17 Tips for Rejuvenating Sleep

Most of us don’t get enough sleep (somewhere between 7-9 hours each night) – even though it’s one of the absolute best things you can do for your health. Some of that because you’re laying in bed for hours without being able to get to sleep or maybe you feel work is more important than sleep (it’s not). Or maybe you just can’t get to sleep for whatever reason. No matter what you do.

Well, that’s about to change.

These following tips will help you fall asleep as soon as you hit your pillow and stay asleep through the entire night.

1. 1. Turn down the thermostat. You’ll sleep better with the temperature set between 60° and 67° than you will at 72° F.
   2. Get black out drapes. Your pineal gland produces melatonin, the sleep hormone. Any sort of light will disrupt the production of melatonin.
   3. If not drapes, then get a mask. The same rules apply. The darker the room, the better.
   4. Keep the lights on during the day. Keeping a proper circadian rhythm is the key to sleeping at night. By turning the lights off during the day, you’ll confuse your pineal gland and it won’t make melatonin when you actually want to go to sleep.

1. Don’t drink alcohol. There’s this idea that because alcohol is a depressant that it’ll help you fall asleep. It might help you get to sleep, but the sleep you get will be terrible. You’re more likely to wake up and your sleep won’t be as deep – or restorative.
2. Lay off the caffeine at night. The half-life of caffeine is almost 6 hours. 6 hours later, you’ll still have half that cup of coffee or mountain dew in your system. So if you want to go to bed at 10 pm, you should finish your last cup of coffee by 3 pm. But the earlier you stop drinking caffeine, the better.
3. Drink a warm cup of chamomile tea. Chamomile tea can help you go to sleep easier thanks to its sedative properties.
4. But don’t drink too much. If you drink too much water before bed, you run the risk of having to wake up to go to the bathroom later.
5. Exercise – but not at night. Want to sleep like a toddler? Then do some strenuous exercise during the day for a blissful 8 hours of sleep. Exercising late at night is liable to keep you up all night.
6. Put the phone down. Anything that produces blue light can mess with your melatonin production (are you sensing a theme?). If you absolutely must use your phone right before bed, download the app, f.lux.
7. Or, turn on airplane mode. Putting your phone on airplane mode prevents you from using the internet, but it still allows your alarm to wake you up in the morning.
8. Sometimes all you need to do is clear your mind. Meditating before bed can help get rid of lingering thoughts before you lay down in bed.
9. Keep your sleep schedule the same. If you get up and go to bed at the same time every day (even on the weekends), your body will be ready for sleep at that time.
10. Have a routine. If you can’t keep the same schedule, try keeping the same routine. Example: final social media/email check, talk to your partner, take a bath, have some tea, brush your teeth, go to sleep.
11. Use the bed for bed things. Don’t eat in bed. Don’t watch TV in bed. Don’t even read in bed. You’ll confuse your body. The more your body relates the bed to sleep, the better. Don’t worry. It’s still OK to have sex in bed.
12. Keep cats and dogs off the bed. Cats, dogs, or whatever animal you might have are likely to move around in the night. Or they may get up earlier than you want. Hedge your bets and don’t let them sleep with you.
13. Don’t snooze. You may think hitting the snooze button makes you feel better, but it really doesn’t. The sleep you get when snoozing is awful. It’s better just to sleep until you need to wake up.