8 tips to sleeping better tonight

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If you’ve been having trouble falling asleep or find yourself waking up frequently during the night, you may not be getting enough quality sleep. This can cause irritability and make you more impatient, even affect your focus and performance at work. Over time, chronic sleep deprivation can even lead to serious health consequences. We tell you how to make the most of your pillow time.

Create a restful place to sleep

Make sure your room is dark (use blackout curtains to block out light if necessary), that it’s not too hot or cold, and it is quiet (use earplugs, an electric fan or a white-noise machine to block out sounds if necessary). Having a comfortable mattress and pillow helps too.

Stop eating after 9pm

Have your last meal three to four hours before bed and eat light. If you feel slightly hungry close to bedtime, have a light carbohydrate snack or foods containing tryptophan, like milk, which have sleep-promoting properties.

Develop a sleep routine

Take a warm bath (try adding some lavender essential oil), read a book, meditate, listen to calming music, sip some chamomile tea or create other nighttime rituals that signal it’s time to wind down. Or have sex – a surefire way to ensure more restful sleep.

Keep regular hours

Try to maintain the same sleep and waking cycle every day, even on weekends. According to sleep experts, this is the most effective way to improve the quality of your sleep. Avoid napping unless you are sleep deprived.

Exercise regularly

Physical activity can help relieve daily stress, but avoid exercising just before bedtime as the endorphins from your workout can keep you awake.

Limit your vices

Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol in the late afternoon and evening. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that can keep you from falling asleep, while alcohol interferes with your overall sleep quality and can cause you to wake during the night.

Avoid electronics

Exposure to the artificial backlight from computers, mobile phones or tablets 90 minutes before bedtime is believed to reduce the production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. This also means limiting television viewing before bed.

Keep it exclusive

Use your bed only for sleeping, making love and perhaps reading. This is to avoid linking the bedroom with active stimuli, which is linked to alertness rather than strengthening the association between your bed and sleep.

How much sleep do we need?

While it varies with the individual, the National Sleep Foundation in the US recommends seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep a night for adults, in order for them to function optimally.