Sleep Hacks for the Best Sleep of Your Life
By Sara Butler
You will spend a third of your life snoozing, which means sleep is pretty important to your overall health. Most Americans don’t get enough restful sleep every night and it can take its toll on you. If you don’t get at least seven hours of sleep per night then you need to use some of these tips to try to get a better night’s rest.
Some Fun Sleep Facts
Sleep is more interesting than you may think. For example, it has been found that hitting the sack late doubles the risk of breast cancer. If you get less than seven hours of sleep every night then you also increase your risk of heart attack significantly.
Sleeping can also have an impact on your weight. If you could get one more hour of sleep every day instead of watching television you could lose over 14 pounds in a year. In children, more sleep each night has also been associated with higher intelligence, probably because their little brains are working at their best!
What can be taken from these little tidbits of information? Sleep is really important, that’s what!
Increase Your Quality of Sleep
There are many ways you can increase the quality of your sleep at night. You should try:
- Creating a sleep routine – When you were a baby, you had a sleep routine so your parents could sleep too. You weren’t left to your own devices to get to sleep at night but instead had a routine that helped your body wind down and prepare for sleep. There’s no reason you can’t do this as an adult. Create a bedtime for yourself that will provide you with enough rest.
- Sleeping in darkness – The fake light in your life from your electronic devices hinders your body’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep. So, the best thing you can do is make sure your room is completely dark at night. Don’t leave the television on; even cover the light on your alarm clock if you have to.
- Sleeping in the cold – The ideal temperature for you room at night is somewhere between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re too hot or too cold at night it can wake you up at night, but if you get the temperature just right it can help facilitate the natural cooling cycle of your body.
These are just a few of the hacks you can try to get a better night’s sleep – try them and see how they can help!