How to Get a Better Night's Sleep

How To Get A Better Night's Sleep

Once you fall asleep, learning how to stay asleep is important for your body and mind. Sleeping too little is associated with health risks and impaired brain function. Here are the key ways to get better quality of sleep:

MOVE YOUR BODY

People who get high levels of recreational physical activity tend to have deeper, higher quality sleep than those who don't or are just very active in their house or lifestyle. This means cleaning up the house doesn't necessarily make for better sleep, but playing a round of tennis or walking the dog at a brisk pace could improve your depth of sleep.

CHOOSE COMFORT

Sleeping on a worn out mattress can negatively affect the quality of your sleep. Even when you fall asleep quickly, the depth of sleep is what determines a fresh wake up or a groggy start, Try out several mattresses and choose the one that best fits your body's comfort needs.

MAINTAIN SLEEP HYGIENE

Your teeth and skin aren't the only things that require hygiene practices. The quality of your rest depends on hygiene too. To get your best sleep, stay well-hydrated throughout the day. Find the balance between avoiding thirst and drinking so much water that it may wake you at night. Limit noise in your bedroom and incorporate white noise if necessary to eliminate surprising outdoor noises. Keep a pen and paper next to your bed to jot down anything you might worry about later to avoid feeling anxious in bed.

How to get to sleep

Falling asleep easily is affected by what you do in the heading up to bedtime. Make these changes to your evening routine to make getting to sleep simple and stress-free.

END IT EARLY

If you're having an emotional fraught or tense conversation with someone try to end it an hour before bed. This gives you time to gain perspective, unwind and assume a more relaxed state.

MAKE A NIGHTTIME ROUTINE

It's not just kids that need a bedtime

routine. Adults can benefit as well.

Having a series of steps to get ready

for bed teaches your brain to grow

accustomed to the process and

prepares it for rest.

FIND YOUR COMFORTABLE

SPOT

Being comfortable is subjective, but having a mattress that you find cozy is key to sleeping well. People who find their mattress comfortable have deeper sleep and more sleep efficiency than people who sleep on something they're not satisfied with.

LEAVE THE SCREEN BUT

KEEP THE SOUND

Experiencing pleasant nature sounds helps people recover from stress faster. Have a video or playlist set to go for bedtime so you don't have to fiddle with your phone pre-bed. Search nature sounds to get the kind of auditory assistance that will let you drift off into relaxation.

TOP MATTRESS BRANDS

TEMPUR-PEDIC

SEALY

STEARNS & FOSTER

1. Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society Consensus Conference Panel: Nathaniel F. Watson,MD, MSc, Moderator; M. Safwan Badr,MD; Gregory Belenky,MD; Donald L. Bliwise, PhD; Orefu M. Buxton,PhD; Daniel Buysse,MD,David F. Dingers,PhD;James Gangwisch,PhD; Michael A. Grandner,PhD,MSTR,CBSM;Clete Kushida,MD,PhD;Raman K. Malhotra,MD;Jennifer L. Martin,PhD;Sanjay R. Patel,MD,MSc;Stuart F. Quan,MD;Estra Tasali,MD

2. Consistently High Sports/Exercise Activity Is Associated with Better Sleep Qaulity, Continuity and Depth in Midlife Women: The SWAN Sleep Study Christopher E. Kline,PhD,Leah A. Irish,PhD,Robert T. Krafty,PhD,Barbara Sternfield,PhD,Howard M. Kravitz,DO,MPH,Daniel J. Buysse,MD,Joyce T. Bromberger,PhD,Sheila A. Dugan,MD, and Martica H. Hall.PhD

3. Quanititative effects of mattress types (comfortable vs. uncomfortable) on sleep quality through polysomnography and skin temperature Hynja Lee, Sejin Park

4. Relationship of Sleep Hygiene Awareness, Sleep Hygiene Practices and Sleep Quality in University Students. Franklin C. Brown PhD, Walter C. Buboltz Jr PhD and Barlow Soper PhD

5. Impaired sleep after bedtime stress and worries; Torbjom Akerstedt, Goran Kecklund, John Axelsson,

6. A Nightly Bedtime Routine: Impact On Sleep in Young Children and Maternal Mood Jodi A. Mindell, Phd; Lorena S. Telofski, BA; Benjamin Wiegand, PhD; Ellen S. Kurtz, PhD

7. Quantitative effects of mattress types (comfortable vs. uncomfortable) on sleep quality through polysomnography and skin temperature; Hyunja Lee, Sejin Park

8. Stress Recovery during Exposure to Nature Sound and Environmental Noise; Jesper J. Alvarsson, Stefan Wiens and Mats E. Nilsson