How your environment ​can affect your sleep

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I’ve said before I don’t think as parents you can ever catch up on the countless hours of sleep you’ve lost since bringing your offspring into the world but did you know how the environment and surroundings can affect your sleep too?

Having trouble sleeping?

What helps sleep?

Environment

Before you lay down to sleep, you should also make sure your environment is conducive to a good night’s rest, something else I am guilty of NOT doing!

Make sure your bed is actually comfortable

Most of us will spend an average of 24 years of our lives asleep, your bed is somewhere that deserves serious investment so put your money where you spend most of your time and ensure you:

>Buy the right mattress

>Pick some good pillows

>Pick up some good sheets – I mean who doesn’t love clean, fresh sheets!

Don’t underestimate the power of a more comfortable quilt, a pillowtop over your old mattress. Your bed is important, and you should make sure it improves your sleep, not hinder it.

Adjust the temperature

If your room is too warm you will start having difficulty with insomnia – you know what it’s like in the summer where you haev all the windows open and there is absolutely no breeze whatsoever!

Sometimes a cool room or maybe a fan going over your body are all you need to feel just right.

Filter out the light

LEDs and standby lights from electronics can cause just as much havoc with your sleep cycle as a glowing phone or tablet screen.

We’ve already said to turn off or put down your electronic devices at the very least an hour before you intend to go to sleep but make sure to cover up any other lights too including those on your Sky box, TV, or the light on your phone/laptop while it’s charging too!

If you live somewhere where you have a street light right outside your window why not think about investing in a sleeping mask.. it’ll work wonders for your sleep. Plus, if you work off-hours and have to sleep through sunrise or during the day, it’ll help you get better rest too.

Cut out the distractions

We can’t do much about the kids waking us up (sorry!) but if it’s your phone that is waking you up and affecting your sleep, with new notifications or emails, it’s time to turn it off… and I mean OFF!

Turn off your notifications so they help you sleep, or just set it to silent when you go to bed. If your neighbourhood is noisy and that keeps you from sleeping, try a white noise generator or some soothing music to drown it out and help you rest.

I hope this helps and gives you some ideas on how improving your environment can help you sleep.

Feel free to pin to read again later..