Are you looking for top tips to improve sleep?
We all have those nights when we find it hard to fall asleep or wake up during the night. It is surprising that for a significant proportion of us, regular issues with falling to sleep and/or disturbed sleep are a problem, resulting in us feeling constantly exhausted. Lack of, or poor sleep can have a huge impact on our lives and relationships as we are constantly exhausted, lack motivation, have little or no energy or have a short temper. When we improve sleep it has a positive impact on our wellbeing.
Here are our top tips to improve sleep, including better quality and better quality:
Firstly, try going to bed and getting up at the same time every day because our minds and bodies like routine and it can improve sleep. So, work out a routine that fits with your lifestyle that gives you a period of 8 hours in bed each night. Try and stick to the routine at weekends too and avoid napping in the day where possible.
Take a look at your bedroom and think about whether the environment is dark, quiet and cool. Is it comfortable? Is your bedroom well ventilated? What about your bed, is it too hard or too soft, and are your pillows comfortable? Create an oasis of calm by having a screen free zone because screens and TVs can impact our sleep regime.
Being physically and mental active during the day can help you sleep better. Get some daylight to help your body and mind completely wake up early in the day and if you are in an office, if you can, sit by a window. Regular mealtimes can help with your routine and make the last couple of hours before bed a time to relax without screens and instead unwind with a warm bath and a good book.
Caffeine and alcohol can stop you falling asleep and prevent deep sleep. Avoid caffeine and products containing caffeine close to bedtime and try to cut down on alcohol. Avoid a heavy meal before bed.
When we can’t sleep, we can soon become frustrated. We worry that we are going to feel shattered in the morning. We start clock watching and counting down the hours to when we need to get up. Think about moving clocks and phones so that you are not tempted to look at the clock because this can make it worse. If you are still awake after what you think is about 10-20 minutes, keep the lights low and doing a simple task, for instance sorting laundry for a short while before returning to bed. In other words, break the cycle of becoming too frustrated to sleep. Repeat this until you eventually fall asleep.
Once you’ve tried our top tips to improve sleep, consider any factors which may be negatively contributing to your sleep pattern.
Sometimes, problems with getting to sleep or staying asleep can be a symptom of emotional difficulties. For instance, if we feel tense or anxious or there is something playing on our mind we can struggle to switch off. This can be particularly troublesome at night when it’s quiet and dark and we don’t have any distractions around us, we think about things that are worrying us, over analyse things that we, our family or friends have said or done. We start thinking about decisions we have made, what our future will bring or how happy or unhappy we are in our relationships.
To be able to completely relax and achieve restful sleep, we may need to address some of these issues, mange our worries and learn how to soothe our minds. We can support you with this. We have expert counsellors who can help you to explore the things that are troubling you, work with you to learn strategies to calm your mind to get peaceful, revitalising sleep.