How to improve your sleep quality

When sleep is difficult

15 tips

How to improve your sleep quality is probably something most people have contemplated once in a while at least. Sleep plays an important role in your health both mentally and physically.  It is a time when your body replenishes so it is of paramount importance that you get enough quality sleep.  Sleep helps your brain work, it helps to enhance learning, problem solving skills and helps keep your attention.  If you have ever experienced brain fog after a rubbish night sleep, you will know what I’m talking about.   Sleep or rather lack of it can also really affect your ability to control your emotions and behaviour.

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From a physical perspective, sleep can help to heal your body and repair.  Sleep deprivation has been linked to heart issues, strokes and obesity.  So I think we can agree that sleep is important and we can acknowledge that the longer we go with troubled sleep the higher the risk for health complications.

If you live with a chronic illness you already have a difficult time.  Everyday can be a challenge and requires a lot of energy.  My occupational therapist once told me that every day (due to chronic illness) I’m already running on empty because of what my body is managing with.  Everything else that happens, like something stressful, or an exercise session, or just getting through the days sometimes, really can take it out of you to the point where energy is scarce.

So add to this some sleep deprivation and you are on a downward spiral.  I have bouts of sleep deprivation and it knocks me for six, so I have had lots of practice trying to manage it as best I can.  I’ve have found that like most things prevention is usually better than cure.

I have put together my tips for helping to improve your sleep quality.  It takes a while to really work out what works for you and what doesn’t so please persevere. I really hope it helps.

Make a bed TIME

Sleep needs to be respected, period!  Too many of us do not get enough sleep or at least not enough quality sleep. It is no secret that we need 8 hours of good quality sleep every night.  To do this you need to work out what time you want to wake up (you can see my morning routine ideas here ) then count back 8 hours!  Simple.

You should also work out how long your bedtime routine takes (more on this later) and add this onto the time you have just worked out.  This should give you enough time to have a restful evening and set you up for a more peaceful sleep.

Nap

 If you do have a night of poor quality sleep, try not to wait until the following evening to “try again” to get more.  The chances are that the anxiety related to this will ruin the chance of you falling asleep to begin with. Try to incorporate naps into the day on those days.

I realise that this is easier said than done, especially if you work full time, or have children.  Try though to see if you could slip them in somewhere.  Hopefully, when your sleep improves this napping will not have to be a regular thing.  However if you work out where to squeeze them in, it will benefit you when the need strikes. Can your partner look after the children for an hour at lunch time?  Do your children still nap?  Can you nap at the same time as them?  How about a quick power nap after work and before dinner?

Devices

 Do not take your phone to bed!  It is as simple as that, or is it?  I know some people who take their phones to bed as alarms.  Invest in a separate alarm; you can get some wonderful ones now that wake you gently with nature sounds or with gentle light.  I also know some people who take their phone to bed for “safety reasons” because they do not have a landline and want to be contactable.  This is completely understandable but if this is really necessary, put it at the other side of your room for those emergencies.  This way that awful blue light will not affect your sleep negatively.  It is too tempting to use your phone until you fall asleep; it is not a good routine to practise.

Leave it downstairs if you can.  Leave all devices downstairs.  Even better if you can give up all devices half an hour before you go up to start your bedtime routine, this will give you a head start to having a restful sleep.  Tablets and other devices fall into this category too.  It isn’t just the blue light that effects sleep; it is the stimulation it creates in your mind.

TV

I feel like this one deserves a mention on its own.  This is another thing that should be stopped half an hour before your bedtime routine starts.  This may be easier for some more than others.

For me it is easy because we only have one TV in our house, this is a conscious decision that myself and my husband have made together.  We do have tablets if we want to watch something different to someone else but we only have one TV.  My girls do ask sometimes if they can have one in their rooms but it is easier to say no if I haven’t got one myself.  I have taught them that bedtime is for sleeping and also it means they are not always up in their rooms, we get more time together as a family.

I advocate that the bedroom is a restful place to sleep and relax; watching shows until you fall asleep will stimulate you too much for a restful sleep.  “This is crazy”, I hear you say, “I’m not getting rid of the TV in my room”.  Ok, hear me out, maybe you could watch your film, or TV show but then turn it off before you do your bedtime routine and wind down for bed.  There really isn’t any point in relaxing, setting a calm room, turning off your phone, then getting in to bed and switching your TV on.  Give it a try.

Bear in mind though, the bed TIME we talked about.  If you have worked out your bedtime, and your routine time, you will need to add TV time on to this, or you will be watching TV in your sleep time.

Bedtime routine

 I will post an in depth bedtime routine soon but a routine will definitely help to settle your mind to sleep.  There are so many things you can put into your bedtime routine.  Think of everything that will help you to relax.  This could be reading (with low lighting), a hot shower, a warm bath, creating a good skincare routine, stretching.  The whole point is to tell your body it is time to wind down and start to rest.

Meditate

This one is obvious; there is so much benefit to meditation.  To calm your mind completely before bed is the perfect way to unwind and get a wonderful sleep.  It doesn’t have to be for a long time, and there are some guided meditations you can do that are only 5 minutes long.

Stretching

A gentle stretch is a lovely way to wind down. Maybe look into short bedtime yoga sequences.  Your wellbeing is significantly improved when you move more.

Don’t eat too close to bedtime

Eating too close to bedtime is not a good idea.  Your body will still be digesting your food when you are trying to relax, so even if your mind is relaxing, your body won’t be.  Try to eat your evening meal a couple of hours before you want to sleep if you can.

Pillow

A good pillow plays a huge role in helping you get a good night sleep!  I cannot stress this enough.  Uncomfortable pillows will not only keep you tossing and turning, it will also give you aches and pains during the day too.

Pillows are so individual too; you really do need to try lots before you settle on one for you.  Do your research, as there are pillows for every kind of sleeper.  Are you a side sleeper?  Do you prefer to sleep on your back? Or is it more comfortable on your front?  Work this out then research for that type of pillow.  You will also need to consider your size.

This is the one I use.

It is memory foam which I love because I move around a lot and change positions.  It is also two different heights, the lower side I use when I’m on my back, the higher side I use when I’m on my side, as it supports my neck.  It’s also pretty firm which I need, I love it, but it took me ages to find it, and a lot of trial and error.  It is so worth putting the time into this though, you will not regret it.

Temperature

A cool bedroom is recommended for optimal sleep, but it is very personal. I actually like to be warm, not hot, but warm.  I have real trouble getting to sleep if I am too cold, so I have learnt that I need to be warm to drift off nicely.

Now, this is my preference.  My husband likes the room cool, he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he was too hot, and a great compromise has been reached.  The room is kind of cool, certainly not too warm, and I have a super electric blanket.  This magical blanket has made sleeping easier for me because it keeps me perfectly warm.

This blanket has zones; my side is switched on low for the top half of my body and medium for my bottom half, where I feel the cold more.  My husband’s side of the blanket is off completely, I think he has turned it on twice in the year that we have had it.

So, if you think that you need to be cool , because that is what you have read before, I would advise you to experiment with temperatures, cool is not necessarily the way forward.

Exercise

A life without exercise leads to poor sleep quality; this has been researched time and time again.  Moving more will really benefit your body and your psychological wellbeing.  You can read about the benefits of walking more here.

This is a difficult subject for a lot of people with chronic illness though as moving can cause more pain.  It really can feel like this is a catch twenty two situation but honestly the way I look at it is that sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils.  I would rather take the risk of being in slightly more pain then have a bad night’s sleep.  Simply because, sleep deprivation can make everything feel worse anyway, including pain.

A nice environment

A restful, relaxing, peaceful space is what is needed for a great sleep.  There is little point in putting effort into healthful sleep habits if you have to carry them out in a cluttered, messy room.  Your bedroom needs to be clutter free, tidy and clean, somewhere that you look forward to going.  Not somewhere that reminds you of all the washing waiting for you.

Colour is important too, bright colours may not create the right ambience.  I would suggest calming colours, nothing stimulating, for example our bedroom is cream and white with hints of gold and dusky pink, very calming.  Create a sanctuary.

Corrective pillows

This one is so important and a real life saver.  If you have trouble sleeping because of pain, whether that is because of a chronic illness or an injury, you will understand the frustration of tossing and turning because of certain parts of your body that hurt.  There are so many pillows that correct your posture or position while you sleep, to give support and to help to get a better night sleep.  I will link the one I use whenever my knees flare.

It is a really inexpensive little pillow that you put between your knees while you sleep.  This will stop your knees from touching, which is agony when your knees are inflamed.  It can also be used for lower back pain because it stops one knee from crossing over the other, which can pull on your lower back. It has transformed how I sleep when i’m in a flare.

Smell and ambience

Your sense of smell is intricately linked with your emotions and so it is no surprise that you can use this to your advantage when trying to relax.  There are a few ways that I would recommend, and I hope they help you too.  Firstly it is worth mentioning that I do not do all of these every night, I choose which I feel like at the time.

A pillow spray; this is wonderful to help relaxation and it lasts until you drift off.  I have a couple of favourites that I will link below.

Candles; I love candles and I have them everywhere in my house.  I love to light one at bedtime while winding down, and it has the added benefit of creating that calming glow around your room.  Be careful though to pick one with calming fragrances like lavender, rose or chamomile, and nothing too uplifting or it will have the opposite effect.

Moisturizing cream; this may sound like a random one but bear with me.  This year my husband bought me the most amazing advent calendar from Amazon.  It was full of self-care and beauty products and I absolutely loved it.  One of the products was this cream by The works, and the smell transported me to a spa immediately, it is truly wonderful.

This is not a sponsored post but I had to put this in because the cream is designed to be used at night to relax you and it really does.  So, I keep it in my bedside drawer and use it just before I lay down.  The idea is that while massaging it in you inhale deeply so that you inhale the aroma and its benefits.  The fragrance is incredible and I will be stocking up on it so that I don’t run out.

Hair out of the way

If you have short hair ignore this one.  You may think that this is a waste of a tip but if your hair is really long like mine you will understand.  I cannot tell you how many times I have woken up because my hair is choking me and wrapped around my neck.  Or how many times I have tried to change positions and nearly been scalped because my husband is lying on my hair!  Not pleasant, and for many, once you are awake, it is hard to get back to sleep.  Keeping your hair up and out of the way is a great way to forget about it all night long.  I like to wrap it in a messy bun on the top of my head using an invisi bobble or a scrunchie so it doesn’t pull at all. Alternative I like to plait it.

So there we have it, my tips for improving your sleep quality. I really hope these are useful.

Health and happiness

Laura