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4 Things You Can Do During the Day To Have a Better Night's Sleep

Struggling to fall asleep at night? Try these quick tips during the day to help yourself sleep better at night.

Lack of sleep — it’s something that all of us strive to avoid but yet, it still plagues many. While it’s bad if you're suffering lack of sleep because you simply aren’t making enough time to get a good night’s rest, it’s doubly bad if you are but are laying there unable to fall asleep. Insomnia is a very frustrating issue and something that many adults do experience.

Fortunately, it may be avoidable. While there’s definitely something to be said for setting the stage right before bed and creating an atmosphere that’s conducive to sleeping, there are also things that you should be doing long before the night even comes. By adjusting your daytime habits, you can promote a better sleep state. Here’s how.

Eat Early

Many of us are in the habit of hardly eating at all during the day only to come home and have a big dinner and proceed to snack all night long. This, unfortunately, is one of the worst things that you can do as far as your sleep state is concerned.

If your digestive system is busy digesting your food, this means you won’t be getting the sleep that you desire.

Instead, focus on eating more during the day and eating lighter at night. You’ll find this helps you fall asleep faster and also sleep more deeply during the night.

Exercise – At The Right Time

Exercise is another must-do if you want to improve your sleep state. The trick here is to exercise at the right time. If you exercise too close to bedtime, it can make falling asleep very challenging as you may feel energized after that workout. The sweet spot is about 4-6 hours prior to going to bed if you can manage. Of course, you can exercise earlier if you desire, but this time before bed should get you tired enough come bedtime that you can fall into a deep slumber.

Be Social

Try and engage with others during the day as well whenever you can. Stress is a big factor that tends to keep people up at night and good social support has a protective effect on stress.

If you're feeling stressed, reach out and talk to a friend or significant other about it. This may help you put it out of your mind so you won’t be lying awake that night worrying about it for hours.

Social support proves to be very helpful as far as overall health is concerned, so don’t overlook the benefits of getting together with a close friend.

Watch Your Caffeine Intake

Finally, don’t overlook the obvious: your caffeine intake. While you may be doing a good job at avoiding coffee after four in the afternoon, don’t forget about other beverages or foods that contain caffeine as well.

Soda’s, energy drinks, and chocolate all contain caffeine so make sure you are aware of this stimulant and avoiding having any after 4. Caffeine has a 6 hour half life so it will take 6 hours for half of the value to degrade in your body. If you can stop afternoon, even better.

Keeping these tips in mind, you should find that you can sleep better at night and finally start waking up feeling rested and ready to face your day.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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