So, is there something you can do to sleep better at night? Yes, there is! I have 16 tips for you -

Hydrate

It’s better to get up during the night and go to the toilet, than to be woken up by a thirst.

Drink plenty of water during the day, and drink some water before you go to bed. If you have to get up to pee during the night, so be it – it’s better than waking up dehydrated like a mummy.

Tip: You are most dehydrated right when you wake up. Drink 2 glasses of water right after you wake up to get yourself going.

Reduce CO₂ in your bedroom

Just 30 minutes of 2 people breathing in a mid-size room can increase CO₂ in the room dramatically. High CO₂ in the air is bad, because it can increase your heart rate. This leads to poor sleep.

Do you know why people weigh the least in the morning? It’s because we breathe out CO₂ during the night. The carbon molecule in the CO₂ we breathe out makes most of the weight we lose during the night – the rest is mostly sweat.

To sleep better, ventilate – a lot. Fresh air is important.

Tip: Some smart devices (body scales, thermostats, etc) can measure and track CO₂ in the room.

Empty stomach – but not too empty

Digestion takes a lot of energy. For most people, sleeping on a full stomach makes sleep worse.

Tip: Sleeping on a completely empty stomach can also decrease sleep quality for some people. If you are hungry, try eating a banana before bed.

Darkness works

Make your bedroom as dark as possible. Remove any lights, including small LED lights. Blinking lights are the worst. Use the blinds.

The closer the bed time is, the less light you should expose yourself to. This will increase the sleep hormone melatonin production.

Tip: Try wearing an eyemask during the night for a week. If it helps, keep using it!

Tip: Dim all your displays in the evening.

Tip: “F.lux” for PC/Mac can automatically adjust the color temperature of your screen during the day.

Silence works

Remove as much noise sources from your bedroom as possible.

This can be a challenge because you need fresh air too. Open windows brings noise, but they also bring fresh air.

Tip: Try wearing ear plugs.

Love your bed

You spend one third of your life in your bed.

You should get a bed that you TOTALLY love. You should love the mattress, the pillows, the bed sheets, your pajamas. If you don’t, get better ones!

Your bed and everything on it should feel great and be extremely comfortable.

Tip: Try buckwheat pillow. It helps you sweat less during the night and doesn’t deform.

Vigorous exercise, but not right before the bed

If you exercise vigorously during the day, you will have easier time falling asleep.

For most people, exercising right before bed is a bad idea. But stretching might help.

Are you sensitive to caffeine?

Many people are sensitive to caffeine. I sure am. I discovered that when I don’t drink any, I will sleep much better.

In fact, most of my terrible nights were caused by caffeine.

Try this – don’t consume any caffeine for a week or two, and see if you sleep better.

Alcohol makes your sleep lower quality

Consuming alcohol is a trap. It might seem that you sleep just fine after consuming it, but the sleep will not be as restorative.

Alcohol also dehydrates.

Remove the clock

Does the bedroom clock just make you worry that you won’t get enough sleep? Put it away!

If you use an alarm clock, you can usually put it in the adjoining room.

Lower the temperature during the night

Our bodies expect the temperature to be lower during the night. If you can lower the temperature by a few degrees during the night, you will probably sleep better.

Track your sleep

If you are serious about improving your sleep, start logging how many hours of sleep you get each night. Or use a smart wearable to track it for you automatically.

Meditation helps

Meditating just 5 minutes a day has proven positive psychological effects, and can help with sleep as well. Having a better control of your mind makes falling asleep easier.

How to meditate? Just sit with a straight spine for 5 minutes, and focus on your breathing. Whenever your mind wanders, re-focus on the breathing. That’s it.

Consider supplements for better sleep

Supplementing with melatonin can be be useful especially for older people, because melatonin production diminishes as we age. For younger people, it can be useful when travelling or switching time zones.

There are also many herbal teas that promote sleep.

Tip: Lavender has a relaxing effect. You can get a small lavender herbal pillow.

Take a nap

When you don’t get a good night’s rest, take a nap during the day. It actually helps!

Power-naps of about 20 minutes work great for most people.

Get organized

When everything important is written down, you don’t have to worry about remembering it. When you are better organized, you will sleep better.

Tip: When thoughts are racing in your mind while you are lying in bed, write them down.

I’ve written more about this in the post “Why You Can’t Sleep“.

This post has been inspired by Tomas Baranek’s research into sleep [Czech Source].

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How to Sleep Better and Increase Your Productivity is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

While insomnia can have many causes, I’ve had an incredible discovery recently -

It can be fixed easily and quickly.

We all think that the causes of insomnia are things like suboptimal room temperature/air/humidity, overeating, too much light, noise, wrong mattress, wrong sleeping position, hormonal imbalance, lack of exercise, snoring, etc etc.

All these things can be a factor. But here’s the incredible part. In most cases, the real reason is completely different. This is both my personal experience, as well as observations of multiple coaches and experts.

The real reason why we can’t fall asleep is because we are thinking about stuff. Stuff we have to do the next day. Stuff we can’t forget about. Stuff that worries us. So much stuff! We keep thinking about all that stuff in circles, unable to let it go and rest. Our minds are like a stuck gramophone record.

We might not realize this, but we are afraid. We are afraid to stop thinking about all the stuff. Why? Because we might forget it. And if we forget the stuff, bad things would happen to us. Our boss might yell at us. Our spouse might feel we don’t care about them anymore. Our kids might despise us. Debt and bill collectors might knock on our doors. Our customers or clients might leave us. People might think less of us. All because we forgot about… you know, stuff.

Fortunately, the solution is incredibly simple. All you have to is one simple thing before you go to bed. And that’s it. It takes about 5 minutes.

In the evening, right before you go to bed, do this: Write down the stuff that’s on your mind. It doesn’t matter if you write it on paper or into some software (such as Swift To-Do List for Windows). Just write a list of all the stuff that’s on your mind. Things you have to do. Things you can’t forget. Things that need to be taken care of the next day. Things that worry you. Just dump it. Plan your next day a little. But capture it all.

Until you write the stuff down, you will never be able to let it go. You will never stop thinking about it. You will never sleep as good as you could.

But once you actually write it down in the evening…

You will immediately feel a huge relief. You will be able to sleep. Deep, rejuvenating sleep that you deserve. No more rolling around in bed worrying about… stuff. The stuff is written down. Its right there, on the paper. You can let it go now, and pick it up tomorrow.

Now, it’s all good.

Related Posts:

• Swift Mind Freedom released!
• “Why should I care about being organized?”
• What is stress?
• How to Sleep Better and Increase Your Productivity
• Is being organized a basic human need?
• 30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?

Why you can’t sleep is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog