I woke up 4am today because I went to bed early last night, since it was my first time to sleep early I would like to share to you some tips to have a better sleep at night which I have read from an old issue of Reader's Digest...this is the seven ways to sleep better tonight....
1.)Establish a sleep schedule.
Your body's internal timekeepers want predictability. Getting up at the same time every day, including weekends, is probably the most important step toward establishing good sleep patterns, because regular exposure to light in the morning is what sets the brain's alarm clock. This exposure, will establish the time to wake up and, at night, the time to get drowsy again. You can mark your inner clock's starting point even more clearly in the morning by taking a walk or by having breakfast beside a sunny window.
2.) Limit bedroom activities.
Watching TV, scheduling tomorrow's agenda, problem-solving with your spouse and even reading are activities associated with wakefulness. These activities can help some people wind down, but if your rest if poor, use the bedroom strictly for sleep and sex.
3.) Separate sleep from wakefulness.
When you persistently find yourself lying awake for a long time, you soon begin expecting to have trouble falling asleep. You may even start fretting that your job performance will suffer, and the pressure to get good rest will mount. If you're a worrier and bedtime is when your mind wanders, carve 30 minutes of "worry time" out of your day. Write down your concerns and a plan of action. If your troubles return as you try to doze off, tell yourself, "I've already worked that out." When you languish in a fuzzy-headed dusk between sleep and wakefulness, and this goes on for more than 15minutes, get up. When you are up, avoid any stimulating activities, such as watching the news or reading a good book. Instead, watch a quite nature program or read something dull. Go back to bed only when you feel drowsy. Similarly, if you're short on shut-eye because of insomnia, don't simply go to bed earlier. This only results in longer periods of lousy sleep. Instead, decrease your slumber time by retiring later--when genuinely sleepy--and rising earlier. You may end up getting less rest, but you know you'll sleep soundly, so you'll lose your apprehension about it.
4.) Regulate your body heat.
Even small ups and downs in body temperature play a large role in your biological body rhythms. Sleep generally follows the cooling phase of your body's temperature cycle. Normally peaks and troughs in temperature parallel exposure to light and darkness, but if you're inner thermostat is following its own independent schedule, your sleep may be disrupted. One way to control body temperature is with exercise. An aerobic work-out lasting 20minutes or more about five hours before bedtime may help encourage sleep. Vigorous exercise two to three hours before bedtime, however, can keep you awake. You might also try a half bath well before bedtime, since it can influence body temperature.
5.) Skip caffeine even in mid-afternoon.
The caffeine consumes from three cups of coffee still has stimulating effects up to 8hours later. Some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others. Some are also more affected than they realize. Research subjects who say they can drink coffee before bed and sleep well actually don't sleep as well as they think when you test them in the lab. Remember, too, that other caffeinated substances--chocolate, cola and tea--can cause poor-quality rest.
6.) Avoid nightcaps.
Yes, alcohol does help you fall asleep. But as it's metabolized by the body, it releases a natural stimulant that disrupts sleep during the second half of the night. And the greater the quantity of alcohol consumed, the worse the disruption.
7.) Screen out nocturnal noises.
While you may get used to soft, rhythmic sounds such as the furnace kicking in, louder sporadic noises from traffic or aircraft can disturb sleep more than you expect. Studies have found, for example, that people who say they've adjusted to living near airports actually awaken more frequently during the night and spend less time in deep sleep than people who live in quieter neighborhoods. If you can't eliminate the noise, try muffling its sound. Carpeting and draperies help. Your best bet, however, is to create white noise--an even, low-level sound that masks other more intrusive ones. Run a fan, tune the radio to a blank spot on the dial or even invest in a specially designed white-noise machine.
Sleep problems are not insurmountable. Take a look at your habits, do some fine-tuning, stick with these changes--and sleep tight tonight.
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