It’s impossible to overstate how important proper sleep is to every area of your life. From your performance at work to maintaining personal relationships, your quality of slumber can have a tremendous impact on your entire existence. Furthermore, troubled sleep has been associated with a host of mental health issues, including mania, paranoia and psychosis. As such, if your sleep habits leave much to be desired, you’d do well to get on top of this. Anyone looking for a better night’s slumber is urged to consider the following tips.

  

Most of us spend a significant portion of our time staring at screens. From computer monitors at work to smartphones and televisions at home, it seems like the only time we’re not looking at screens is when we’re asleep. On that note, it should be understood that engaging in excessive screen time right before bed can have a large impact on your quality of slumber, as well as your ability to fall asleep in a timely manner. 

Surfing the web, scrolling through social media and texting with friends in the leadup to bedtime stands to stimulate your brain, thereby making it too wired to properly fall asleep. With this in mind, make a point of shutting off your various screens about 30 minutes to one hour before you hit the hay. This should provide your brain with ample time to get into a relaxed state, leaving it primed for a peaceful night’s rest. 

You can further relax your brain by engaging in relaxing activities before calling it a day. Good activities to focus on before bed include meditation, deep breathing exercises, journaling and reading.  

Although most of us had assigned bedtimes as kids, we generally don’t impose such restrictions on ourselves as adults. While many adults have a general window of time in which they go to bed, very few of us have ironclad bedtimes. However, as much as you may have resented being forced to go to bed at a set time when you were a child, it stands to reason that you were probably better-rested than you are as an adult. While it’s generally understood that children thrive on structure, a fair number of adults stand to benefit from it, too.

If there’s little to no consistency with regard to when you go to sleep each night, consider assigning yourself a bedtime. Additionally, make sure the bedtime you choose enables you to get between seven and eight hours of sleep. If you’ve gotten used to falling asleep at inconsistent times, forcing a bedtime on yourself is sure to take some getting used to. Still, if you stick it out for a few weeks, your internal clock should adjust to your new sleep schedule, and you’ll start getting tired as your assigned bedtime approaches. 

For good measure, try to get up around the same time every morning. While there’s nothing wrong with sleeping in on occasion, starting the day at inconsistent times is liable to make it harder to fall asleep at a set time each night.   

If your attempts to improve your sleep habits have failed to produce favorable results, you should consider seeking professional treatment. For example, your sleep issues may stem from underlying health problems or psychological ailments. In addition to consulting your physician, look into receiving treatment at a highly-rated sleep clinic. Ohioans suffering from persistent sleep problems are urged to get in touch with the best sleep clinics in Cincinnati, Ohio. Not only will this help you identify the cause(s) of your troubled night, it will likely provide you with practical solutions.   

 

Without a good night’s sleep under your belt, functioning in the waking world can be an uphill battle. Getting through the workday, socializing with friends and tending to family obligations are all liable to seem impossible tasks in the absence of a proper night’s rest. So, if your quality of slumber could use some improvement, there’s no time like the present to get the ball rolling. Putting the measures discussed above to good use stands to heighten your sleep quality, provide you with ample energy, and make your days easier to get through.