How to Hack Your Bedroom for the Best Night’s Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important and yet least understood parts of our life. Given that we spend almost a third of our time with our eyes closed, there is clearly something going on overnight, and you only need to miss a few precious hours to get grouchy.

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While we may not quite know what sleep is doing exactly, it is plain to see that there is good sleep and bad sleep and your bedroom has a lot to do with it. So, without further ado, here is how you can hack your bedroom to get the best night’s sleep.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”_10qG” via=”yes” ]While we may not quite know what sleep is doing exactly, it is plain to see that there is good sleep and bad sleep and your bedroom has a lot to do with it. So, without further ado, here is how you can hack your bedroom to get the best night’s sleep.[/ctt]

Image Credit: Pexels

Embrace the Darkness

People tend to feel tired because we have been exposed to a certain amount of light. Over the day we produce melatonin which is a hormone that tells your brain it is time to sleep. However, blue or bright lights such as your phone or TV can inhibit the production of melatonin making you feel even more awake and causing you insomnia.

The first simple hack you can make, then, is to make sure that you don’t have a TV in your room and that you switch your phone to night mode about an hour before you are likely to want to sleep. Without these bright lights, you should stand a much better chance of going to sleep naturally and at the right time.

The next thing you should do is make sure that your windows are fully covered so that you don’t let in any light there. Street lighting or security lighting can both interfere with your sleep pattern and so using curtains and blinds to close out any little gap is usually the best way to go. Adding blackout linings to your curtains may also help if you have gone for a thinner, paler fabric.

Get the Right Mattress For You

There is a lot of advice about which mattresses are the best, but the key thing to remember is that you must be comfortable while you sleep. So, while a bed designed by NASA might sound awesome, if you aren’t happy lying on it, it’s clearly not going to be the best one for you.

Mattresses should be changed between every 5-10 years, depending on the type of mattress and how it feels. But you might want to change it sooner if it is uncomfortable, stained or has springs popping out! Sleeping on the wrong mattress isn’t just going to keep you up at night, it’s also going to have a negative impact on your posture and could end up causing you far more grief than you bargained for.  

When you are trying a mattress, it can feel a bit odd lying down in the store, but you need to give each mattress time to allow you to settle in. This is not a process you can rush! As you lie in your most comfortable position – whether that is on your front, back or side – let yourself completely relax and think about how the mattress is supporting you. Are you wriggling to try and get comfortable or are you quite happy to fall asleep? If it’s the latter, this could well be the one for you.

Consider Your Surroundings

When you are in bed, you should feel completely relaxed and totally calm. If your room is not inspiring these feelings, then it’s time to change. What you think of as calm will be slightly different to other people and you don’t need to subscribe to minimalism to make your bedroom work, but there are a couple of fail-safes that will suit pretty much everyone.

Neutral colors might sound boring, but a bit of boring never hurt anyone, especially someone who is way too active at night to get any sleep! Classic whites and creams will bring your bedroom a light and airy feel, but don’t discount grey. Even though the popularity grey saw in 2017 seems to have ebbed somewhat, it remains a beautiful neutral color that will make your bedroom feel darker without giving it a gloomy feel. Add in some luxurious soft furnishing and grey becomes surprisingly glamorous.

Cleanliness is absolutely vital because as you are going to sleep, you don’t want to be thinking about the contents of that mouldy cup or feeling your skin crawl at the thought of all the dust that has gathered at the edge of the carpet. While your bedroom is (hopefully!) nothing like this, clearing the decks and ensuring that your environment is tip top will make a huge difference.

On that subject, a tidy room is always much calmer than a messy one. Before you turn in for the night, try to put everything away in its place and close the wardrobe doors on whatever mess is left. Even when it is a mere illusion, tidiness will definitely allow you to clear your mind and get ready for a few serious zzzs.

If you are looking for something to add to your room, then an aloe plant could be a good option. These plants are really good for you because they emit oxygen overnight, improving the air as you sleep. Plus, as they are easy to look after and even prefer to be neglected, you won’t have to worry so much about it dying. Aloes are listed by NASA for their top air-improving qualities and if it is good enough for space, then it is certainly going to work in your home!

Close Your Eyes

If you have long been suffering from poor sleep, now is the time to go and make some changes to your bedroom to maximize the chances that you will fall asleep right on time and wake up feeling refreshed. While most of these changes are basically free, making them can bring an infinite amount of value to your slumber.

When your bedroom is perfectly balanced, calm and relaxing, you will find yourself closing your eyes, falling back onto your perfect mattress and drifting off before you can even think about counting sheep.

This is a contributed post.

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