Sleep is a tricky one – we all want to sleep a ton, but we never seem to be able to properly schedule for it. One late night party screws up our schedules beyond repair, and seriously, who doesn’t binge watch Netflix at 1am? We’re constantly trying to get more sleep even if we feel a bit resentful that we spend a third of our lives unconscious. With these tips, you might find yourself sleeping easier though!
Put away your electronics at least a half hour before you sleep
Not only will this prevent you from bingeing (damn you, House of Cards!), but it gets your mind ‘ready for sleep’ in a way that continually staring at a computer screen simply doesn’t. Your brain needs time to relax and prepare for sleep, so you should give that to it and read a book or meditate or have a bath before bed – anything that relaxes you without a screen is a great idea.
Stick to a schedule
It’s tricky, but it’s one of the best things for your body and mind. By sticking to a strict sleep schedule (go to bed at midnight, wake up at 8, every day), your body gets set in a pattern and falls asleep easily and deeply whenever that time rolls around. By making your sleep times erratic, your body just doesn’t know what’s going on, so it makes it harder for you to get to sleep and to wake up regularly. Sure, it means no sleeping in on weekends, but hey, it works!
Open up your curtains
Have a dark and comfortable room where the light of a new day can’t possibly hit you? Do you hate to be up at 6 a.m. because the sun is shining right onto your face?
Well, friend, it turns out that this is a really good thing for your body. Sleeping in until noon in a black room is great, and sometimes maybe even necessary after a huge party night, but our bodies work better when they’re woken up gently with sunlight. In time, you’ll find yourself waking up more and more easily.
Don’t sleep in on the weekends
The hardest item on the list. It’s so tempting to sleep in on the weekends that we tend to go overboard and blast past our regular wakeup time. The bad thing is that this disrupts everything else and diminishes your sleep quality.
Sleeping is pretty awesome. Getting enough will make you feel better, look better (buh-bye dark circles), and think better.