Not Sleeping Well? Boost Your Sleep Quality with these Tips

Medical experts advise that we prioritize sleep. In fact, these experts recommended that we sleep for 7-9 hours per night, and they did so for obvious reasons.

After subjecting your body to stress (mentally and physically) throughout the day, it is important you sleep to allow your body and mind recharge and refresh. If you fail to get adequate sleep and keep at it for a long time, you could be at risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, depression, etc.

For those who have always wanted to yield to expert advice but find it hard to fall asleep, we recommend you make certain changes to your sleeping pattern, lifestyle, etc. Here are some of the reasons why you aren’t sleeping as you ought to.

Common Reasons for Trouble Sleeping

Have trouble sleeping? Many factors may contribute to your sleeping difficulty. Some of these factors are:

• Lifestyle choices
• Poor sleeping habits
• Stress
• Medical conditions
• Exercise
• Diet
• Screen time
• Hormone imbalance

Of course, there are more factors that might be contributing to your sleeping issues. For instance, low testosterone is also associated with sleep problems. If you’re experiencing such a condition, you may want to optimize your testosterone levels to boost your sleep quality. In addition to enhancing your sleep quality, increasing your testosterone levels can positively impact your mood and libido.

Here are some tried and trusted ways to boost your sleep quality.

1. Stick to a Sleep Schedule

Set aside eight hours for sleep. The recommended amount of sleep for healthy adults is a minimum of seven hours. Most people don’t need to sleep for over eight hours to achieve this goal.

Another thing to consider is when you go to bed. If you want to maintain a healthy sleeping habit, we advise you to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. Try to reduce the gap in your sleep schedule on weeknights and weekends to one hour max. Sleeping and waking up at the same time each day reinforces your body’s sleep-wake cycle.

If sleep doesn’t come within 20 minutes, get up from your bed, stretch, listen to music, play games, organize your junk drawer, etc. When tired, you can go back to bed. Sleep would come.

2. Watch What You Eat and Drink

What you eat will determine whether you’ll sleep well or not. As a rule of thumb, ensure you avoid eating heavy or large meals a few hours before bedtime. Doing so may result in discomfort, which will hinder your sleep.

In addition, be careful of how you take nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol. Nicotine and caffeine stimulate the mind, and their effects can hinder your sleep. Alcohol, on the other hand, can make you sleepy. But, it can affect your sleep later in the night. Finally, ensure you eat before going to bed. Sleeping with an empty stomach can lead to discomfort. No one sleeps easily in such a state.

3. Create a Restful Environment

Your room can also contribute to your sleep issues. To sleep well, you have to ensure that your room is ideal for sleeping. Make sure you arrange your room, turn on the fans, off the lights, and kill all noises. In addition, don’t use your phone or watch TV a few hours before bedtime.

You can also leverage room-darkening shades, earplugs, and other appropriate devices to create an environment that promotes sound sleep. Engaging In calming activities like bathing, relaxing, etc., before bedtime might help you sleep well.

4. Reduce Daytime Naps

Taking a nap is good, but you may find it hard to get quality sleep at night when you nap for a long time. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t nap during the day. If you must nap, don’t nap for more than 30 minutes and avoid napping in the evening as it may hinder your night’s sleep. This doesn’t apply to individuals who work night shifts. People who work nights will have to nap late in the day, so they are alert at night.

5. Eliminate Your Worries

Thinking about your debts, an unfinished project, workplace task, and other worries while preparing to sleep isn’t appropriate. It’ll agitate your mind and make it hard to shut your eyes and sleep.

So ensure you resolve all worries or concerns before you sleep. If you find it hard to discard your worries, you can consider stress management. Begin with the fundamentals, like getting organized, setting priorities, and delegating tasks. Medication can also help ease your worries.

Conclusion

Sleep comes with many therapeutic benefits. So if you aren’t getting the minimum amount of sleep daily, you are putting yourself at the risk of serious health conditions. Ensure you adopt the above methods to boost your sleep quality. However, if you don’t experience significant improvements, contact your doctor.