5 quick ways to improve your sleep

Waking up energised and refreshed helps you to feel good and get the most out of each day.

But to do this, you need to get sufficient sleep every night so your body and mind have plenty of time to rest and recuperate. However, if you have a busy life and you find that your energy is beginning to wane, it may be due to poor sleep. 

The good news is that sleep is more under your control than you realise.

Here are some quick tips to help you improve your sleep and maximise your resting hours so you can always be awake your best.

1. Monitor your sleep needs

While an individual’s sleep needs can fluctuate depending on their daily activities, experts recommend that most adults should clock up between seven to nine hours of sleep each day for optimal sleep health.

Not receiving at least seven hours? Perhaps it’s time to start setting a reminder at least an hour before you’re supposed to start winding down for the day. 

To understand your sleep better, try monitoring your sleep and sleep habits for a few weeks by using a sleep diary.  Keeping a sleep diary allows you to give your doctor or sleep specialist a deeper understanding of what is really going on with your sleep. Print out our ResMed Sleep Diary or use as a template to help you monitor your sleep needs

2. Set the bedroom for sleeping

Your bedroom plays a role in the quality of rest you get each night, and through some simple adjustments, you can easily optimise your environment to get the best sleep.

Ideally, you want your room to be relaxing, quiet, dark, and cool.¹

To achieve this, try the following:

• Wear earplugs or play some soft background noise
• Draw the curtains and close the blinds
• Turn your bedroom lights off earlier
• Keep your room clean and tidy
• Ensure your mattress and pillows are comfortable
• Switch your phone onto silent and dim the screen light
• Remove any loud ticking clocks or noises
• Turn the TV and other distractions off
• Keep your room well-ventilated
• Avoid running a heater all night

These little changes are simple yet go a long way in creating the perfect environment to nod off and get some quality sleep when you need it most.

3. Have a warm bath in the evening

A relaxing bath (or a shower if you prefer) is quite a popular way to help you wind down, slow your thoughts, and nod off sooner when you get into bed. Creating a buffer between your preferred bedtime and tasks can help ease your brain into a sleeping routine. One of the easiest ways to do this is by taking a bath.

Quality sleep is vital for your overall health and well-being and it all begins with proper hygiene.

In fact, this has been shown to help people achieve better sleep quality and get deeper sleep at night^2,3,4. Adding a warm bath to your evening routine is easy and acts as a nice way to reward yourself at the end of the day too!

4. Eat Naturally sleep-supporting Ingredients

You might not think about it while eating your lunch in broad daylight, but nutrition plays an essential role in our sleep. If you want to align your diet to have the most optimal sleep, aim to eat more foods or drinks that contain serotonin, a serenity-boosting neurotransmitter.

For example:

• Ginkgo biloba, which can be found in tea and tablet form, may aid in sleep, relaxation and stress reduction⁷
• Valerian root may help you fall asleep and improve sleep quality^8,9
• Chamomile tea may also reduce stress and anxiety which can help you sleep¹⁰

It’s best to speak to your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking supplements.

5. Head to bed only when you’re actually tired

If you go to bed and you find yourself lying awake staring at the ceiling for a while, then you may become frustrated or stressed, which doesn’t help. 

If it has been longer than 20 or 30 minutes, get up again, go into a different room and do something relaxing such as read a magazine, meditate or listen to some gentle music. Try to avoid screens, loud noises and bright light as much as possible.

This should help calm your mind and body, and put you back into the right headspace. Once you feel tired again, jump back into bed. 

How a free sleep assessment can help you

If you are experiencing problems sleeping, you may wish to consider undertaking our free sleep assessment to better understand how to improve your restful state and overall health. 

The assessment only takes 60 seconds and asks you a series of simple questions designed to provide you with more information. It also conveniently sends the results to you via an email.

Awaken at your best by taking our free sleep assessment now.