Did you know the average person who sleeps 8 hours a day will spend 229,961 hours asleep? That’s 1/3 of an average lifetime! Even for those of us who don’t get our 8 daily hours, thanks to sick kids, insomnia, and stress, we still spend a good deal of our lifetime in bed. If you are like me and have spent many restless nights tossing and turning, these five ways to get a good night’s sleep can help prompt you into dreamland.
1. Make sure the room is cool. As a child I used to spend the summer months wide awake because I was too hot to sleep, thanks to a perpetually cold mother who refused to turn on the air conditioning unless the temperature outside was over 95 degrees. I discovered later in life the ideal room temperature for sleeping is 60 to 67 degrees. This is easy to do during the winter by turning down the heat. In the summer I add a fan to the room for cooling, air circulation and white noise.
2. Take time to relax before bed. Have you noticed you can’t sleep as well if you’ve just finished a suspenseful movie or tv show? Maybe you’ve spent some time perusing social media and find your mind racing. The best way to clear your head is to take a few minutes to relax; deep breathing, meditation, whatever works for you. My favorite relaxation method is reading. I always schedule 10-15 minutes a night to browse through a magazine or read a book (as long as it is not too suspenseful!)
3. Make sure the room is dark. Have you found yourself looking around your room after you’ve turned out the lights and discovered it is not dark? The annoying blinking light on the clock or the light from the phone seems to be glaring brightly. Light can suppress the natural sleep producing hormone, melatonin, tricking your body into thinking it should be awake. Try to remove as many of the lights as possible or invest in a sleep mask.
4. Don’t try to “force” sleep. Have you ever spent the night thinking, “I have to get some sleep or I will be so tired tomorrow. I really need sleep. Come on, come on, go to sleep. ?” Please tell me I am not the only one. It seems the harder I try to go to sleep, the more wide awake I become. Instead, a better solution is to get out of bed and do something boring until you feel sleepy.
5. Make sure the bed is comfortable. Investing in a good mattress and high quality linens. Let’s face it, as much time as we spend in bed over our lifetime, do we really want to wake up each morning with a crick in our neck or a sore back? Although these are a considerable upfront cost, with proper care they can last ten years or more, which equals pennies a day over time.
What are your best tips for getting a good night’s sleep?
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With couple of kids around, I could never plan out my sleep time lately. These are great tips to keep in mind. I agree, force sleeping wont help at all, as it adds more tiredness & kind of irritation to your mind as well. It is better to divert yourself & do something until you feel sleepy again.
I like to have a hot bath to relax before bed. I make sure the room is nice and cool before bed. I always sleep better if the room is cool and dark.
I have horrible nights sleep but I know I need a new mattress and will be shopping in a couple weeks! These are great tips!
I need a new bad so badly! I also keep my bedroom very warm so maybe I should turn that down a few degrees to see if it helps some. I love sleep, it does not, however, love me!
These are all great suggestions for getting proper rest.
There are also so many health benefits from having a properly rested body!
I have really been struggling with this lately. I blame pregnancy but most of the time it’s my brain just not wanting to shut off. #2 is what I have a hard time with relaxing before bed!
I never had a problem sleeping til recently. Old age has set in. LOL. Now I’m super picky about lights and bed comfort etc. Thanks for the tips
These are helpful tips. I’m a person who can’t sleep easily with the lights on. All your points are valid.
Great tips and getting plenty of sleep is so important. My husband jokes about how fast I fall asleep once we lie down, but it is only because our bed is super comfortable.
I need to sleep with a cool, dark room. I also like to have white noise to help me stay asleep.
We usually do a nice relaxing bath followed by a great bedtime book. Works for the kids.
These are fantastic! I especially like the “make sure the bed is comfortable” one. I’m BIG on comfy linens for our bed!
All great tips. I like to read a bit before bed, it helps to make my eyelids heavy.
You’ll have to forgive me, because I’m a bit slap happy… but my best way to a night;s sleep is to be in a hotel with my pillow. The new baby is keeping me up, and when I CAN sleep, my son wakes me up early in the morning or refuses to go to sleep on the back end. It’s HARD to sleep!
Great time and I agree with the dark and cool room. We have a ceiling fan that runs all year round to keep the room cool which helps me sleep for sure.
These are great tips. There are times when it’s so hard for me to fall asleep, and if I just lay there trying to sleep, it only gets worse.
If my husband didn’t snore, I would be able to sleep a lot better LOL 🙂 Loving all your tips.