Improve the quality of your sleep with these six tips

Sleep plays a huge part in our overall health and wellbeing. A lack of sleep can have a huge effect on our mental health and how we manage stressful situations, and it also affects our performance in work and home tasks. Your body needs the right amount of rest so that it can properly function throughout the day, and isn’t relying on stored up energy and caffeinated drinks to stay functioning. We’ve put together 6 tips to help improve the quality of your sleep, so that you can be the best you possible.

1. First off, make sure you’re limiting phone and other screen time after the sun sets. The continued rise of technology means that it’s hard to avoid screens nowadays. Researchers have linked blue light (the light that our screens give off) is directly linked to disruptions in your sleep/wake cycle, eye strain, and nerve signalling in the brain. Safe to say, it’s not good for you. To avoid these issues, try setting a time for yourself every night to switch off your phones until the next morning. A good recommendation is 6pm, or generally whenever the sun is setting where you live. This shift from light to dark will help signal to your body that it is time to start winding down for the day. You may even want to invest in some blue light glasses to wear throughout the day to cut back even more!
   
2. It’s important to distinguish between your sleep space and your work space. Because of Covid many people had to (and may still) work from home. It’s easy for the lines between work and relaxation to get blurred when you start answering emails in bed or don’t have sufficient office space. This can sometimes trick your brain into thinking that it’s work time, even if you’re about to go to sleep. To make your bedroom a more ‘restful space’ try doing your work somewhere else in the house, invest in some good quality bedding and pillows, blackout curtains, a white noise machine, relaxing pillow oils, ANYTHING that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed.
   
3. This is a fairly simple tip: be consistent with when you wake up and when you go to sleep. Make a strict bedtime for yourself and stick to it! This will help your circadian rhythm, and help your body get into a solid sleeping routine so it starts to recognise when it’s time to start winding down. 
   
4. Working exercise into your daily routine is another great way to improve you sleep. When we exercise our body releases endorphins, which improve our mood but also make falling asleep and staying asleep easier. 
   
5. Linking to creating a physical resting space, it’s important to mentally distinguish between your work space and your rest and relaxation space. Feeling stressed or worried around bedtime will affect your sleep cycle, and you’ll often lay awake thinking about your worries for the next day. To avoid this, try to be as organised with tasks as possible, or at least plan out your time in a way that ensures you’re completing work or other responsibilities efficiently and not at the last minute. 
   
6. Lastly, make sure your body is getting the right nutrients it needs for a solid and restful sleep. Magnesium is helpful for getting a good night’s sleep. You can find magnesium in most nuts, beans, seeds, and tofu. Other important nutrients that improve your sleep include calcium and vitamin C.