Sure, you exercise daily, go for a jogging run, and consume a healthy diet, but you won’t achieve the best results unless you are enjoying a good night’s sleep!

Do you know ill-quality sleep can adversely impact productivity and brain functionality throughout the day? On the other hand, a perfect night sleep improves the effectiveness of exercise and optimize your eating capacity. Truth be told, sleep quality has declined given the hustle and bustle of life, and not to forget, the spiking stress about work!

So, if you are struggling to get a perfect sleep and it’s impacting your health, let’s check out five tips that promise a perfect sleep!

Use The Right Mattress 

According to research, the right mattress can directly influence the quality of sleep. The most intriguing fact is that the right mattress can reduce the backache by 57%, shoulder pain by 60%, stiffed back by 59%, and improve the quality of sleep by 60% - isn’t that enough reason to replace your decade-old mattress? 

In addition to these mattresses, remember that pillows must be replaced every year (we aren’t saying it casually, it’s said by the National Sleep Foundation). If we may add, get your hands on silk pillowcases for added skin benefits. On the other hand, the mattress needs to be replaced after every five to ten years. So, replace the old mattress and pillows to elevate the sleep quality (it will truly be a beauty sleep!).

Follow The Sleep Schedule

We all love to sleep in on weekends, but it’s high time you allocate only eight hours for your good night sleep. The adults are recommended to have a minimum of seven hours of sleep and eight hours is more than enough. Also, you must set the sleeping and waking-up time and make sure you stick to it. As for the weekends, try to minimize the difference in sleep schedule (one hour of difference is enough!).

Having a consistent sleep schedule induces the natural sleep-wake cycle. On the other hand, if you are unable to fall asleep within twenty minutes, get up from the bed and indulge in relaxing activities (you could read your office files or course books to feel dizzy – we do have a humor). All in all, get to bed when you are tired!

What’s Your Diet?

You must not go to bed stuffed to the throat or stomach making the growling sounds because you are starving. It’s advised to avoid heavy food a few hours before your bedtime because they cause discomfort, and that might keep you up during the night. In particular, you need to avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine since their stimulating effects might hinder your sleep.

You must be thinking that alcohol makes you dizzy, but it does ruin the sleep quality as it disturbs REM sleep. Remember, hindrance in the natural REM cycle results in lethargic feelings, and your productivity won’t be on point.

Put The Phone Away

We all make the mistake of scrolling down Instagram and enjoying chicken dinners (did you get the PUBG reference here?), but it can adversely influence sleep quality. In fact, we actually get the extension cords to make sure the phone is charging right beside us, but it’s time to let go of this habit, especially if you are trying to improve your sleep.

That’s because our smartphones release blue light, which reduces the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. In addition, it hinders the circadian rhythms of the body. To illustrate, the blue light traps your body into thinking it’s daytime, hence difficulty in falling asleep. So, start putting away your phone before sleeping (yes, even if for charging).

Allow Some Light

The human body is designed with an internal clock that helps it decipher when it’s time to sleep. The circadian rhythm basically instructs your body to wake up and fall asleep. So, to ensure the circadian rhythm is on point, get enough sunlight during the day, promising better sleep at night while keeping you energized during the day.

The Bottom Line

All these tips are best at improving the quality of sleep, but if you are someone who works night shifts, these tips are useless, right? In that case, just make the bedtime routine, keep the bedroom quiet and dark, and enjoy night-like sleep during the day!