What with the day-to-day tasks of running a household, going to work and looking after the little ones, it can be a real effort to fit everything in.
And what’s worse is that more often than not, it’s our sleeping habits that suffer most when trying to perfect that tricky balancing act between work, home and sleep. So here are a few pointers on how to get the perfect night’s sleep!
Sleeping environment
The main thing is to ensure that your bedroom is perfectly suited for getting some rest. The most important aspect must be the bed. Nobody is going to get a decent night’s sleep on an old, worn-out uncomfortable bed. But investing in a new mattress can often do the trick in helping you gain that mythical seven or eight hours per night.
And thankfully firms like Bedstar offer a whole range of different mattresses from moisture and temperature control mattresses for warm summer nights, to firm support and memory foam mattresses that will cater to your own individual body shape.
Furthermore, make sure that any curtains or blinds in your room block out any outside light sufficiently. And if possible, try and keep any screens out of the room as the UV light emitted by such devices can play havoc with the naturally occurring serotonin that your body provides to ensure a good night’s sleep.
Diet
What we put inside our bodies can have a dramatic effect upon our sleeping habits too. Obviously caffeine is a big no-no, and should be avoided at least four hours before bedtime.
And interestingly foods that are high in fat such as burgers and chips can also have an unsettling effect on our sleep cycles. This is because heavy meals require our digestive processes to work overtime at moments when that effort should be put into winding down for the evening.
However, all is not lost, as research has shown that dairy foods have a naturally occurring substance called tryptophan which promotes sleep. And this is why a glass of warm milk before bedtime can work wonders!
Exercise
And finally, it’s also worth mentioning the positive effects of exercise upon our sleeping patterns. The worst thing that we can do is to stare into screens close to bedtime as this stops the brain from winding down naturally.
However, the NHS website gives clear guidelines on simple ways in which a little weekly exercise can not only help us live healthier and longer lives, but also aid us in getting decent sleep too!
