What Can I Do During the Day to Help Me Sleep Better Tonight?

Sleep is incredibly important for your health. Many studies show that sleep deprivation can have detrimental effects on your physical and mental health. After just 3 to 4 days of being sleep deprived, your cognitive function declines, your mood takes a dip, and you start to feel physically unwell.

Getting enough sleep is not always easy. You might go to bed at a reasonable time but take hours to fall asleep. Alternatively, you might struggle to stay asleep during the night and find yourself waking up every couple of hours.

The recommended amount of sleep is 7 to 9 hours each night in order for optimal health. This means 7 to 9 hours of high-quality sleep cycles between light and deep sleep, and includes both REM and non-REM sleep.

During deep sleep, your brain gets washed with cerebrospinal fluid, which pushes away the toxins from your brain tissue. Without this deep sleep each night, these toxins do not get flushed away, which can impact your health in the long term.

Luckily, there are plenty of things that you can do to maximize your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed every morning.

Here are some of the best things that you can do to achieve between seven and nine hours of high-quality sleep every night.

• Turn off your devices at least one to two hours before bed. This includes turning off your TV, laptop, and phone. Each of these devices emits blue light, which can suppress melatonin production and make it harder for you to fall asleep.
• Keep your room cool. Your body will not be able to switch off properly for sleep if you are too hot. Open up the windows or turn your air conditioning on an hour before you go to bed so that your bedroom is nice and cool when you’re trying to sleep.
• Practice a regular night time routine. Make sure you are doing things that relax your mind and body before you go to bed. This might involve a quick five-minute meditation, some stretching, or reading a book.