5 Proven Tips to Help You Get Better Sleep at Night

There seems to be a misconception about the importance of sleep in our society.

Often times people associate success with the lack of sleep believing that there must be a sacrifice in the amount of sleep that they get in order to be successful.

This, unfortunately, couldn’t be further from the truth.

Getting a good nights rest is essential to your overall health and well-being and here’s why.

Research shows that the lack of sleep can have some serious effects on your mind and body.

One study show’s how the lack of sleep overtime can decrease your hand-eye coordination making driving similar to those with .05% blood alcohol content. [1]

Lack of sleep can also affect your long and short term memory [2] while also increasing stress.

This makes getting the right amount of sleep just as important if not more important than sticking to a healthy diet or a consistent workout routine.

Quote: “Lack of sleep impairs a person’s ability to focus and learn efficiently.”

In order to thrive and succeed with your day-to-day activities you need the right amount of sleep.

In this blog post, I will share with you 5 simple yet effective tips to help you get better sleep at night so that you can thrive during the day.

Create a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Going to bed and waking up at the same time can have a dramatic effect on the quality of sleep you get at night.

Research shows that having an irregular bedtime and wake time can result in poor quality of sleep [3]

Creating a bedtime routine to help you relax for bed followed by a morning routine to help you start your day are great habits to help you go to bed and wake up at similar times.

Have you ever noticed how your body naturally wakes up on the weekends as if it’s time to go to work?

This is because your body is so used to waking up at a certain time that it no longer needs your alarm clock.

This can also work for when it is time to go to bed.

If you are struggling to get some rest at night, try to form the habit of going to bed and waking up either at the same time or close to the same time every day.

Exercise in the Morning

Now I know what you’re thinking on this one.

“But if I work out in the morning, won’t I just be tired and ready to take a nap after?”

I used to think the same thing, but studies show that the time of exercise is actually a critical factor to amplify the beneficial impact of exercise [4] 

There are a variety of benefits to working out in the morning. One of which is improving your mood.

Working out in the morning puts you in a better mood by providing your brain with more endorphins (the neurotransmitters behind what some people like to call a runner’s high).

Morning workouts also work as a great natural stress reliever as it just simply makes you feel better and more accomplished when you start your day with an early workout session.

For a good morning workout routine check out this blog post by prevention.

Another study shows how working out in the morning can also help improve your sleep at night.

Allowing you to fall asleep faster, wake up less in the middle of the night and spend more time in deep sleep. [5]

Reduce Your Caffeine Intake

Caffeine in general is one of the most widely consumed substances in the world when it comes to reducing sleepiness and boosting performance.

And with good reason. Caffeine is known to help enhance focus and provide you with a nice boost in energy.

However, drinking caffeine too late in the day can be causing more harm than good when it's time to go to bed.

In one study, caffeine reduced total sleep time and sleep efficiency resulting in poor quality sleep. [6]

Another study shows how having caffeine 6 hours before it’s time to go to bed can have an extremely disruptive effect on the quality of sleep you at night.

Now sometimes, having caffeine is necessary to get through the day or to even give you a quick pick me up after work when you need to get things done.

Nevertheless, having caffeine too close to bedtime can result in a long night of tossing and turning.

Take an Aromatherapy Bath or Shower

Now a nice warm and steamy bath can be extremely relaxing especially after a long hard working day.

But have you ever thought about taking your bath game to another level?

Studies show that lavender essential oil can help improve your quality of sleep and allow you to feel more relaxed when it is time for bed.

To improve your bath, try lighting a lavender candle while you soak in the tub and add lavender Dead Sea salts to your bath water.

However, if you’re like most people, you don’t necessarily have the time to soak in a bath after work.

It’s okay, you can still create an spa-like experience with your shower. To do this, spray your shower walls with lavender room spray and then turn your shower water up as hot as you can to build steam.

Turn the water down to a comfortable temperature and then step into a steam mixed environment filled with the relaxing scent of lavender.

Optimize Your Bedroom

This step is often overlooked because many people don’t tend to think about optimizing their bedroom to get the best quality of sleep.

Things like entering your bedroom for the sole purpose of going to sleep, the temperature in your bedroom, and external lights may seem like small insignificant factors but these are the things that can really aid in getting a good nights rest. 

For example, a recent study suggests keeping your bedroom to a cool temperature anywhere between 60 - 68°F to help you sleep through the night [7]

Other helpful tips like minimizing external noise, lights that may be shining from certain devices like your alarm clock, the TV or even the WiFi router can help you get sleep throughout the night.

In Conclusion

Sleep has a very important role in your overall health and well-being.

It’s time to stop abusing our sleep and start getting the proper rest our bodies need to perform at our best.

Let me know in the comments below what your bedtime routine is. If you are interested in developing a new one. Check out this blog post on how to develop a bedtime routine to get better sleep

As always, with love

Steven Polee Jr

Founder of Marcella Candles