The benefits of a good night’s sleep cannot be overemphasized. It relaxes you after a stressful day, boosts your productivity, enhances your memory, improves your general health and puts you in a great mood to face the challenges of the next day.
Insomnia is a sleeping disorder in which you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. It is often characterized by reduced sleeping time or interrupted sleep and these can have both short and long term effects that are detrimental to your health.
Before going the route of sleeping pills and other prescriptions, there are simple tips that you can employ to drastically improve your sleep and reverse insomnia. These tips include:
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Schedule Your Sleep
It is important for you to condition your body to specific times for sleeping. Avoid unplanned long naps during the day as this will probably keep you up at night. The best time for sleep will be when you are done with activities for the day.
Pick a time and stick to it. Make sure you finish up all you have to do before then. If you don’t finish, postpone everything else and give priority to your sleep. With time your body becomes accustomed to a regular sleeping time and pattern and this will help improve your sleep.
Have a Good Mattress
Your sleeping place matters a lot to how well you sleep. Your choice of mattress is very important.
Some of the factors you may want to consider when selecting a mattress include: Your style of sleeping i.e. do you sleep on your side, your back or on your stomach, Your preferred firmness or softness of a mattress, your body type and weight as well as the type of the mattress.
These should all be put into consideration because a comfortable mattress goes a long way in enabling a good sleep.
Also, try to maintain a tidy bed space, do not turn your bed into a dining space. Crumbs from food, dust, dirt and other materials on the bed should be removed as they disrupt your sleep.
Avoid Late Night Meals
Late-night meals and snacks are a great temptation that even the best of us struggle with, but if you are dealing with insomnia then it is something you may have to address.
Late-night foods especially heavy ones right before you lay down to sleep will overburden your digestive system and interrupt your normal sleeping patterns. One way to deal with this is to ensure that you eat your last meal at least two hours before your sleeping time.
Exercise Frequently
If you suffer from insomnia, you should have a great and healthy workout plan. Regular exercise will relax your body and improve your sleeping time as well as the quality of your sleep.
Try not to exercise too close to your sleeping time however, as that may keep you awake for longer than you would prefer.
Put Down Your Gadgets
Just one more Instagram post, just one more YouTube video, and you are still up for hours unable to sleep. When it is time to hit the bed, be deliberate and intentional about your sleep, put your gadgets down, if possible, turn notifications off and get ready for a goodnight’s sleep.
Reduce Caffeine
Caffeine-containing products like coffee can alter your normal sleeping patterns or aggravate your insomnia and as such it is better to do away with it in order to improve your sleep.
Avoid Alcohol and Smoking
Apart from their innumerable health implications, alcohol and smoking may also impair your sleeping.
Nicotine, present in cigarettes, is a stimulant that can keep you alert for longer than usual and prevent you from falling asleep.
Alcohol, although it may initially cause you to be tipsy and sleepy after intoxication, can also disturb your regular sleeping patterns and this may promote insomnia.
Try Meditation
Practices like meditation and yoga can be very helpful in decluttering your mindspace of several thoughts that may occupy it and therefore keep you up at night and impair your sleep.
Contact Your Doctor
If you employ all these tips and your condition is not relieved, it is advised that you contact a professional medical personnel to give you expert advice on the next steps to take.
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