It’s easy to tell if you’ve had a decent night’s sleep. You’re less irritable, more alert, and generally feel in a good place. Unfortunately, many factors can stand in the way of you getting the rest that you deserve.
If you find it hard to drift off at night, or you frequently have restless sleep, it could be your bedroom that’s causing the problem. You might want to think about making these five changes to your surroundings to ensure you’re not tossing and turning all night.
Remove The TV
Lounging in bed while watching TV might sound relaxing, but the opposite is actually the case. That’s because it’s stimulating, so it prompts your mind to become more active than you realise.
By eliminating the television from the bedroom, you establish the room as a place of rest rather than somewhere to keep you awake. That’s also why you shouldn’t use your bedroom as a home office or spend too much time scrolling through your phone in here. It just causes more confusion for your brain.
If you’re still struggling to sleep once the TV is out of the bedroom, the problem might be your nighttime routine. Watching television right before hitting the hay is still a bad idea, even if the TV is in a different room. The best thing to do is switch it off an hour or so before sleep and try to wind down with one of these relaxing activities.
Blackout Curtains
When there’s too much light around us, our bodies struggle to initiate proper sleep. It mistakenly believes that it’s not night time, so it does what it can to keep us awake.
Obviously, if you have all the lights switched off in your bedroom, it shouldn’t be too bright in there. However, lights from outside can cause a problem if you don’t have thick or dark curtains.
The solution here is to buy some blackout curtains. Not only will these keep streetlights at bay, but they’ll also stop you from being woken up by the sunrise. Given how early this happens in the summer, these curtains can definitely come in handy.
If your bed is uncomfortable, getting a good night’s sleep will always be difficult. The chances are that the problem is with the mattress, maybe because it’s old or doesn’t offer the firmness you need. Whatever the problem is, it’s probably worth buying a new one.
Finding what works best for you can be hard with the number of mattress brands out there. However, The Mattress Guide has dozens of reviews to help you pinpoint what will offer you the best night’s sleep.
You might want to check this Emma mattress review if you’re looking for something that will keep you cool at night while also helping with any back problems. Designed in the UK, the Emma has a 6.5 out of 10 firmness rating, which is best for supporting weight distribution and spinal alignment. It’s also one of the more versatile mattresses out there, so it shouldn’t be a problem if you and your partner have different sleep preferences.
With a 200-night trial and 10-year warranty, it’s definitely worth trying out if your current mattress doesn’t cut it anymore.
Different Pillows
If it’s not your mattress that’s causing discomfort at night, it could be your pillows instead. These tend to deteriorate faster, so replacing them more regularly is essential.
Again, you’re relatively spoiled for choice with pillows to buy, so it’s worth looking around to see what will work best for you. Depending on how you position yourself at night, you’ll need something that offers support without causing any pain. For instance, side sleepers benefit most from a firm pillow, while back sleepers should cope best with something thinner.
Reduce Clutter
Something you might not have realized is that a cluttered room can actually be harder to fall asleep in. That might seem strange, given that you can’t see this stuff when you’re trying to sleep, nor does it actively do anything to keep you awake. However, a study by New York’s St. Lawrence University claims that the mess is tied to cognitive dysfunction, which then results in a lack of sleep.
This can quickly turn into a negative cycle as people lack the motivation to tidy the following day due to lack of sleep. They continually put off reducing the clutter, but because of this, they keep struggling to get proper rest.
The best thing to do is try and tidy things away in your bedroom whenever there’s a mess. It doesn’t need to take more than a few minutes, but it could do wonders for your sleeping pattern.
Your bedroom needs to work with you, not against you, if you’re going to get a decent night’s sleep in there. These changes should ensure it does that, so you don’t have to wake up tomorrow feeling drained and irritated.
