5 Tips To IMPROVE Your Sleep
Consistent bed and wake up time - You should aim to fall asleep within the same 30 minute window each night and getting up in the same 30 min window each day. This is probably the most important thing you can do in order to reset your circadian rhythm.
Optimize your bedtime
Your brain loves habits and patterns, so the more consistent you can be at the time in which you go to sleep, the better prepared your body can be to up-regulate those metabolic and physiologic processes that will help you sleep
Blue light - any screen emits blue light. You should aim to stop all blue light 90 minutes before you plan on sleeping. The blue light has a few different effects on sleep, but the main thing is not allowing the major sleep hormone, melatonin, be released at the proper time that helps stay asleep
Eliminate all light in your room and dim down the lights 90 minutes before you want to sleep. Again, this allows our sleep hormone melatonin to be released at the proper time to facilitate excellent sleep
Studies have shown that any light no matter the source can disrupt your sleep cycles
Caffeine - Stop all caffeine right before lunch. Caffeine has a half life, or the time required for anything to decrease by 1/2 of 6 hours. This is important because it means the caffeine can stay in your system for up to 12 hours before most of it is completely eliminated out of your system
If you try to sleep for about 15-20 min and are unable to, get out of bed, go to a different room and do something relaxing (not involving screens). This is important because if you stay in bed awake for long periods of time on a consistent basis, your brain will very quickly begin to associate your bed being the place where you're awake, and not the place you're asleep. When you start to feel tired again, try again to go back to sleep. This helps re-learn that association between your bed being for sleep only.
