How long and how well you sleep each night has a profound impact on your health. It is recommended everyone get no more than eight hours of great sleep per night, as too little or too much sleep sharply influences your well-being. Here are some simple ways you can improve your sleep.
Create a Schedule. You influence your circadian rhythm, one of which is our sleep cycle. Going to bed and waking up at consistent times each day goes a long way. You will train yourself to fall asleep and wake up more easily. Keeping a sleep diary will help you track the change in the rhythm over time, and allow you to report how you feel each day. Ideally, as your cycle becomes synchronized, your quality of sleep, and how you feel in the morning will improve.
Avoid Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol Before Bed. Not only is the overindulgence of these things bad for us in general, they greatly reduce the quality of our sleep. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that can take up to eight hours to wear off. Nicotine in particular can can cause someone to sleep lightly and wake up before they are ready due to withdrawal. Alcohol is a depressant that often leads people to wake up at night and worsens snoring and sleep apnea.
Improve Your Surroundings. Keep blue light interference from televisions, phones, and laptops generally away from your sleep space. It reinforces the notion that your room is where you sleep. We influence our sleep rhythm, so when we reinforce sleeping patterns with a space that enhances relaxation and reduces distraction, we can enjoy a greater quality of sleep.
Limit Naps, Increase Activity. If you enjoy an afternoon nap, it may be disrupting your ability to sleep at night. Something that can help you improve your sleep is remaining physically active, and it releases endorphins and wears us out. However, we shouldn’t exercise within 2-3 hours of our bed time, because it doesn’t give our bodies enough time to return to normal levels before attempting to relax into sleep.
Avoid Food and Beverages Before Bed. Drinking liquids and the consumption of anything before bed will cause you to urinate in the night, breaking up your sleep cycle and causing you to feel more tired and groggy in the morning than you would have otherwise been.
If you would like more information about getting a good night’s sleep, contact Dr. Gordon C. Gunn MD at 714-912-2211 or visit www.gordongunnmd.com to schedule an appointment today.
Dr. Gunn proudly serves Fullerton and all surrounding areas.