Sleep deprivation is a serious dilemma, especially when you have a busy day ahead of you. You need every ounce of sleep you can get, but somehow you can never seem to achieve the amount you need to function properly, constantly waking throughout the night and dreading the morning to come.
These sleep hacks will help you sleep through the night, putting you at the top of your game as you face problems with a level head. This extra sleep will allow you to work harder than you ever thought possible when you were surviving off of minimal sleep. Keep reading to learn about the 33 incredible hacks to turn you into a sleep guru.
1. Set a Sleep Schedule
Your body responds to something called its circadian rhythm, which regulates when your body wakes and sleeps based on environmental changes. When you create a sleep schedule this helps stabilize your rhythm, putting you on a path to sleep like a baby through the night.
2. Exercise Regularly
Exercise can help you stay asleep as it works to tire out your body, so when it comes time for bed, your body is ready for recovery. It has been proven to add 42-minutes of rest per night but has other added benefits as well, like increasing your daytime awareness and reducing stress.
You should always exercise prior to within four hours of your bedtime as it does act as a stimulant. Exercising too late can lead to wakefulness, despite your body’s craving for rest.
It is also a good idea not to over-train as this can lead to hormone imbalances, messing with your sleep schedule and making it impossible to sleep the night away.
3. Use Light to Your Advantage
Our bodies respond to changes in light to regulate our internal circadian rhythm. You should start your day with a blast of sunshine within the first 30-minutes of your day, which tells your body to slow the production of sleep-inducing hormones.
As the night progresses, you should begin to dim the lights one hour before you plan to be asleep. This sends an alert to your systems that the time is drawing near for you to hit the hay, increasing your chances of sleeping through the night.
4. Avoid Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant and should be avoided if at all possible, or at least be stopped before two in the afternoon. Some people may need coffee to survive a busy morning, and these people should avoid drinking a cup until 90 minutes after they have awoken, otherwise, your sleep may suffer.
5. Stop the Alcohol
Alcohol can appear to put you to sleep at night, but it also wakes you up numerous times throughout the evening. You enter an alcohol-induced slumber when you drink, but as the night progresses your body begins to wake back up as your hormone levels normalize.
If you are drinking, you should try to stop before 2 PM, but if you are out with friends, the goal should be to have as much alcohol leave your system as possible before you sink into your sheets.
Alcohol can also cause sleep apnea or snoring, both of which lead to nightly sleep disruptions. Deciding against alcohol may not put you to sleep, but it will definitely help you stay asleep.
6. Stop Smoking
Smoking is another habit you should learn to break, whether it’s the occasional cigar with your pals or the nightly cigarette. The nicotine in these products acts as a stimulant, similar to caffeine, keeping you awake all hours of the night. Your sleep will be riddled with disruptions, but putting down the pack of smokes will aid in your journey to staying asleep for the entirety of the evening.
7. Increase the Time You Spend Outside
This is especially true for people with day jobs, as increasing your time spent outside trains your circadian rhythm to follow nature’s sleep pattern. The outdoors can also help you reset your internal clock if you have put yourself on a wacky sleep schedule, helping your body regain the notion it wants to be awake during the day.
Your body’s sleep pattern is directly linked to its consumption of light. Electronics give off blue light, and staring at a screen all day can throw off our body’s sleep schedule. Natural light provided by the great outdoors is able to combat the negative effects associated with your electronics, as your body becomes accustomed to nature’s natural light patterns.
8. Replace Your Mattress
Mattresses are expensive, especially the good ones, which is why people tend not to replace theirs. You are supposed to replace your mattress every five to eight years, but most people either forget or care more about their wallet then the strain in their back.
Your mattress can sag over time, or if you gain or lose a lot of weight, the mattress can become ineffective. The mattress conforms to your body, leading to a misaligned spine. The aches and pains in your back can wake you throughout the night, but a new mattress and pillows can remedy this issue.
9. Sleep Supplements Can Help
Sleep supplements can be purchased at your local drug store or prescribed by your doctor if you suffer from a sleeping disorder. They come in a pill form and you take them within an hour of your bedtime.
Some sleep supplements you can look for include:
- Melatonin
- Valerian Root
- Chamomile
- Magnesium
The best and most common is melatonin, this hormone is already in your system, and supplementing it in pill form can help those that don’t naturally produce enough. Magnesium is also recommended for people living with insomnia because many times this disorder is caused by a deficiency in magnesium within their bodies.
You should always start with small doses as they can be quite strong. It is also recommended you talk to your doctor before mixing these with any other medications to avoid any unwanted side effects.
10. Essential Oils
Essential oils are similar to sleep supplements, but they work through inhalation rather than ingestion. The oils work to lower stress and anxiety levels, which are two things that could be waking you up at night, preventing you from reaching your goal of sleeping through the night.
They can be used in multiple ways including:
- In a diffuser
- Added to a bath
- Applied directly to the skin
- Sprayed onto your pillow or sheets
A few essential oils you can try include:
- Lavender
- Jasmine
- Marjoram
- Vanilla
11. Tea isn’t a Bad Idea
Tea is also another method to help you and your body relax, allowing you to wind down after a stressful day. Teas help to relieve your stress through the use of specific herbs, but they also work to alleviate symptoms of insomnia and headaches.
Teas you can try which aid in helping you stay asleep include:
- Chamomile
- Lavender
- Valerian Root
- Lemon Balm
12. Naps Don’t Help
Naps generally work against your goal of sleeping through the night, especially when you are working towards establishing a regular sleep pattern. They can affect the quality of sleep you achieve, as well as negatively affect your health.
If you have to, you can take a short power nap for no more than 30-minutes, but many people find this next to impossible, which is why you should consider ditching your nap altogether.
13. Don’t Eat Late Night Meals
You should avoid eating anything within four hours of your bedtime, which includes all the junk foods you have stashed in the corner of your pantry. A high carb meal four hours before you hit the hay has been proven to help you fall asleep faster, but eating anything beyond that may negatively impact your melatonin and HGH release.
HGH, otherwise known as human growth hormone, has been linked to a longer life span and a healthy metabolism. When you choose to eat a late meal you don’t only hurt your sleep, but also decrease your chances of living longer.
14. Use Your Bed for its Original Purpose
Your bed was made to be slept in, and that is what it should be reserved for. You should refrain from working, eating, or watching TV in it because your brain will begin to associate these activities with your bed. When your bed is only used for sleeping, your brain understands it is time to slip into unconsciousness from the moment you lay your head on the pillow.
15. Aim for 7 Hours a Night
There are some who can survive off of five hours of sleep a night, but this can damage your brain’s ability to think clearly. Your brain will begin to experience lapses in memory or an inability to solve problems, along with elevated stress levels, as you drag your feet day after day.
This also injures your ability to stay asleep because your body will be accustomed to the lack thereof. You might find yourself waking up consistently until you train your brain it’s okay to sleep a little longer.
16. Repay Your Sleep Debt
We have all at one time or another stayed up late to work on some project, knowing our sleep would pay the price. You should not ignore the hour you lost, but rather, make up for it the next night. It will put your circadian rhythm back on track, helping you keep your schedule and sleep through the night.
17. Check Your Meds
Sometimes it isn’t our fault our bodies refuse to stay asleep, as some medications have side effects including things like insomnia and daytime drowsiness. If you can’t find the relief you need then you should talk with your doctor to see if your medicine is the culprit.
Medications that have side effects which could negatively affect sleep include:
- Anti-Arrhythmics
- Beta Blockers
- Diuretics
- Corticosteroids
18. Download a Sleep App
Many people have found it beneficial to download a sleep app or purchase a sleep tracking device. Sleep apps on your phone allow you to record the time you fall asleep and the time you wake, helping you keep a record of the hours you have spent sleeping.
A more efficient option is a sleep tracker, such as a Fitbit or Apple watch, which monitor your heart rate to determine how often you spent in the different stages of sleep. These trackers connect to your computer or smartphone and help you identify the possible reasons behind your constant waking. When you establish what is causing your sleep loss, it can make it easier to correct, giving you the sleep you need.
19. Adjust the Thermostat
Our bodies sleep best in cooler temperatures, as anything too hot or too cold increases our chances of waking up in the middle of the night. The temperature should rest between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can achieve this by setting the thermostat, opening a window, or using a fan. In colder areas, you might want to consider purchasing a space heater if your furnace isn’t doing the trick.
20. Invest in Earplugs
Sounds also have a tendency to wake us up, especially in the mornings when the world around us begins to come alive. You should invest in a pair of earplugs or sound dampening curtains to cut the amount of street noise that filters into your room.
You may not be able to hear your alarm clock with earplugs, but smartwatches have the capability to wake you up through a series of vibrations.
21. Turn Out the Lights
Our bodies respond to fluctuations in light to determine when we need to wake. You should invest in blackout curtains to prevent any light from reaching your quarters. You should also consider shutting down your devices and removing the groovy lava lamp from your desk, as any sudden changes in light can wake you.
22. Don’t Watch Your Alarm Clock
Worrying about falling asleep can be a problem, as we calculate the amount of time we have left until the first of our several alarms go off in the morning. Turning your alarm clock away from the bed can help solve this problem, as it removes the distraction from your sleep space.
Our bodies work in sleep cycles, and many times in between these cycles we don’t realize we are actually awake. When your alarm clock is staring you in the face it can bring you out of sleep and back into reality, as you focus on the time of night, heightening your sense of alertness, and preventing you from sleeping.
Removing the alarm clock from the equation can help you stay asleep throughout these repeating cycles, providing you with the rest you need to function.
23. Start a Bedtime Journal
You might scoff at the idea of a journal at bedtime, but it can actually be beneficial as it helps to remove the stress and anxiety of the day from your brain. It declutters your mind so you don’t wake up worried about whatever it is that is bothering you, aiding you in your goal to stay asleep.
24. Put Down Your Drink
Hydrating is important for your sleep, as it prevents your nasal cavities from drying out, but it can also have a negative impact as well. A small glass of water is okay to drink within an hour of bedtime, and it is recommended you use the bathroom one last time before climbing between the sheets.
You should aim to spread the water you drink throughout the day, rather than drinking it all in one go right before bed. This can cause you to wake up numerous times throughout the night to take a bathroom break, working against you in your fight for improved sleep.
25. Take a Hot Bath
When it draws closer to bedtime you want to find ways to wind down, and one of those is to take a hot bath. Hot baths warm you up, but when you get out, your body automatically cools itself down, relaxing you in the process.
This drop in temperature also decreases the amount of time it takes for you to fall asleep and helps you increase your amount of deep sleep. If you prefer not to take a full bath, sticking your feet in warm water will also have the same effect.
26. Create a Sleep Soundtrack
This is another method you can use to wind down at the end of an evening by creating a playlist filled with soothing serenities to lull you into sleep. These songs should not contain any words, as they can trigger memories or stresses you had wanted to forget, keeping you awake and making it even more difficult to fall asleep.
27. Leave Fido on the Floor
Pets are masters at giving you sad eyes, convincing you that whatever they can’t have is possibly the worst crime any human could commit. You should add kicking them off of your bed to your long list of crimes, as it can help you stay asleep. Pets take up space and push us during the night, causing us to wake numerous times throughout our peaceful slumber.
But if you’re like me, who gives into your pet’s puppy-dog-eyes on a whim, then it might be a good idea to tire them out before sleeping with you. Take your pup with seemingly limitless amounts of energy to the dog park that day. Even going for a walk a few times around the block is enough to tire out you and your pooch for a restful night of sleep.
28. Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation
When you are lying in bed, you can try progressive muscle relaxation to calm your body and release the stress you have been holding inside of you. It involves tightening and releasing groups of muscles, letting go of the tension that has built up throughout the day.
It is recommended you listen to an audio recording if you have never done this before, as it will walk you through all of the necessary steps. This technique will relax you, allowing you to enter sleep in a calm state which will improve your chances of staying asleep.
29. Attempt Deep Breathing Exercises
Deep breathing exercises are also a good idea, as they calm you down as the evening draws to a close. You may want to try out several different exercises before you find the one that suits your needs.
A few exercises you can try include:
- 4-7-8 Method
- Abdominal Breathing
- Skull Shining Breath (Kapalabhati)
30. Perform Bedtime Yoga
We stated earlier you should stop exercise four hours before bedtime, but this is an exception to the rule. It is more closely related to a destresser than a full-on exercise routine, as it can last between five and fifteen minutes.
Some yoga poses you can try at bedtime are as follows:
- Wide-Knee Child’s Pose
- Standing Forward Bend
- Reclining Bound Angle
31. Shutdown Your Electronics
Electronics can distract us from our mission of falling asleep, keeping us up hours past our bedtime. They also emit blue-light which can trick our brains into thinking it’s earlier in the day, throwing off our circadian rhythm. You should power down all of your devices an hour or two before bedtime, this way your body’s hormones can actively work to put you to sleep.
32. Don’t Just Lay There
There are times you may not be tired one bit and laying in bed won’t do you any favors. If you find yourself laying in bed for 20-minutes then you should get up and find something else to do. This doesn’t mean switch your television back on, but you should pick up a book or do the dishes. When your body is ready to sleep it will improve your chances of staying asleep too.
33. Change Sleeping Positions
The final hack you should consider trying is to change up your sleeping position. Lying on your back is the best position to use, as it aligns your neck and spine. If this position does not work for you then next you can consider side sleeping because it keeps your spine relatively straight and your airways open.
The worst position to sleep in is on your stomach, as it can lead to heightened stress as well as increased back pain. If you insist on this position you should place a pillow beneath your stomach to align your spine and try to sleep face down to prevent snoring.
In conclusion, all of these hacks may not work for everyone, and you may find yourself going through a few before finding the ones that work best for you. These hacks aim to help you sleep through the night and if your sleeping problems continue to persist you should consider talking to your doctor.
