- No caffeine or nicotine after 6pm
You can’t expect to fall asleep easily if you provide your body with stimulants just before you go to be! Tea and coffee, chocolate and cigarettes will all conspire to keep you awake.
- Have a warm bath before bed
A bath before bed will help to relax you and prepare you for a good night’s sleep. Warm water will help to relax your muscles and ease your joints, making it easier to unwind before bed.
- Keep a good bedtime routine
Sticking to a natural routine in the evening before bed will help to prepare your body for sleep. There is much to be gained from “early to be and early to rise” because you are moving with the natural light patterns of the sun.
- Have a comfortable bedroom
Clutter will unconsciously make you uncomfortable so make sure that your bedroom is clean and tidy. Keep a cool temperature and use curtains or blinds to keep the light low.
- Get a hold on your stress and anxiety
Worry and anger from your day can prevent you from relaxing and, therefore, getting to sleep. Try some deep breathing or some muscle relaxation techniques to help you shed the anxieties of work, family or school.
- Exercise daily
Adequate fresh air will help your body to feel tired at bedtime. So ensure that you take at least a little exercise every day to provide your body with natural endorphins that will help you settle at night.
- Finish eating 2-3 hours before bed
A heavy meal too close to bedtime will interfere with your sleep as your body tries to digest the food. Trying to process a full stomach whilst in bed will cause indigestion and heartburn, making sleep difficult.
- Try some herbal tea, like chamomile
Chamomile has a mild sedative effect so it is almost always fund in bedtime drink blends. It helps to ease restless minds and bodies. Warm milk will have a similar effect because it contains the sedative-like amino acid, tryptophan.
- Don’t watch TV in bed
The bright light of a television in the bedroom can disturb your natural sleep patterns and light routines. It acts as a stimulant, suppresses melatonin production and stops you getting to sleep. So take the TV out of the bedroom.
- Avoid daytime naps
Power napping may be a way to get your through the day, but if you find that it’s stopping you from feeling sleepy at bedtime, then you need to cut the midday snoozes out.