We can all tell when we wake up and feel like we have had a good nights rest. Last night, I did not have the greatest sleep, so I figured I could talk about how important sleep is. Shaun and I are completely different with how we sleep, he is a heavy sleeper and can sleep through anything. On the other hand, I am a light sleeper and get woken up by everything. Last night, was a good example of this because Mimi kept moving around and kicking me, so I kept waking up, but Shaun had the best sleep of his life. So I woke up wondering, what can I do about this?
The definition of a good nights rest has these four things:
-Fall asleep easily
-Not fully awakening during the night
-Wake up when expected, not earlier
-Feel refreshed in the morning
That is not how I feel this morning. I struggled a little bit going to sleep, I don’t feel refreshed and I woke up multiple times during the night. Some articles suggest that there are certain habits light sleepers can do, to make sleep better for themselves. These habits from Healthline website are:
- Follow a schedule, go to bed and wake up at the same time EVERY day
- Have a consistent bedtime routine
- Ensure your bedroom is relaxing, quiet and dark
- Keep all screens out of your bedroom
- Avoid late afternoon naps
- Keep your bedroom cool
- Exercise at regular times everyday, and stop at least three hours before bed
- Avoid eating large meals before bed
- Avoid caffeine late in the day
- Avoid drinking alcohol close to bedtime
I want to breakdown my afternoon, and tell you all of the mistakes I made, which probably lead to my terrible night of sleep. First and second mistakes, Shaun and I worked out until 7:30 pm, and while I was there I had some caffeine. Third mistake was that I had a large meal at 8:30 pm to fuel myself from the intense gym session we had. Fourth, I had my phone next to my bed and was looking at it shortly before bed. Lastly, I did not follow my routine of reading my book at night.
If we follow what this article states, it is quite obviously that I can’t only blame Mimi for my sleep problems last night. I didn’t follow about half of the habits on the list and that is not normal for myself. Now, I wonder why does it matter if I sleep well? What does sleep provide for me?
- Provides better concentration and make you more productive
- Good for you mental health/prevents depression
- Helps your motivation throughout the day
- Improves athletic performance
- Helping heal the body
- Faster speed
- Better coordination
- Improves your immune system
There are many other reasons to make sure you get your 7 to 9 hours of sleep as an adult. I can tell every single day whether I slept good or not, and after last night I want to make sure I get the best sleep that I am capable of having. When Shaun and I moved into our house, we made sure we didn’t put a TV in our room. We knew that was one thing that was impacting us on how well we slept. My next step to improving my sleep, is to get off my phone earlier in the night.
Go make a schedule of your day and night, get the best sleep you can get every single night and start improving your life.
Sleep well
From Your Life Tutor
-Sam
Tutors of Life 