistent, relaxing bedtime routine

Creating a simple routine will signal to your brain that it’s time to start winding down.

Set a bedtime alarm to remind you to start your routine until it becomes a habit you know you’ll stick with.

• I start by brushing my teeth about an hour before bed
• Following this I write down anything I need to remember and a plan for the next day, which helps declutter and calm my monkey mind
• I usually then put on some music and read for a while

You could try a

• Warm bath,
• Some relaxing essential oils,
• Stretching or,
• Journaling

Experiment and find a routine that helps you to relax.

Avoid screens 30 minutes before bed

The blue light — short wavelength, high energy light in the visible spectrum — emitted by our screens and other forms of artificial light messes with our circadian rhythm — our natural sleep-wake cycle — because it tricks our eyes into thinking we are still seeing daylight.

TV, computers, phones, and e-readers have no place in your bedtime routine. In addition to avoiding sleep-disturbing blue light, a tech-free evening routine will help you avoid the trap of involuntarily falling into a scrolling stupor until long past your intended bedtime.

Try creating a relaxing environment by turning off, or dimming bright lights as these also interrupt the signal for your body to rest.

For a softer and more natural light, light candles or, if you really want to take it seriously, get yourself a pair of blue light-blocking glasses. Blocking blue light, or just turning down the lights and avoiding screens will have a really positive effect on your sleep.

Don’t eat too close to bedtime

I know it can be hard to resist that habitual late-night snack, but your sleep will improve if you do.

Other than the uncomfortable feeling of trying to sleep with a full stomach, you could cause yourself indigestion, acid reflux, or heartburn.

Eating too close to bed also means that the muscles that digest and metabolize your food are hard at work instead of letting you rest.

Try to leave 2 hours between your last meal of the day and your bedtime. You could also try to avoid drinking anything within 2 hours of bedtime to avoid those nocturnal toilet trips.

Think about avoiding caffeine too. I realize that you probably don’t want to hear it, but studies have shown that it can take up to 10 hours to fully leave your system.

How To Create A High-Quality Sleep Environment?

Keep it cool

Try to maintain a temperature of around 18°C in your bedroom. Leave the heating off in your room.

In the warmer summer months, you might need a fan in your bedroom, or you could invest in a cooling mattress pad (gel or water-cooled) to keep your body temperature cool enough for a restful sleep.

Keep it calm

An over-stimulating or chaotic bedroom space will make it hard for your brain to switch off. If you have mountains of washing next to your bed, or clutter on every surface, these will be subconsciously competing for your attention and delaying your rest.

Try to recreate the intentionally relaxing atmosphere you enjoy when on holiday, for example by using:

Restful color schemes — use soft, cool, pastel colors. avoid bright, stimulating, primary colors.

Soft furnishings — at Round the Woods we use high-quality cotton bedlinen, comfortable cushions in complementary colors, and inviting cozy throws to accent the foot of your bed.

Air purifying house plants — Aloe vera, or spider plants can help you sleep better by increasing oxygen levels and purifying the air you breathe all night.

Keep it dark

Turn off, remove, or cover up any light-emitting devices. I recently went so far as to put tape over a standby light on an extension cable by my bed and have noticed a positive difference.

I love an eye mask, especially if you can find one that fits comfortably and if you have a street light outside your window a mask can be a huge help.

Although it is vital to have a dark environment to sleep in, there is something very satisfying about waking up with the sun on your skin.

Keep it quiet

Remove anything noisy (for example, ticking clocks).

If you can’t control the noise consider blocking it out using ear plugs, nature sounds, a white noise machine, or a fan.

Set your phone to airplane mode if you keep it by your bed as an alarm clock. If not, put it on the other side of the room or better still in another room altogether to help you resist the urge to use it while you’re in bed.

Keep it comfortable

Research shows that a decent, comfortable bed is worth, on average, an extra 42 minutes of sleep per night. That adds up to 15,000 minutes, or 250 hours, over the course of a year.

Comfort is key to a good night of rest.

There are many things to consider, such as the position you sleep in — back sleeper, side sleeper, or face down in the pillow sleeper. The materials used, the filling, and whether you suffer from allergies.

Conclusion

A soft, warm morning light stirs you gently from your sleep. You open your eyes, breathe a deep and satisfying breath of air, stretch, and snuggle back into the warmth of your bed. You’re wide awake and hop out of bed feeling refreshed, energized, clear-headed, and ready for anything.

This really could be you! And it’s how I now feel when I greet a new day (most days).

Does this feel unattainable, like some kind of magic to you?

I promise if you put these steps and daily habits into action you’ll notice a positive difference in your mood, patience, and overall happiness, not to mention the health benefits.
A good night’s sleep really does make all the difference in your ability to cope with everything life throws at you.

What are you waiting for? Start applying these tips today and begin to see improvements in your sleep quality right away.

Justly empowers users to create a personalized sleep routine, track their progress, and gain valuable insights into their sleep patterns.

So, let us embrace the power of sleep and embark on a journey of improved sleep habits.

Justly: Habits, Goals, Journal

What You Can Do To Improve Your Sleep Quality? was originally published in Justly Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.