10 Dos and Don'ts For Your Nightly Routine
Sleep better and wake up better rested with these suggestions!
Here are some things you should do before bed:
1. Reduce blue light
Blue light is something that most electronic devices have. In face, smartphones and computers both emit a large amount of blue light. To prevent too much exposure, either wear blue light protectant glasses or stay off your electronics before bed!
2. Reduce irregular naps or long period naps during the day
If you take long or irregular naps during the day, it will interrupt your sleep cycle at night. This will lead to less peaceful nights of sleep and having trouble falling asleep.
3. Keep a constant sleep schedule
Try to wake up and fall asleep around the same time each day. This will prepare your body, and your body will begin to have a natural rhythm.
4. Keep as much light and noise out of your bedroom as you can
By keeping noise and light out of your bedroom, it signals to your body that it is time to fall asleep, so your body will naturally start releasing melatonin.
5. Take a shower or bath
This can help relax your body and mind. This will help you fall asleep faster instead of sitting awake all throughout the night.
6. Read or journal
This will help make your brain rest. If these are relaxing activities for you, then this can help prepare you to fall asleep and will help you not lie in bed for hours trying to fall asleep.
7. Keep your room cool
By keeping your room cool, you are allowing your body to relax. When your body is hot, it is working to keep your body cool, so you will have a restless sleep. The average temperature that people get the best sleep at is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Focus on relaxing, not sleeping
When you focus on sleeping, you often are trying to force yourself to do something your body isn't ready to do. Instead of focusing on sleep, focus on trying to relax your body and sleep will come naturally.
9. Put your clock facing away from you
This prevents you from glancing at your clock multiple times throughout the night, keeping you awake.
10. Start a sleep ritual
This will help signal to your body every night that you are ready for bed, and it will help you start to relax and not think about the stressful issues in your life.
Here are some things you shouldn't do before bed:
1. Don't eat late night snacks
Eating late at night can overload your digestive system and can negatively affect falling asleep and staying asleep. This also can affect the body's natural release of HGH and melatonin.
2. Don't exercise before bed
While you should exercise during the day, you should not do it right before bed. This will just energize you before you try to relax and fall asleep.
3. Avoid nightcaps
While these may help you relax, they often disrupt your sleep cycle once you do fall asleep.
4. Don't do a bunch on your bed; reserve your bed for sleep
If you do work in your bed or do stimulating things in your bed, your body and brain will see it as more than just a place to sleep. This can prevent you from falling asleep when you actually are ready to rest.
5. Don't turn lights on and off
Once you try to go to bed, you should keep the lights low or off so you don't cue to your body that it is time to wake up.
6. Avoid late-night caffeine in anything
A surprising amount of foods and drinks include caffeine. If you consume caffeine right before you go to bed then you will have more trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.
7. Stay away from serious or potentially upsetting conversations before bed
These can get you keyed up and make your mind start to race. This is really bad once you are trying to relax and fall asleep.
8. Don't sleep on dirty sheets
Sleeping on dirty sheets can make you uncomfortable and prevent you from getting good sleep.
9. Don't procrastinate sleep
The more you procrastinate going to bed, the worse you will sleep.
10. Don't watch the news or any exciting movies before bed
These can cue you up and do the same thing that serious and upsetting conversations can do.
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