Hey Everybody! Chris Sajnog here, and today in this post I want to make a case for the importance of sleep and provide you with Sleep Hygiene Tips.
Alright, let’s talk about my top seven ways to get a better night’s sleep.
7 Sleep Hygiene Tips
#1 Consistent Sleep Schedule
All right, number one on the list is the same one that I had on the first post I did on sleep and learning. It is the number one thing I think you can do and you need to do for sleep. And that is to have a consistent sleep schedule.
That means going to sleep at about the same time but definitely waking up at the same time every single day. You’ve got circadian rhythm inside your body as I do mine and every other human on the planet and probably animals.
If you get off the cycle, it’s like not showing up to work on time, you’re gonna be in trouble. You know you got to punch the clock at a certain time and that clock for you needs to be the alarm clock every single morning. So make sure you set a time that you’re going to get up seven days a week and make sure you stick to it.
#2 Bedtime Routine
Alright, number two is to have a bedtime routine. This means just something that’s going to get you in the mood if you will go to sleep and you want yourself to have like a Pavlovian response to sleep.
Everybody needs a routine. It doesn’t really matter what your routine is. As long as you’re doing the same thing every night. You want to get your body used to this thing like “OH, Sleep is coming up.”
You can make your lights darker, put on some blue-light-blocking sunglasses, turn down the lights, read a book, or a real book, brush your teeth, and floss too.
What’s this stuff about? You don’t need to floss. Do you hear that a couple of years ago, they came out with dentists saying you don’t need to floss? That is disgusting brush and floss, you should be doing it twice a day, but do it before bed.
#3 Cold Sleep Environment
Alright, number three of our sleep hygiene tips is to have a cold sleep environment. Scientists have discovered that we sleep best between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit. You need to sleep in a cold environment.
We spent most of our human existence sleeping in caves. At least that’s what I’m told. I don’t remember. But I’m told we used to sleep in caves, caves are cold. And our bodies are used to being cold. And it’s that cold environment that also, you know, just like our bedtime routine, the lights getting darker. It’s that cold that we feel our bodies feel that they sense it and they go “Oh, it’s time to go into hibernation.” So you got to make sure you have a cold environment.
#4 Dark
Number four on my list is dark. And when I say dark, I mean really dark. I mean, there is no light anywhere. I mentioned I have blackout drapes, and I talked about how apparently we used to sleep in caves and dark environments.
There’s a study and you can look this one up, where they took people and they put them in a completely dark room and they had to constantly monitor their melatonin production. They took one single LED light and taped it to the back of their knee. When they’re checking their melatonin levels, they will turn on the light, and as soon as they turn on the light on the back of their knee, their melatonin level crash down.
So it’s not just covering up your eyes that is going to help. But every cell in our body has the ability to sense light.
#5 Sleep With Mouth Shut
Number five on the list is to sleep with your mouth shut. Now we are supposed to be nose breathers, but we’ve become a society of mouth breathers, and this is no good, especially when you sleep.
One way you can do this is to tape your mouth shut. This is what I do if I find that I’m sleeping with my mouth open. One of the best things you can do for your health is practice breathing through your nose, even when you’re working out. It will be hard at first. But trust me, it’s amazing.
As far as things you can do to benefit your health, a single thing you can do for your health is breathing through your nose. Breathe through your nose, all the time. You don’t want to be a mouth breather.
Anyways, tape your mouth shut at night, and take a little piece of tape. This is what I do if I need to. Put it over your lips which I have to do after like pucker up my lips. Put a little piece of tape on there because I got you to know a little scruff going on tape won’t stick to it. Do that and you will sleep so much better. It will help with snoring if you’re a snore. It’ll help with that. Anyways, sleep with your mouth shut.
#6 Exercise
Number six is to exercise every single day. And I don’t care what you do, but go out and do something, get off the couch. I get up every morning, and I go for a walk. I do a little exercise in the morning. And then I do my bigger exercise in the afternoon. I make sure I get that one in the morning because if I missed the one in the afternoon, at least I’m getting something done.
So make sure you exercise every day for better sleep.
#7 Tired But Can’t Sleep?
Alright, last but not least number seven on the list is if you get in bed, and you’re laying there for more than 20 minutes and you’re not falling asleep. I want you to get out of bed and go do something else.
Like, read a book. Make sure it’s a real book. It can be a really boring book, but you don’t want an electronic book. You don’t want to open up your phone and start checking that because your melatonin levels going to crash down.
You definitely don’t want to watch TV, sit and do something else, maybe needlepoint. What’s the other one crochet? You could do anything like that. Maybe a little painting, no electronics, and getting out of bed after 20 minutes.
Wait till you start feeling tired then get back in bed.
Alright, that is it for today. I hope you get some value out of these Sleep Hygiene Tips. And of course, I hope it helps you sleep better because if you sleep better, you’re going to learn better, you’re going to feel better and everything in your life is going to be better with a better night’s sleep. All right, please comment on and share this post if you like it. And until next time, keep paving your path to perfection.
