I keep challenging myself to improve my well-being. And sleeping well is quite an important part of the task and one of the most effective ways of having a productive day. However, it is not going be always that will be 100% right after we wake up, right?
Adults tend to need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, but that’s an average. Some people are perfectly fine with less, and others with a little more. It’s something that also changes throughout life. I am a person who doesn’t need to sleep more than 8 hours to feel well.
Sometimes, we really need those extra five minutes in bed. It’s okay to not feel okay. If you’re on the team that puts off going to bed to work late or wakes up much earlier to do all the day’s tasks, it’s time to reorganise your routine and take care of your health.
Some surveys have proven that people are not getting enough sleep nowadays. And that can be the main cause of health problems appearing, harming the daily life and professional performance of many of us. The main causes of difficulty sleeping well are stress and inadequate production of the hormone that causes sleep, melatonin.
This week, I have felt a bit more tired than usual. And this is due to the annoying cold that I got over the weekend. Because of it, my sleep pattern was all over the place. I tried to put my phone away after certain hours but having a family abroad in a country with a different time zone sometimes difficult to be out of technology.
Other causes for not enjoying a good night of sleep are related to melatonin, the lack of melatonin says a lot about other functions in our body are not balanced – it could be stress, poor diet, lack of physical exercise, or the wrong times at which you perform each of these functions.
For this reason, it is important to keep a balance between food, exercise, and rest. So, what else would be beneficial to help us to sleep better and have a productive day?
In fact, being productive involves finding tools that help you get organised and get things done faster and more efficiently. At the same time, being productive is also about maintaining healthy habits that balance your personal and professional life well.
So here are my effective tips:
Keep a Sleep Routine
If you have trouble falling asleep and end up awake until 3 am watching YouTube videos (like I do sometimes): it is important to keep a sleep routine – which pretty much means – staying away from your phone and any blue light around.
Sometimes, we can’t help it and think about our important tasks, and pending issues we must resolve. But it is essential to keep a sleep routine where you can switch off for a while and relax before falling asleep.
Establishing a routine to relax at night is also another factor that helps stimulate melatonin, in addition to small habits that we can implement, such as investing in a good mattress and pillows.
Organise Your Bedroom
I am an organised person and I like keeping my home tidied up. In addition, the mess in the bedroom and in the physical space in which we live can also be the cause of poor sleep: it reminds us of everything that still needs to be done, causing stress.
I like using pillow mist on my bed linen. These products are excellent tools to make you relax when sleeping. My cat likes sleeping on our bed during the day, so I try to use products that have a gentle and subtle fragrance.
I also try to keep the sleeping place ventilated, quiet, and dark. Try to leave at a suitable and comfortable temperature. Very hot or cold environments can make it difficult to get to sleep or cause awakenings during the night.
Therefore, organising your room is a start to put your mind at ease and sleep well.
Set Your Mood
Besides avoiding a mobile phone or any appliance with blue light, reading a book or listening to relaxing music before going to bed is also a good way of improving your sleeping. You can even set a time to go to bed and do it at the same time every day if it is possible.
Follow a ritual every night to get your body used to relaxing until bedtime and create a morning routine to wake up calmly and without stress.
Skincare Routine
I do like to keep a routine when it comes to my skincare regime. And before going to bed, I do apply my night creams to help me relax and reinvigorate my skin during my night of sleep.
I do invest in a good moisturising cream with plenty of ceramides and hyaluronic acid to banish dryness and keep it fresh when waking up.
I also heard it is a good idea to avoid drinking too much caffeine before going to bed. But I still didn’t reach this level of nirvana.
