We are continuing with our series on what you need to do to remain ‘sleep fit!’ After all regular, good sleep is as important as any other part of your health regime, maybe even more so.
We simply can’t function optimally without sleep so it is so important to adopt the right sleep habits to ensure that we sleep regularly and get enough quality sleep in the process. In part 1 we spoke about adopting good sleep habits, like sticking to a regular sleep routine, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bedtime, napping too late in the day – and also not exercising too close to bedtime.
This article deals with another important aspect of sleep, which is to ensure that you adjust your sleeping environment to get sleep fit! So, what do you need to do about your surroundings to induce better sleep?
Block out distraction
We all know that we have enough trouble nodding off to sleep because of the stuff going on in our heads, but what adds greatly to this are other distractions of any sort. There can be noise going on in the house, or outside the house (pesky neighbourhood dogs barking!) and there can also be too much light.
Yes, you may have had a laugh when you see people in the movies who sleep with a mask and ear plugs in, but if that’s what it takes to block out distractions then do so – it’s worth it. Hopefully, it’s enough though to just ensure you have dark curtains and a fairly soundproofed room. Watch this space for our next article when we give some advice on quieting the mind before bedtime too.
Remove the blue screens
It’s a bad habit to watch TV before falling asleep – or trying to fall asleep anyway, as blue screens will not induce good sleep and can affect your quality of sleep too. Rather don’t have a TV in the bedroom – or your phone for that matter. If you have to use it as an alarm, make sure that’s all it’s there for. This is especially important for children, so the TV ‘babysitter’ is not a good idea, at least an hour before bedtime!
Keep the bed for sleep!
Following on from the above, it’s actually a good idea to get out of the habit of doing anything in the bed other than sleep, making love to your spouse, and recuperating from illness. Try to get it firmly into your head that the bed is a place for sleep and you’ll find that the brain association will make it easier to sleep when you are there!
Room temperature
The room temperature should always be cool as it benefits the body to be cooler when sleeping. Obviously, you don’t want to be freezing in winter but beware of leaving on heaters or having too many blankets as overheating the body will not induce good sleep.
Have great bedding!
Possibly the most important thing about the sleep environment is to ensure that you have good comfortable bedding and a great mattress! We all know the difficulty of sleeping on the ground when we go camping and the aches and pains this can cause.
A great mattress means better sleep, more comfort, and good postural support, all absolutely vital if you are adjusting your sleeping environment to get sleep fit! The Truform range of mattresses offers all these important elements and they come at an affordable price so you have no excuse not to be sleeping on the best!Contact us to find out more – or why not test one at a store near you today? There is nothing more important than a good night’s sleep and no better way to achieve it than on an always ‘true-to-form’ Truform mattress!