The more comfortable your bedroom, the better relaxation it provides. Read this article to find out how to make the most of your bed and your sleep.
Table of Contents
How To Sleep Better
To improve your sleep quality, you might want to fine-tune a few aspects of your bedroom. Plus, you should consider improving some of your daily habits. From this article, you’ll get to know what exactly you should do to get rid of stress in your bedroom and enjoy great sleep every night. These recommendations should come in handy for people of any age and with any budget.
Keep the Right Temperature
The optimal temperature for rest falls within the range of 60 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 22 Celsius degrees).
Here are a few options that you might consider:
- Use air conditioning
- Install a ceiling fan
- Buy an electric fan
- Open windows when the air is cool outside
- Purchase cooling mattress pads and lighter-weight bedding
If you share the bed with a partner and your temperature preferences differ, you might want to use different comforter weights.
Avoid Excessive Light
Here is how your organism reacts to seeing light:
- Your eye’s optic nerves detect light signals
- These signals reach the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in the hypothalamus (this Nucleus controls your internal clock)
- Melatonin release decreases (this hormone is responsible for regulating sleep-wake cycles)
- Cortisol production increases
- Your body temperature rises
- You remain awake
Here are a few tips that should help you to avoid excessive light before going to sleep and when sleeping:
- Turn off or cover any electronic lights in your room before going to bed
- Buy a motion-activated night light or under-bed light to help find your way to the bathroom at night
- Invest in blackout window shades
- Purchase a sleep mask with a fitted band, made of smooth and breathable fabric like fine cotton, satin, silk or rayon
You should avoid being exposed to light both before and during sleep, even if this light is dim.
Block Bothersome Sounds
If noise prevents you from falling asleep, you might try the following solutions:
- Use earplugs
- Buy a white noise machine
- Turn on calming nature sounds before going to bed
- If your partner is snoring, gently reposition their body and their pillows (they should avoid sleeping on their back)
Noises can affect our deep sleep cycles, even if we don’t remember waking.
Get Rid of the Electronics
Watching TV in bed or before going to bed might steal sleep and increase anxiety. If you work or check emails before going to bed, this might have a similar effect. Checking social networks can bring negative feelings as well.
The motion and sound keep your mind stimulated. The light prevents your body’s internal clock from regulating sleep properly. The bright LED lights of electronics work against melatonin even more than regular white lights.
Here is what you might want to do to doze off quicker and enjoy a better sleep:
- Keep your family’s TV viewing in the living room
- Stop using all the electronics one hour before bedtime
- Leave devices out of your reach when in bed
- Leave phones on silent
- Install “do not disturb” apps on your smartphone to block out unimportant notifications while you sleep, only letting through emergency messages from approved contacts
Instead of using gadgets, you might want to read or have a bath before going to sleep.
Declutter
It might be hard to relax in a cluttered room. Here are the most important recommendations that you might want to follow daily:
- Keep bills, office/schoolwork and other papers confined to an office space or otherwise out of sight
- Use a closed hamper to keep clothes out of the way
- Keep dishes in the kitchen and trash in a trashcan
After using an item, you can hide it in a nightstand drawer, a cute basket, a dresser or a shelf with cubbies. Such storage solutions will help you to keep your essentials still within reach while your bedroom remains neat.
Buy High-Quality Bedding
Here are the most comfortable fabrics:
- Cotton
- Wool
- Silk
- Bamboo
- Linen
Thanks to their moisture-wicking properties, they absorb excess moisture and keep you more comfortable. Polyester and synthetic satin, by contrast, tend to trap moisture and make you warmer.
Make Sure You Feel Comfortable on Your Mattress
According to one theory, you should replace your mattress every six years, on average. But probably, it would be wiser to do so when you detect the following symptoms:
- Your bed doesn’t feel comfortable anymore
- The mattress shows deep impressions
- The mattress causes painful pressure points
Also, you might want to buy a new mattress because your age, weight and health have significantly changed.
The mattress should become the most important investment in your sleep quality. If you can buy a stunning contemporary bedroom set right now, that’s great — but if your budget is limited and you can afford only one item, let it be the mattress.
Springs tend to wear out faster than foams. Latex and memory foam mattresses should normally last longer.
Keep Pillows Fresh
If you have a good mattress but still suffer from neck pain, back pain or pressure points, your pillow is the most likely culprit. It might be too flat, too thick or fail to provide adequate cushioning. You should replace down alternative and poly-fill pillows every 1-2 years, while latex, down, buckwheat and memory foam counterparts can last a few more years with good care.
Here are the optimal types of pillows for different types of consumers:
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, you found this article informative and now you better understand how to prepare your bedroom for less stress and a good night’s sleep. Keep the right temperature, avoid excessive light and block bothersome sounds. Get rid of all electronics and strive to keep the room clean. Choose high-quality bedding, mattress and pillows and replace them regularly. If you follow all these recommendations, you should be able to fully recharge your batteries in your bedroom every night.
