Are you an early bird, or a night owl? Depending on your sleep routine, you might be dealing with a schedule that doesn’t do your body good. If you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep each night, it’s time to focus on getting a better sleep routine. Poor sleeping habits can be detrimental to your overall health and well-being over time.
Getting a Better Sleep Routine
By making small adjustments to your schedule, you can break bad habits and find the proper solutions for your sleeping problems. Learn how sleep routine adjustments can provide daytime sleepiness and insomnia treatment.
Analyze Your Bedroom
Your bedroom is more important to your sleep schedule than you might know. The quality of your mattress and pillows, the number of lights in the room, the temperature, and the surrounding sounds all play a huge part in letting you get the best night’s sleep. If you are uncomfortable because of a lumpy mattress or high heat, you will never be able to sleep well.
Make sure you do not have any electronics on when you are trying to sleep. Glowing or flashing lights can disturb your sleep schedule, even after you have fallen unconscious. Set your thermostat to a comfortable temperature and make sure it stays that way throughout the night.
Wind Down with a Relaxing Routine
Do you have enough time to relax before bed? Being able to wind down and put your body in a restful state is essential to creating a healthy sleep-wake cycle. In fact, poor pre-sleeping habits are one of the biggest causes of chronic insomnia. By changing your habits before bed, you can start to give your body the time it needs to have a restful sleep.
Here are some things to try:
- Power off your devices. Phones, laptops, and the TV should be off at least 30 minutes before bed.
- Turn off the lights. When you are in a dark room, your body can produce melatonin, which is the hormone that helps you fall asleep. If you have a bedroom with lots of light, your body isn’t producing enough melatonin to establish a healthy sleeping routine.
- Practice relaxation exercises. Meditation, deep breathing, stretching, or listening to calming music can help your entire body relax and wind down before bed.
It is also important not to go to bed until you feel truly ready. Going to bed before you’re tired will only stunt your ability to form a healthy sleep-wake cycle.
Change Daytime Activities
What you do during the day can have an impact on your sleep schedule as well. If you are stagnant and unmoving throughout the day, then that pent-up energy will just keep you awake at night. Make sure you get some exercise so that you actually feel tired by the end of the day.
You should also be mindful of how much caffeine and alcohol you consume. Coffee might help to wake you up in the morning, but drinking it throughout the day can push your body’s limits and prevent you from feeling sleepy. Alcohol can make you feel tired, but it actually lowers your quality of sleep, so an abundance isn’t recommended.
Don’t eat at least an hour before bed. Late dinners are fashionable, but your body needs to start the digestive process before you go to sleep. Otherwise, your body shuts down and cannot perform its proper functions.
Seek Professional Sleep Care Today!
It takes a few weeks to form a new habit, and it is possible to change your sleep schedule for the better. If you need help diagnosing and treating your sleep disorders, you can get in touch with the best insomnia doctor in New York at your earliest convenience. Find Dr. Mayank Shukla and a team of sleep specialists at the most advanced sleep clinic New York City has to offer. Give us a call today!
