7 BEDTIME TIPS TO GET YOU TO SLEEP

For many insomniacs, a few simple changes to their sleeping routine could solve their restlessness. Give these tricks a try – you’ll be snoozing in no time.

1 WOMEN AND THEIR HORMONES

Women are more likely than men to experience insomnia due to the constant changes in our hormonal cycles, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Pregnancy and perimenopause are the biggest culprits when it comes to hormone-related sleep disturbance, so keeping the temperature low in your room and sleeping in layers you can whip on and off during the night may help when you start feeling the heat of a hot flush.

2 STICK TO A SLEEP SCHEDULE

If you’re a parent, lie-ins no longer exist in your world, but if you are someone who is lucky enough to doze a little longer on the

weekends, you may be wreaking havoc on your sleep patterns in the following week. A strict sleep schedule could cure your insomnia and may even lead to a reduced waistline. Bruce Bailey, professor of Exercise Sciences at Brigham Young University, conducted a study on 300 female university students, assessing their body composition and sleep patterns before and after the study. Researchers found a consistent sleep schedule was strongly linked with a lower body fat composition and better quality sleep.

3 GET ENOUGH SLEEP

Dr Julie Silver of Harvard Medical School describes how those who don’t sleep for 24 hours straight or only sleep 45 hours per night for a week will perform the same as someone who has a blood alcohol level of 0,1%. The study conducted by Bruce Bailey also found students who slept for less than 6,5 hours or more than 8,5 hours per night had a higher body fat composition. Dr Silver suggests the perfect night’s sleep is 78 hours.

4 BEDS ARE FOR SLEEPING…

And, er, only one other recreational activity. Remember the days of thinking you could ‘study’ while lying in bed, only to pass out after skimming through the first few pages of your biology textbook? Well that’s because your bed is made for sleeping and your desk for studying. Your brain has been conditioned to understand that lying in bed means it is time to sleep. But if you continuously do so while watching TV, scrolling through Instagram, eating pizza or studying for that online course you’re taking on project management, over time your brain will start to see your bed as a place for work rather than sleep. ‘I say the bed is for two things that begin with the letter S, and struggling and suffering are not among them,’ says Dr M Safwan Badr, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

5 EXERCISE! AT ANY TIME

A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that exercise and its effects can directly impact your sleep. Chairman Max Hirshkowitz says an inactive person might even benefit from a 10minute walk every day in order to sleep better, but the poll suggested that the best sleepers are the vigorous exercisers: 83% of exercisers reported they had good quality sleep, whereas only 56% of the nonexercisers reported the same. The study also concluded that even exercising right before bedtime can help sleep come more easily. Exercisers who worked out just before sleeping did not report less quality sleep than those who worked out earlier in the day. The takeout? Exercise at any time of day is better than no exercise!

6 TURN OFF THE BLUE LIGHTS

Melatonin is a hormone released by the pineal gland when the sun goes down; it is responsible for giving you that drowsy feeling, preparing you for sleep. Artificial light, particularly blue light that is released from your laptop, iPad and cellphone, interferes with this release and affects the body’s natural biological clock. In fact, exposure to it during the day can boost attention and reaction times, something you do not want when you’re trying to prepare for sleep. But it doesn’t stop there. LEDs, fluorescent bulbs and incandescent bulbs could have the same effect, and some people are going as far as saying melatonin suppression resulting from exposure to light at night can be linked to an increased risk for diseases. A recent study conducted by Harvard University shed some light on the situation. Researchers placed 10 people on a schedule, gradually shifting the timing of their circadian rhythms. As a result, they were thrown into a prediabetic state by their blood sugar levels increasing and leptin levels decreasing (the hormone that gives us a feeling of fullness after a meal). Even dim lights can interfere with sleep, and are part of the reason so many experience insomnia. So stop using technology a couple of hours before bedtime to prepare your mind, and consider sleeping with an eye mask to ensure complete darkness.

7 CATCH SOME RAYS

The natural solution to insomnia might be right outside your window – you know, that orange ball in the sky that you barely have time to look at while sitting behind your desk for eight hours a day? A study published by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in the journal Sleep focused on the sleep quality of 49 workers, 27 of whom worked in windowless offices. The results showed that workers with windows received 173% more natural white light and slept about 46 minutes more per night. If you’re trapped in your office, take a walk in the morning or cycle to work to help you get a better night’s sleep.