Sleep is so important for your health. Humans spend about a third of their lifetime asleep and with good reason. Sleep helps you heal, it helps you learn things and has a massive impact on your mental health. For all these reasons people are keen to get the most out of their sleep. In this article, there will be some helpful tips for how to rest better, no matter which type of sleeper you are. 

Get The Right Mattress

The most important part of getting a decent night’s sleep is having a good mattress. If you are not comfortable in your bed then you will find it hard to get to sleep but also you will struggle to stay asleep. Different people like different types of mattresses so it can be hard to know which to choose. To start with you should read reviews of the various types and see what the overall consensus is. Your next best option would be to go and try out a bunch in a store. Most retailers offer a trial period for mattresses just in case it isn’t the right one for you. Getting the right mattresses will help you rest better. 

Set A Sleep Schedule

Having a fixed time that you go to bed every day sounds pretty dull but it is incredibly helpful. As much as it is great to have a flexible lifestyle, if you want to sleep better you need to set up a sleep schedule. By doing this, your body will start to learn when bedtime is and will set its internal clock to when you need to go to sleep and when you need to get up. This is helpful as you want your body to produce all the chemicals and brain signals that make you tired at the same time as when you are going to be going to sleep. If you are going to bed at random times every night, your body won’t know what to do. Setting a sleep schedule and sticking to it is a great way to rest better. 

Exercise Regularly

You probably already know this but guess what? Exercise is good for you! Making sure that your body has been worked out is important as it releases many important endorphins that will help you sleep later on. However, you should try to avoid exercising after 4pm as this may cause you to still have a bit too much adrenaline and post-workout buzz when you are trying to get to sleep. Making sure that you have done some exercise during the first part of the day will set you up for having a really good sleep. 

Avoid Caffeine After 2pm

Caffeine is great for waking you up in the morning but if you drink coffee or tea too late then you will struggle to sleep. Caffeine has a long half-life which means that it stays in your bloodstream for quite a while. Ideally, if you want to sleep well, you should have a coffee in the late morning or with your lunch. That way you give yourself time to wake up naturally in the morning and also means you won’t have it too late in the day. It can be hard to adjust your caffeine intake but try to ween yourself off slowly and you’ll be sure to see the benefits. 

Have A Healthy Snack

Late evening snacking is not always encouraged but can be hard to avoid. If you find yourself a little peckish an hour or so before you would normally go to bed, try to have a healthy snack. A banana is a good option as it has potassium and magnesium, both of which are good as muscle relaxants. They also have a compound inside of them that releases serotonin which also helps you sleep. Try to avoid chocolate as this has caffeine in it, as well as sugar. If you must have a late snack, try to make it something healthy that will aid your sleep. 

Stop Smoking

There are a huge number of reasons to give up smoking but if you care about your sleep then you should seriously consider it. If you are on the spectrum of needing to have a cigarette before bed then you are going to be seriously inhibiting your ability to sleep easy. Nicotine is a stimulant and is very counterproductive to inducing sleep. Stopping smoking will help you in many ways but not least because it will help you sleep better. 

Seek Darkness

One of the biggest problems for people sleeping is being woken up in the night by unwanted light. Whether it is the sun rising early in the morning in summer, street lights, or car headlights, any change in light will affect the quality of your sleep. Total darkness can be really good for getting to sleep but it doesn’t have to be pitch black. The important thing is being able to control the light in your room and make sure that no additional light sneaks in whilst you are sleeping. Seek darkness and you will find that you get a much better quality of sleep. 

Get The Temperature Right

If you live somewhere where the climate is quite unpredictable it can be really difficult to regulate the temperature of your bedroom. It is widely cited that it is best to sleep in a slightly cool room and also allow your body temperature to reduce slightly as you are getting to sleep. If you have air conditioning then you can use this to set the temperature of your room to be slightly on the cool side or try to keep a window open during the night. This should help maintain airflow and allow for a regulation of temperature which will help you rest better. 

Sleep Easy Tonight

If you are struggling with your sleep and you don’t know why then fear not. Hopefully, this article has provided you will some potential solutions to your sleeping issues. Getting a good night’s sleep is important in so many ways. Make sure you do everything you can to help yourself sleep easy tonight.