5 Tips For A Good Night Sleep

Most people in industrialized societies are working jobs with long hours and lead incredibly busy lives.

With so much to do, they often skip on the essentials of good health, such as not getting enough sleep.

Take Michael, for instance. 

He is a 24-year old call center agent and a new father who regularly works the graveyard shift.

With the demands of parenthood and work bearing down on him, he treated sleep as a luxury he could not afford.

But contrary to what most people think, sleep is far from a luxury.

If you deprive your body of this basic need, you have to pay for it one way or another.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your sleeping hours:

1. Routine Is Key 

Humans are wired to operate on a sleep schedule which has come under attack since the dawn of the modern age.

Mathew Walker, Ph.D., author of Why We Sleep says that the demands of modern living have taken its toll on our basic biological need to sleep.

He shared this insight in his book:

The decimation of sleep throughout industrialized nations is having a catastrophic impact on our health, our life expectancy, our safety, our productivity, and the education of our children.

As such, the key to regularly getting a good amount of sleep is through a schedule. 

The human body thrives on routine, and you have to design your day to support this.

One quick way to do this is by deciding on a fixed time to get up every day, then schedule your bedtime based on that.

If you want to sleep for at least 8 hours and need to be up by 6 am, then you need to be in bed by 10 am. 

Stick to this routine throughout the week and your body will gradually adjust.

As you get used to this schedule, you do not have to set an alarm. 

You know you settled into your target sleep pattern when you get up at the same time every day.

2. Turn Off Your Smartphone At Night

Nothing wrecks your sleep rhythm more than a bright screen in your face before going to bed.

You might think you are relaxing while scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feed. 

But it is doing damage to your body you are not even aware of.

You see, your natural sleep mechanism is designed to release a hormone called melatonin when you are about to hit the sack.

So when you use a mobile device or your laptop, the bright light sends a signal to your brain to stop producing melatonin. 

Part of a good sleep schedule is learning when to stop using electronics as bedtime nears.

Give yourself at least a couple of hours to unplug from your electronics before going to bed. 

This allows your body to get settled in for the night ahead and go down like a sack of potatoes when you turn off the lights.

3. Set The Stage For Good Sleep

Your environment plays a huge factor in the quality of your sleep. 

So you need to make sure that the bedroom is a conducive enough for resting.

Aside from removing all electronics from your bed, here are other ways to ensure sleeping success:

4. Remove All Stressful Associations From Your Sleeping Environment

This means leaving your work OUT of the bedroom. 

Your mind should only think of sleep when in bed.

5. Do Not Stay In Bed If You Cannot Sleep

Do something else outside of the bedroom and come back when you are done.