How to Get More Restful Sleep

Fatigue is a serious problem in the United States. It can impact your quality of life, your work, and your relationships. It can also be a larger problem for society because fatigue and extreme drowsiness can lead to lost productivity and an increase of accidents and injuries everywhere from the workplace to the roadways. 

For example, sleep deprivation symptoms are very similar to being under the influence of alcohol. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowsy driving caused 72,000 automobile crashes in the U.S. in 2013 and 44,000 injuries. It also led to 800 deaths. 

On a personal level, not getting enough sleep can be bad for your physical and mental health. For example, not getting enough sleep or getting poor quality sleep can increase the risk of medical conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. 

If you spend several nights in a row without sleep, it can cause brain fog and problems with concentration and decision-making. It can make it more likely that your health will suffer in serious ways. 

While many people understand the risks of not getting enough sleep, it can be a challenge to get more sleep and ensure that it's high-quality. 

The following are ways to improve sleep quantity and quality if this is something you struggle with. 

Cut Out the Stimulants

You may not realize it, but even a morning cup of coffee can impact your sleep quality many hours later. Caffeine's effects can last for up to 24 hours, and the closer to bedtime you're consuming caffeine, the more likely it is to affect your sleep quality. 

Caffeine can make it hard to fall asleep and also stay asleep. 

You may need to consider stimulants you're consuming outside of coffee as well, such as certain medications and sodas. 

If you have sleep issues, cutting out stimulants and caffeine is a good place to start to address the issue. 

Keep a Consistent Sleep Schedule

One of the best things you can do for your sleep and overall health is to try and keep a consistent schedule. 

This means that you try to go to sleep at a set time every night, even on the weekends, and you get up at the same time every day. If you can get to a point where you can wake up without an alarm clock, even better.

You want to normalize your internal clock, and it may take some time and experimentation to find what works for you.

Don't sleep in even on the weekends or days when you have the opportunity. 

It's better to wake up at the same time even on weekends but then take a short nap later in the day.

You want your body to get into a natural sleep-wake rhythm, but everyone's rhythm won't look the same, which is why you have to find what works for you. 

If you find that it works well for you to take naps to keep your sleep schedule, try to limit them to no longer than 15 to 20 minutes, and they should be in the early afternoon and not too close to your bedtime. 

If you finish dinner and you feel like you're getting sleepy before it's your bedtime, try and get up and moving and stimulate yourself a bit so that you don't go to sleep too early. 

Get More Light During the Day

Your body's natural circadian rhythm controls your hormones, your brain, and your body. It helps all of these components know when it's time to go to sleep. 

If you get natural light or bright light exposure during the day, it can help you maintain a healthy circadian rhythm. 

Research has shown that when people struggle with insomnia, exposure to bright light during the day improved their sleep quality and their duration of sleep. It can also reduce how long it takes you to fall asleep. 

If you're not able to get sunlight exposure, you can invest in an artificial sun lamp to help you.

While the daytime is when you should try and get bright light exposure, as it gets closer to bedtime, you'll want to limit this and in particular, exposure to blue light. 

Nighttime light exposure can throw off your circadian rhythm, and electronic devices, including smartphones, emit blue light. Blue light exposure can be especially detrimental to your sleep quality because your body thinks it's daytime when it's exposed to this kind of light.

There are different approaches you can take to reduce your blue light exposure. One is simply to stop using devices or watching TV around two hours before you head to bed. You can also wear glasses specifically designed to block blue light. There are even apps that will block blue light on your laptop or mobile devices. 

Take Melatonin

Many people who struggle with sleep issues don't like to take medications and in particular, prescription drugs because they worry about the side effects. 

Melatonin is a natural supplement that can help you address your sleep issues. 

Melatonin is a hormone our bodies naturally produce that tells us when it's time to go to bed, but you can buy it as a supplement as well. 

Studies have shown taking two milligrams of melatonin before bed can improve not only your quality of sleep but boost your energy levels the next day as well. 

Other supplements people sometimes use to help them with sleep include:

• Valerian root

• Lavender

• L-theanine

• Magnesium

Stop Drinking Alcohol

Finally, we often think of alcohol as something that can help us sleep, but that only tells part of the story. Yes, a drink in the evening may temporarily relax you, but ultimately, it can be detrimental to your hormones and your sleep quality. 

Consuming alcohol can cause disrupted sleep patterns, and it affects your natural melatonin production. 

While you may fall asleep more quickly when you drink, you're not going to get that deep, restful sleep that your body needs.