Health and Fitness: How to Sleep Better

Sleeping is very important because it helps our body restore and rejuvenate, to grow muscle, repair tissue, and synthesize hormones. Studies have shown that 1 in 3 adults and the majority of high school students are not getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night. One of the problems might be because they are not sleeping well. People try very hard to get enough sleep, but it is often easier said than done. Besides, it is rather painful if you wake up the next day feeling tired. Fortunately, I will be giving you five tips on how you can sleep better at night. 

Tip #1: My first tip is for the people who drink a lot of coffee. I suggest you cut down the amount of coffee in the afternoon because caffeine stays in your system longer than you think it does. You don't want the caffeine to keep you up at night.

Tip #2: A very helpful thing that you can do is to set an alarm for going to bed. Most people set an alarm for waking up; so why not set an alarm for going to bed? This will help you build an amazing routine. After a month or so, you will develop a habit of going to bed at the same time every single night.

Tip #3: The next tip is to dim off all the lights and turn off all electronic devices an hour before bedtime. This includes lights, lamps, phones, computers, and TVs. I call it the "Lights Down" rule. According to CNN, "Bright light is one of the biggest triggers to our brains that it's time to be awake and alert." Performing the "Lights Down" rule every night will send signals that tell our brain to rest. Keeping your bedroom dark is essential if you want to sleep well. Personally, I find it very hard to fall asleep when there's light.

Tip #4: Of course, you must keep your bedroom quiet to have a satisfying night of sleep. But, it cannot be completely silent because it will make the tiniest noises like a pin drop or an occasional bump apparent to your ear, which will disrupt your sleep. An easy way to solve this is playing white noise in the background when you sleep. Some people even play relaxing forest or ocean music.

Tip #5: If you just really can't fall asleep, just get out of bed! Continuing to lie there will not help you because you will stress about it which makes it even more challenging to fall asleep. Doing something else until you are tired, then you will fall asleep easily. (Don't do anything that involves bright light)

After following my tips, if none of my tips seems to be working, get professional help, like therapy. But if my tips worked, congratulations! If you want, you can check out my other posts related to health and fitness. Sleep well!