21 tips to sleep better (and sleep through)

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO SLEEP WELL?

The answer is simple and very obvious: physical and psychological relaxation. You can achieve this through a hobby such as gardening, playing tennis, or going to the sauna regularly, as well as taking a walk in the evening, listening to music, doing something creative, or reading. Anything that is relaxing for you.

If you want to work on improving your sleep quality, here are 21 tips for sleeping in better and, most importantly, sleeping through.

• Furnish your sleeping environment pleasantly and sleep-promoting. Important is a good a comfortable mattress that is slightly soft and a pillow that allows optimal relaxation of the neck. Your bed should be so cozy and pleasant that you look forward to it.
• The ideal temperature of the bedroom is cool, 18°C is best.
• The room should be quiet, meaning that sometimes you sleep in a different room and do not lie next to a snoring or restless sleeping partner. Often this is the only change you need to make to sleep well.
• Maintain as regular a sleep rhythm as possible, which you carry on as far as possible, including weekends.
• Sleeping in front of the TV at night is not a good idea. Avoid these naps. It makes falling asleep more difficult afterwards.
• Avoid heavy and high-fat meals 3 hours before you go to sleep. A small snack before bedtime is fine. Milk, bananas and chocolate are rich in L-tryptophan which is good for our sleep chemistry. To penetrate the brain, L-tryptophan needs a "transmitter" in the form of a sugar molecule. Therefore, it is good to add a spoonful of honey to yogurt or warm milk
• Do not drink alcohol 3 hours before going to bed. If you do drink alcohol, you fall asleep more easily, but in the^2nd half of the night, you can no longer sleep well. This affects sleep quality very negatively.
• This also applies to coffee or caffeine-containing beverages. Avoid drinking coffee 6 to 8 hours before you go to sleep. The sleep-inhibiting effect of coffee can last 8 to 14 hours! Black tea, green tea and cola also contain caffeine
• Don't smoke after 7 p.m. or stop smoking completely if at all possible. Nicotine can have the same adverse effects as caffeine. Especially the combination between nicotine and alcohol is sleep disturbing
• Avoid uplifting medications such as appetite suppressants and painkillers. It is best to consult your doctor for this
• Doing excessive physical activity after 6 p.m. is not a good idea. After exercising, it takes at least 3 hours for the body to rest again. So do sporting activities during the day.
• How about this one? Use the bed only for sleeping, not for working, talking on the phone or watching TV. The bedroom should be a space that is a "stimulus" that really only stimulates sleep. The only activity besides sleep that is allowed is, of course, sex. Moreover, sex has a fantastic sleep-inducing effect.
• Establish a clear demarcation between effort and relaxation. If the next day's tasks, worries or fretting do not let you let go, a great tool is to write them down in the evening. Often this is a great way to "get them off your chest
• Make a ritual of going to bed. That is, a series of actions performed regularly and in the same order each time. This bedtime ritual, by the way, should last no longer than 30 minutes. It gives your body the signal that it is time to go to bed.
• What we all already know is that it is wise to pay attention to our activities at night such as watching TV, chatting, surfing the Internet. These activities can lead to tension or emotional excitement. These topics can sometimes keep you very busy, making it difficult to catch sleep. Clearly, you have then activated your mind too much.
• Start reading before bedtime. It relaxes the mind, makes sleepy, tires the eyes and optimally prepares the body for falling asleep. This, of course, involves "light" literature.
• Turning on bright lights when you wake up at night is not a good idea. It makes you more awake and can upset your biological clock
• Avoid looking at the clock at night. This leads to stress thoughts. So set your alarm clock so you can't see it 😉
• Sit outside in daylight for half an hour in the morning after getting up (even if it's cloudy). It helps stabilize your sleep-wake rhythm, improves your mood and makes you feel more alert.
• The power nap or afternoon nap is controversial, but scientists believe it is consistent with our natural biological rhythm. An afternoon nap increases performance and compensates for the previous night's lack of sleep.
• For individuals whose jobs require them to work at night or go against their biological rhythms, they can take the edge off their possible sleep problems, or even restore them completely, by resolving to sleep one or more hours regularly in the afternoon.