Tips to Sleep Better

Sleep disturbances can increase stress-related disorders such as stomach ulcers, depression, heart disease and constipation. Doctors have shown us that there are several tips available in order to improve sleep quality.
Tips to Sleep Better

Last update: 27 January, 2019

Resting well is one of the most important habits that anyone who wants to lead a healthy lifestyle can  develop. Nowadays, most adults have grueling work schedules that do not allow for adequate rest. As a result chronic diseases are rising in this group of the population.

Various studies have shown that more than 50 percent of people suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives. In addition, sleep interruptions can weaken the immune system, affect memory, mental and physical performance.

Disconnect from technology

According to various scientific studies, light emitted from electronic devices suppresses melatonin. In other words, the screens of our electronic devices eliminate the hormone that helps induce sleep. Therefore, it’s important to turn off all electronic devices in order to sleep better.

The bed should be established as a place for sleeping, not for watching television, movies or sending messages. None of these activities help us to relax. On the contrary, these activities make it more difficult to fall asleep.

Tips to sleep better

Set schedules

It’s important to organize schedules to establish a specific time to go to sleep during the week. In order to make a schedule, you must first calculate the amount of time you need to sleep.

Experts recommended between approximately 6 to 8 hours of sleep per day, especially for people who have intense work demands.

Tips to sleep better: perform physical exercise

Staying active during the day and exercising are both activities that are important in order to have a healthy lifestyle. A simple activity such as a thirty-minute daily walk can be enough to influence your health.

When you perform physical activity, you spend more energy and your metabolism goes into gear. All of this will allow you to sleep easily and to spend more time resting with a deeper level of sleep. Therefore, it can be said that physical activity reduces the risk of suffering from insomnia.

Avoid certain foods

There are certain foods that can interfere with your sleep. An unhealthy diet can cause many disturbances that will prevent you from resting well.

The first tip in this section is to avoid the consumption of caffeine before going to bed. In other words, avoid coffee, tea or any medication that contains caffeine. It has been proven that caffeine has long-lasting effects on people, one of which is preventing the consolidation of sleep at night.

Another tip is to avoid the consumption of alcohol, especially before bedtime. Although it’s well known that alcohol generates drowsiness, this effect only lasts for a few hours. As result after drinking, you are more likely to wake up various times during the night.

Finally, avoiding tobacco is very important. Smoking brings various serious consequences that can affect your health. Nicotine produces the opposite effect that the body needs to consolidate sleep.

What can you do if you can’t fall asleep?

Despite following all of the advice to sleep better, there are many other uncontrollable circumstances that can make it difficult to fall asleep.

Tired woman can't sleep

When this occurs, there’s specific advice to follow. The first piece of advice is that if you can’t sleep, there’s no need to stay in bed. You can get up, drink a little water, take a little stroll around the house or read a magazine in order to induce sleep.

Secondly, you can make use of music or meditation to relax in order to reach the state needed to sleep peacefully. There are many meditation practices that can help calm the mind, freeing the body from stress in order to reach a state of relaxation.


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.