8 Healthy Habits to Get Better Sleep at Night
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Do you still feel tired when your morning alarm goes off? Do you always rely on coffee to keep yourself going throughout the day? If so, you could benefit from establishing healthy habits to get better sleep at night.
When your schedule gets crazy between work, family, chores, etc. sometimes sleep gets the short end of the stick. However, sleep is an important form of self care and is critical to your overall health.
While it may feel like getting better sleep is impossible, it’s not! There are simple, healthy sleep habits that can help you improve both the quantity and quality of your sleep every night.
Benefits of healthy habits to get better sleep at night
There are plenty of health benefits that stem from achieving healthy sleep patterns – and some may even surprise you. Benefits of getting enough sleep include:
- Improve mood
- Reduce stress
- Boost memory
- Reduce health risks
- Achieve a healthy weight
- Improve productivity
Improve mood
Having poor sleep patterns can cause you to feel more agitated and in a bad mood. Poor sleep can also exacerbate feelings of depression.
Improving your sleep quality can help boost your mood and leave you feeling happier. Your brain processes emotions while you sleep, so it’s important to get those z’s in.
Reduce stress
When you don’t get enough sleep, your brain and body will go into stress mode. A lack of sleep can cause your body to have higher blood pressure and produce more stress hormones.
If you are already prone to stress or feeling overwhelmed, poor sleep can increase the feelings of stress.
Boost memory
While you sleep, your brain processes your day. This helps you make memories, connect thoughts, process feelings, etc. Therefore sleep is an important factor in improving your memory functioning.
Reduce health risks
As previously mentioned, poor sleep can increase blood pressure which could also lead to a higher risk of certain health conditions like heart disease. Getting enough sleep can help combat those risks.
Additionally, sleep can also help boost your immune system, making your body stronger against getting sick.
Achieve a healthy weight
Poor sleep is associated with a larger appetite. Poor sleepers are also more likely to lose muscle mass as opposed to people who are properly rested and more likely to burn fat.
Good sleep can also improve your athletic performance and ability to exercise so you can achieve a healthy weight.
Improve productivity
Lastly, healthy habits to sleep better will help you improve productivity. Sleep helps increase your concentration and ability to focus on your tasks and goals during the day.
How much sleep should you get each night?
The amount of sleep each individual person needs definitely varies. However, it is generally recommended for adults over the age of 18 to get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
Pay attention to how you feel each day based on the amount of sleep you get. Notice you feel tired after 8 hours? Try increasing it to 9 hours a day.
Gradually adjust by increasing and decreasing sleep over time and find the optimal amount of sleep for you.
This post is going to give you 8 healthy habits to get better sleep at night.
1. Establish a consistent night routine
One of the most important healthy habits to get better sleep at night is to establish a consistent night routine. This night routine should include activities that are relaxing and will help you prepare for bed.
For example, drinking herbal tea, reading a book, and applying your favorite skin care products are great activities to include in your night routine for better sleep.
When you do this night routine consistently, it will signal to your body that it’s time for bed. Soon you’ll notice when you start making your nightly cup of tea your body will start to feel tired and prepared for bed.
For more information on a self care night routine, read more here.
2. Set a bedtime
Setting a consistent bed time is important for getting better sleep. Choose a time that will allow you to get enough sleep.
Be sure to build in extra time for getting ready for bed and a little while to actually fall asleep.
3. Reduce screen time before bed
Looking at a phone, computer, tablet, TV, etc. can negatively affect your sleep schedule. If you use electronics right before bed, it can cause your body to suppress melatonin, or your body’s sleep-inducing hormone.
I know, it’s tempting to scroll through your phone right before bed or falling asleep with the TV on, but this could be causing you to have trouble falling asleep.
If you do choose to use electronics before bed, be sure to turn on your blue light filter if the device has one.
4. Create a sleep-friendly environment
Another one of the most important healthy habits to get better sleep is to create a sleep-friendly environment. Make your bedroom feel relaxing and conducive to good sleep.
Make sure your room is dark, so if needed consider putting up some black out curtains to avoid incoming light disrupting your sleep. You can also choose to wear an eye mask instead to block out light.
You’ll also want to make sure that your room is quiet and peaceful. If you struggle to fall asleep when it’s silent, try using a noise machine instead of falling asleep with the TV on.
I like to use this one below because it’s cost friendly and really effective. It includes sounds like rain, ocean, and white noise. It also has a timer so you can set it to turn off after a certain amount of time once you’re asleep. I sleep so well with this noise machine and could not recommend it more!
Another way to make you surroundings sleep-friendly is to be as comfortable as possible. Make sure your pillow and mattress feel comfortable on your back and neck. Be sure to also get sheets and a blanket that feel soothing.
5. Track your sleep
Another great way to get better sleep is to track it! By tracking your sleep and arming yourself with data, you can better address any issues.
I use my Fitbit Versa 2 to track my sleep. All you have to do is wear your Fitbit to bed, and then it’ll track your sleep using your heart rate.
Then, you can track your sleep in the Fitbit including hours of sleep per night, time spent in each stage of sleep, restlessness, and estimated oxygen variation during the night.
You can then use this information to help you identify if something is causing you to have trouble falling asleep, making you restless, etc.
Click below to purchase a Fitbit Versa 2 and start tracking your sleep now!
6. Be careful with your caffeine consumption
Another healthy habit to get better sleep is to pay attention to your caffeine consumption. That afternoon pick me up might be causing your brain to feel more awake when you try to fall asleep at night.
Keep caffeine consumption to the morning, if possible.
Also be careful to check nutrition labels for hidden caffeine sources you might be eating or drinking at night, like soda, chocolate, granola bars, etc.
7. Exercise
Exercise is a great healthy habit to incorporate into your daily routine for both physical fitness, and to help you get better sleep.
Exercising in the morning can actually lead to higher quality sleep and decreased insomnia throughout the night!
8. Avoid sleeping in on the weekend
The last of the healthy habits to sleep better is to wake up at a consistent time – including the weekend.
I know it can be really tempting to “catch up” on sleep during the weekend by sleeping in, but this could be disrupting your overall sleep patterns.
The goal with implementing the healthy habits in this post to get better sleep is that you won’t need to catch up on sleep. Instead, you’ll feel rested every day.
Those are the 8 healthy habits to get better sleep at night.
If you’ve been struggling to establish healthy sleep patterns or you feel fatigued every day, consider implementing the tips in this post to get better sleep at night.
There are numerous benefits of getting a healthy amount of sleep including reduced stress, improved mood, increased productivity and so much more.
Stop feeling tired and start feeling rested with these health habits to get better sleep.
Comment below with your favorite way to get better sleep.
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