How to Get a Good Night of Sleep
- Aleksa Jarasunas
- Feb 1, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 27, 2020
You are tossing and turning in bed and just can’t fall asleep. You repeatedly glance over to look at your clock every five minutes. You then begin to feel anxious that you won’t get enough sleep to perform well on tomorrow’s test. If this scenario sounds familiar, you are not alone: 68% of Americans report having trouble with sleep at least once a week (1). However, the power of psychological research is here to help you. Just follow these 5 tips and hopefully you’ll wave goodbye to your insomnia in no time!
Get some sunlight during the day
Thanks to our circadian rhythm, humans are built to function during the day and sleep during the night. However, just like a car doesn’t run without fuel, your body won’t listen to its internal clock on its own. One way to get in tune with your circadian rhythm is to spend time outside during the day. In fact, daytime light exposure is proven to improve sleep quality by 12% and reduce sleep onset latency by 83% (2). So if you take the time to soak up the sun’s rays during the day, you will feel ready for sleep when the time comes.
Don’t take naps
You’ve just come home from a long day of school, and all you want to do is take a nap. Although some shut-eye may seem like a good idea in the moment, research actually shows that it may harm your sleep in the long-run: in a study of 440 college students, students who took more than 3 naps per week reported the worst nighttime sleep quality (3). So, although it may be difficult, you are better off trying to stay up a couple more hours until your normal bedtime.
Play relaxing music at bedtime
Although we normally associate calming music with activities like meditation and yoga, it can also come in handy for getting a good night of sleep. Researchers found that individuals who listened to soothing music for 45 minutes before getting into bed compared to those who did not reported better sleep quality (4). So even if soothing music may not be your top choice, your sleep will thank you!
Journal before bed
Given the rising popularity of art therapy to promote mental wellbeing, it may not be surprising to you that journaling before bed can help you fall and stay asleep. In fact, researchers found that journaling helped college students decrease stress at nighttime, thus resulting in increased sleep duration and better sleep quality (5). So before you turn off the lights, take a few minutes to write about your day and your feelings, and you’ll be snoozing before you know it!
Replace an afternoon coffee with camomile tea
It’s a well-known fact that drinking caffeinated coffee too late in the afternoon can deter your sleep. However, many people still refuse to put down their cup of joe. But what if I told you that an alternative drink can instead help cure your insomnia? In a study of 80 women, researchers found that drinking chamomile tea before bed improved nighttime sleep quality (6). If you still can’t give up your afternoon coffee, try to also drink a cup of chamomile tea late in the evening to counteract some of the damage created by your beloved beverage of choice.
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