5 Tips for Better Sleep

Sometimes you can’t control how much sleep you get, but you can control the quality of your rest. Creating the right environment for sleep and getting into good habits can make a difference.

Get comfortable on the inside. It takes more than a pillow and soft covers to settle in for the night. If you’re uncomfortable when you sleep, there’s a good chance you might feel the consequences when you wake up. For this reason, our first two tips are:

1) Eat early. If you have to eat at night, choose lighter foods and go easy on the grease and spice.

2) Do some stretches before you turn in. Loosening tight, tense muscles will make you more comfortable and less restless when you doze off.

Watch out for watching. You’ve probably heard that avoiding screen time before bedtime is important for sound sleep. We get it. Sometimes that’s just not possible. Try these more manageable switches when you need an alternative to logging off early.

3) If you need a distraction to help you fall asleep, try listening to music on a timer or listening to a low-key podcast instead of watching content.

4) If you’re facing a screen at night, go dim and finish with content that will help you wind down instead of what might get you keyed up.

5) Avoid posting or responding to messages for an hour before you shut down for the night. Be a passive consumer of content, not an active contributor. Most of what you want to type can wait till morning.

But putting electronics away well before bedtime is still best. Our sleep experts recommend planning ahead so you can build your schedule for device-free time at the end of your day, preferably 30-60 minutes before you try to sleep. Cell phones, tablets, and laptops cause mental stimulation that is hard to shut off and also generate blue light that may decrease melatonin production.

If your sleep problems persist, check in with your doctor or contact one of our sleep centers today.

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