I’ve already written a post about how to sleep better and how to have better dreams because it’s a topic that’s very close to my heart. Sleeping has always been a challenge for me. This might be because my mind has just been born to be one of the racing ones that never stop. Or because my imagination runs wild night and day. But no matter what the reason or predisposition for this is, once I fall asleep I sleep like a kitten until I’m suddenly hit by terrible night terrors and nightmares. After an insane amount of investigation, I’d like to add these 5 scientifically proven ways to get a better sleep to the list I’ve compiled previously.
HOW TO SLEEP BETTER & AVOID NIGHTMARES
You snooze, you lose
The snooze button is ever so tempting, I know. I have my alarm usually set up for 5:30, 6:00, 6:30 & 7:00. I’m just that kind of person. Unfortunately, it has been scientifically proven and tested that those short intervals between your snoozes not only make you super tired so you’re essentially doing yourself a disservice, but they can also bring on some terrible nightmares. Remember, a dream can only last a few seconds so messing with your REM phase and your dreaming patterns can have an incredibly negative impact on your good sleep. Once your alarm goes off just jump off the bed & start your day! You can thank me later.
Roses are red, violets are blue
Yes, this might be a popular children’s’ rhyme but it’s also a note for you to remember before going to sleep. One of the most revolutionary discovering regarding sleep patterns and good night’s sleep, in general, has been the effect of blue light on our brain. Blue light is a type of light emitted by laptops, mobile phones and other electronics. Its waves are extremely short which means they affect levels of a sleep-inducing hormone called melatonin. As a result, our biological clocks are thrown into an absolute havoc. Originally scientists thought that this will only affect our sleep patterns and the quality of our sleep. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that this inconsistency can, in fact, have a severe effect on our internal organs and even the process of ageing. You might have noticed that blue light eye protection devices and screens have been introduced to us in the past few years. Ocushield offers a range of different blue light protectors – and I would definitely recommend getting at least a phone screen protection since we’re all guilty of that night Facebook scroll, aren’t we?
Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency.
And that’s also the case when it comes to your sleep. The trick here is to go to bed not when you’re tired but when you’re used to going to bed. We’re back to the biological clocks I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Once your body gets used to going to sleep at a certain time and you start interrupting its natural pattern completely ad hoc, you can wave a good night’s sleep goodbye. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to bed at 10:21 every single day but perhaps try to keep it to a timeframe of 2 hours or so.
Planning, planning, planning
Okay, so tomorrow it’s the hairdresser’s at 8, then I need to go to get my passport photo taken, then I have to ring Ian, then I have to buy cat food, then I have to drive to the garage to have my MOT check, then I have to clean the cat sick in my living room, then I have to check ALL my exes on Facebook.. oh hold on, maybe I could do that NOW! You know the feeling when you just can’t fall asleep because your head is absolutely unstoppable? Yeah, that. To avoid this mindless mess of thoughts I recommend you get yourself a little notepad and write down a to-do list for the following day. This will free your mind and multiply your chances for a good night’s sleep.
Face your anxiety
And finally the last scientifically proven fact which should bring you a better sleep is to deal with your fear and anxieties. I know that this is easily said but it’s much harder to actually do. Yet it’s something you should try to address in the long run. There’s no shame in finding a professional help if you feel that your anxiety is beyond your own control. The only important thing here is that you try. And just this small try is, in fact, a huge leap to improvement.
What do you do to get a better sleep?
? I’m no expert when it comes to sleeping patterns and the quality of one’s sleep. Nevertheless, I have been dealing with bad sleep for most of my life so I would like to think I’m somewhat of sleep master by now. This post has been inspired by Ocushield, thank you!