Have you ever had an awful experience wherein you couldn’t make yourself fall asleep? Or you managed to fall asleep but kept on waking up in the middle of the night? Isn’t it frustrating? Most especially when you have something important to do the next day, or worst if you have work the following day. You will end up being sleepy the whole day and can really affect your day.
Having enough sleep is essential to maintaining our overall well-being. Through sleeping, our body relaxes and recharges. This is where we regain all of the energy that we lost all throughout the day. When we didn’t have enough sleep, our brain would not be able to function properly.
Get better sleep at night with these brain hacks
Yes, sleeping is really an important part of keeping our body stronger and healthier. However, there are moments where it is so hard for us to fall asleep at night. I, for instance, have the same problem over and over again.
Hopefully, with these hacks, we will be able to help you have a better sleep every night.
Keep a regular sleeping cycle
One way to trick your brain to have a better sleep at night is to always sleep and wake up at the same time. It is a way for your body to get used to that schedule. Once the body got used to that cycle, you will notice that you will feel more refreshed and energized every day.
It is said that those people who have irregular sleeping patterns have more problems with getting better sleep at night.
If you have a regular sleeping cycle, you will notice that even without an alarm, you will automatically wake up in the time that you usually do because your brain and body already got used to it. This is what we call the body clock.
If you are used to sleeping around 11 o’clock in the evening, and waking up at 7 o’clock in the morning, stick to that pattern. Even on days where you don’t have anything important to do like work or running errands, do not break that cycle. Once you do, it will just ruin your sleep even more.
Clear out your mind at night
If you are an overthinker, it is best to avoid it at night. I know it’s a hard thing to do because it is sometimes inevitable and we cannot really control it, but you can try different techniques to relax your mind at night. When there’s a lot of things going on inside our head, it will be harder to fall asleep or to stay asleep at night.
There are several sleeping meditations and breathing exercises available on Youtube and Spotify which you can play while lying on the bed. Or you can try reading a book before bed, in that way your mind will be taken off of the things that you are overthinking about.
Some people like to have a night routine for their minds to be cleared out. There are some of them who like to have a nice bubble bath at night before going to make them feel relaxed before they go to sleep.
Lessen your screen time at night
I know a lot of us like to scroll through our social media feeds or watch a Youtube video or series and movies on Netflix. However, this will not help us if our aim is to have a better sleep at night. The more we expose ourselves to gadgets, the harder it will be to fall asleep at night.
It is best to not use gadgets at night. If you want something to do before you go to sleep at night, you can opt to read a book instead.
Keep your bedroom dark at night
When there is so much light in the room it will be harder to sleep at night. The reason behind this is the brain thinks that it is still daytime. The best thing to avoid this is to keep your bedroom dark.
When the room is not dark, the production of melatonin, our sleeping hormones will stop. This is also the reason why the use of gadgets is not advisable. However, if you are one of those people who like to read before you sleep, it is best to use a dim light.
Use your bedroom for sleeping only
Are you one of those people who likes to bring your work or school works in your bedroom? I know it is sometimes inevitable since many of us have our working desk in our bedroom. If you cannot avoid bringing your work inside the bedroom, make sure to keep it away from your bed.
The reason behind this is to trick your brain into thinking that when you are inside your bedroom or lying on your bed, it is already time to sleep.
Keep your bedroom cool
We all know that it is hard to fall asleep when it’s hot inside our bedroom. It is totally uncomfortable and frustrating. It is said in one of the studies that a warm environment has a huge impact on our sleep quality.
If you are living in a tropical country, you can opt to have an air conditioning unit inside your bedroom to help you sleep better at night.
Benefits of getting a good night’s sleep:
- Gives you full energy and improves your mood
A good night’s sleep will make us energetic the next day. Having enough sleep at night will make you less likely to be grumpy in the morning. In addition to this, our mind needs sleep to process our thoughts and emotions. Without having enough sleep, you are more likely to have negative emotions.
- Good night’s sleep improves memory
As mentioned above, sleep helps with processing thoughts and emotions. So, it really has an effect on our memory. With enough sleep at night, you will be able to strengthen your memory.
- Having enough sleep can increase your productivity
Our body needs to recharge in order to function well every day. And a way to recharge our body is through sleep. When we get enough sleep at night, it will boost our energy. And when we have enough energy in the day, we are more likely to become productive.
- Good for the heart
If we get enough sleep at night, it really benefits our hearts. It makes us less likely to have high blood pressure and less likely to have a heart attack.
Conclusion
In the end, sleeping really is an important part of taking care of ourselves. We cannot take this for granted. I know a lot of us like to stay up late at night, or worst is to not sleep at all. But keep this in mind, that not having enough sleep every night can cause serious problems in our health and is very dangerous.
With these tips, we hope that you would find it a lot easier to improve your sleeping patterns and habits.
