4 Ways of Improving Your Sleep

Ever noticed how awful you feel when you wake up in a morning, after only a few hours of bad-quality sleep? You feel tired, you feel emotional, you’re drained of energy and motivation, you can’t focus, and you tend to crave unhealthy foods as well. Now, on the flipside, think about feeling tired, getting into bed, and having a fantastic uninterrupted 8 hour sleep and waking up refreshed and revitalized the next day. By the time you’ve showered and eaten your breakfast, you’ll feel like you can take on the world. If only every day was like that, right? Well, if you struggle to get a good night’s sleep, or if you’d just like to improve your sleep slightly, here are 4 helpful pieces of advice.

Never go to sleep on a full stomach

If you’re looking at sleeping through all night, you must make sure that you leave it at least two hours after eating before you go to sleep. If you eat a meal and then immediately get into bed, you will feel full, bloated, gassy, and the food will struggle to digest. If you do manage to get to sleep, chances are you will wake up with acid reflux, heart burn, or indigestion from the food you consumed. As we said, leave it at least 2 hours before going to sleep, and don’t drink too much liquid either.

Try to get most of your fluids in during the day

We know the pain and mental anguish associated with needing to pee while laying comfortably in bed. The bathroom may only be a few yards away, but those yards may as well be miles when you’re warm and comfortable. The problem is the longer you leave it, the worse the pain gets and unless you want a soggy duvet, you will need to go pee. To help avoid waking up in the middle of the night, drink most of your fluids early during the day. Of course you will need to drink in the evening, but don’t go mad and drink 2 litres of water around one hour before going to bed, otherwise you will be up most of the night. Drinking early in the day means you can pee most of the liquid out just before you sleep, so your bladder will be empty and less likely to wake you up by quickly filling up again.

Relax and unwind

When you get into bed, you want to be calm, relaxed, and comfortable. For this reason, avoid watching violent, action, or horror films or shows full of explosions, shouting, screaming, gunfights, and other loud noises and scenarios that stimulate us and get our adrenalin flowing. Instead, listen to calming music, take a warm bath, and listen to relaxing sot music or watch a calming TV program instead.

Clean your bedding regularly, and always shower before bed

If you want the ultimate night’s sleep, strip off your old bedding, put clean, fresh bedding on, and take a bath or a shower before getting in bed. Everything will smell great, and the sheets and pillows just seem to feel so much nicer than when they were dirty. Aim to clean your bedding once every 7 – 10 days, and never get into bed sweaty or dirty. You will be amazed by how well you sleep.