Tips on Getting a Good Night Sleep

Getting a good night sleep is so important, it not only impacts our health, but it also impacts our mood. There’s nothing better than waking up from a good night sleep, you feel fresh and ready to go for the day! There’s a lot of tips here, so hopefully you’ll find some of them useful. All of these tips are things you can start doing right now, but you need to practise them long-term, not just for one night! Nothing is ever a quick-fix, but sleep is something you’ll be doing for the rest of your life – so it’s best to try and get it right now!

1. No Technology in the bedroom – This includes laptops and televisions, keep these devices downstairs out of the bedroom. If it helps, keep your charger’s downstairs, that way you’re less likely to have them in the bedroom.

2. Phone out of reach – Let’s admit it, night time is the perfect time when you could pointlessly scroll Instagram for hours – but I think we all know this does us no good for our sleep! I know just how unrealistic keeping your phone out of the bedroom is for 99% of us! So instead, just keep it out of arms reach, that way you’re not inclined to reach out of bed and get it, but it’s still there if you need it for any alarms or any sleeping apps – just make sure your phone is on silent!

3. Keep it cool – As someone who gets seriously affected by the heat, there is nothing worse than a hot bedroom. I’ve now gone to the extreme of turning off my radiators in my bedroom even all during winter! Radiators also make it a very dry environment, so instead turn to more practical things like a thicker duvet, more blankets, and even an electrically blanket can help for those extra cold days. It also means you’re more likely to want to jump into your warm bed and snuggle under the duvet!

4. Avoid night time TV and laptop browsing – If you’re browsing the internet late at night, it will keep your mind alert making it a lot harder to fall asleep. Try and make it a rule to turn your laptop off at 7pm each night. As with the TV, start recording those late night shows to watch the next day in the daytime or early evening, and instead make the evenings the time when you turn to less-stimulating activities such as reading a book.

5. Routine, routine, routine – Your body loves routine, fact. Go to sleep the same time every day and wake up the same time every day, even on weekends. This is one of the most effective and hardest things to do, so I’ve gone to writing about this in more length on a separate blog post which you can read about here.

6. Get fresh air – Letting the sunlight on your face can help assist your body clock. For those of you who are too ill to get outside the house, I find sitting in the garden or even on the front door step for at least 15 minutes per day can make a massive difference to your sleep. If this is too much for you and you can’t leave your bed, then even just opening the windows in your room and breathing in the fresh air can make the world of difference!

7. Avoid social media in the evenings– There is a definitive link between sleep disruption and social media, but it is still not understood which is causing what. Social media use could contribute to sleep problems, for example, staying up late to post or disrupting sleep through exposure to the bright light of the screen, or sleep problems could contribute to increase social media use, for example, using social media to pass time when you can’t sleep. It’s also very likely both could be occurring. Either way, it is a proven fact by many that people who check social media more frequently or spend more time on social media are more likely to experience sleep problems than those checking less frequently or spending less time online.

8. Comfy bedding – There’s nothing worse at night than a scratchy blanket in your face or uncomfortable pillows. It’s worth investing your time and money to find the right material and style for you, everyone’s completely different so you need to find something that will suit you.

9. Mattress – The ideal mattress is when you can lie flat on the mattress and slide your hand under the small of your back with little resistance. If you cannot push your hand in easily, the mattress if too soft. If your hand slides in easily or there is a gap between your back and the mattress, then the mattress is too hard. If it’s too hard, you can cover your mattress with something soft like a mattress topper. If it’s too soft, a bed board or suitable piece of wood can be used to make it firmer (this won’t help worn mattress’s in the long term though).

10. Lumie clock – This clock is one of my best investments for helping me ease into my sleep routine and it has helped me so much for my sleep. Read more about it here.

11. Write everything down – It seems to be that when you’re in bed and about to fall asleep, you suddenly realise all the things you forgot to do. Before bed, write down everything you need to do or any work ideas etc. It’s useful to keep a pen and notepad by your bed for those late-night ideas!

12. Meditation –  There are so many benefits from meditating daily. By taking 10-20 minutes out of your day to meditate, it will help quieten the mind and leave you in a calm, peaceful state. Meditating at the end of the day will help you unwind and get ready for sleep. Meditating on your own can be very hard, but there are loads of apps, podcasts, and YouTube videos to help you. Just type “meditation” into your app store, Spotify, Google or YouTube and you will find thousands of free guides. A great app that I use and recommend is “Headspace”.

13. Relaxation – As well as meditation, there are a lot of relaxation tapes out there to help ease you into sleep, including lots specifically for sleep. Again, just type “relaxation guide” or “sleep relaxation” into YouTube, Spotify or Google and you will find so many free guides.

14. Manage your pain – When you’re in pain, sleep becomes extremely difficult and pain and no sleep become a vicious cycle. To read more about this in my post, “Tips to Help Manage Your Pain”, click here.

15. Herbs and oils – This is one I’m still trying, but I know a lot of people who swear by herbal teas and oils to help them relax in the evening before sleep. Popular oils include lavender for sleep, and there are also a big variety of herbal teas specifically for sleep available in shops and online to purchase and try.

16. Avoid caffeine – Drinking caffeine from 3pm onwards can disturb your sleep, so try switching to de-caff after 3pm and save those coffees for the mornings!

17. Night time food – Avoid night time snacking or a heavy meal in the evening. Instead, try and have your snacks in the afternoon, and don’t eat dinner much later than 7pm.

18. Don’t nap in the day – When you’ve had a bad night sleep it’s so tempting to have a nap in the day, but this completely mucks up your body’s sleep routine. If you’re really tired during the day, try and just rest with your eyes closed for a while and listen to soft music with some headphones which should prevent you falling asleep.

19. Make your bed – This a very simple tip, but always make your bed in the morning – that way you won’t be tempted to get back into bed, but it also means your bed is ready for you in the evening.

21. Keep your room tidy – A tidy room helps put your mind at ease and is more conducive to a good sleep. So, clear any dirty laundry off the floor, tidy up your bedside table, and keep it clean. Your spotless room will make going to bed so much more enticing!

22. Ventilation – During the day try and open your windows in your room to air out the room as it can get very dry, especially if you have the heating on.

I hope these tips can help you get a better night sleep. Let me know your tips and what you’ve found useful in the comment section below!

Metta, E xx