Sleep is very important for a person’s overall well being, physical as well as mental. A sound sleep over the night ensures that your body is well rested and restored for carrying out its activities the next day. However, in the present age, many people are plagued with sleep disorders or erratic sleep schedules and sleep anxiety.
Sleep helps the brain work properly which helps in learning and solving problems as it builds a stronger cognitive function. Poor sleep patterns can affect your decisions, behaviour and emotional state of mind. It may lead to depression and other mental illnesses. Sleep also helps repair our heart and blood vessels and deficiencies can cause increase in blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, heart ailments and kidney diseases. It also increases the risk of obesity and decreases immunity.
Therefore it is imperative to have a good sleep schedule which can be achieved by following the below methods:
1. Maintaining a regular sleep
schedule It is advisable to maintain a schedule where you sleep and wake up at the same time, even on weekends. The body has an internal clock that attunes itself to the schedule it follows everyday and it knows when it is time to sleep. You can do some calming activities prior to sleeping such as listening to soothing music or having a hot shower which relaxes your mind.
2. Don’t have caffeine
Caffeine awakens the body and instead of inducing sleep, you will feel more energetic. Limit your caffeine intake to mornings and day time and don’t take coffee or colas 6 hours prior to your sleeping time.
3. Morning should involve sunshine
Just as darkness indicates that it is time to sleep, sunshine indicates that it is time to wake up. When you wake up in the morning, open your curtains and windows to let the sunshine come in or take a walk in the sunshine. This charges your body indicating that the day has started.
4. Minimize disturbances
Ensure that your sleeping room is dark, quiet and, neither too hot nor too cold for an optimum sleep. Darkness tells your body that it is sleeping time and relaxes your muscles which will help you sleep better. It is better to dim the lights and cut off the noise. If you are in an area where there is a lot of road noise, try using earplugs to silence out the sounds for a peaceful sleep. The room temperature should also be pleasant.
5. Don’t smoke, avoid alcohol and heavy meals
You should limit your intake of alcohol before sleeping and don’t smoke prior to sleeping. Intake of high calories should be left to the day meals and dinner should include lighter meals so that your stomach is at ease and doesn’t spend a lot of time digesting your food.
6. Exercise regularly
The benefits of exercise cannot be undermined. Exercise helps you to cut down the fat and strengthens the body by increasing metabolism and building muscles. It also improves your blood circulation and makes you more alert and active. It also improves sleep. Intense workout should be avoided at nights / evenings and should be carried out in the mornings / day as this may interfere with your sleep. Lighter exercise such as walking or stretching should be done at night.
7. Short Naps
Don’t sleep for many hours in the afternoon as the body can get confused and mistake your nap for your sleep time. A short nap for about 20 – 30 minutes is restorative which can boost your energy levels but this should not be overstretched. It may hamper your sleep at night.
8. Don’t use an alarm clock
The body has an internal clock and if you follow a regular pattern of sleeping, the body will attune itself to wake up at precisely the same time the next day. Try building up a schedule for a few days and then notice that you wake up at the same time the following day. This will help you sleep better where you won’t have to depend on an alarm clock to wake you up.
9. Adjust to new time schedule
In the event that you are travelling, try to minimize jet lag by adjusting your sleep pattern to the time zone of the area you will be travelling to. Before travelling, try to move your bedtime closer to the bed time of the new city.
