Set aside enough time for the sleep your body needs. Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you've got an early day ahead of you, make sure to get to sleep at a decent hour the night before.
Leave enough time between eating and bedtime. Your body does a lot of work to digest a meal and turn it into energy and nutrients for your body. Don't let an active stomach keep you from falling asleep, or wake you up at night.
Power down! Lights from screens can disrupt your sleep cycles. Exposure from blue light on your phone, tablet, or alarm clock can lower your melatonin levels, making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night.
A sleep-friendly bedroom can help you achieve more ZZZ's. Help your bedroom do its job! Clean up bedroom clutter, which can stress you out. Keep paint colors neutral or cool for a calming sleep environment. Also, some people fall asleep quicker with a fan going--either to cool down the room or for the sound.
Find a relaxing ritual that helps you wind down before bedtime. Yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises are shown to do wonders for helping people sleep better at night--we've even written a blog about it! Find an evening ritual that helps you calm your mind so you're not kept up at night be stressful dreams.
Free your mind by writing down your worries before bedtime. Journaling can do wonders for helping someone process his/her thoughts. Take some time each evening to write down what's on your mind--leaving those thoughts on the paper and out of your dreams. Just make sure to write on paper, and not the blue light of a tablet or laptop...
Day 7
Don't forget about Daylight Savings Time. This year, we "spring forward" at 2:00 AM on March 13th. Make sure to take into account the missing hour, especially if you have an early day on Sunday.
If you've followed these sleep tips throughout the week, you're all set to move forward with better sleep in 2016!
-SleepSwag