Sleep is important in many different factors. Sleep is helpful for reducing stress, improving your mood, thinking more clearly for the tasks you do throughout the day, and your attitude is better all together. As a teenager it is very important to get a good amount of sleep. We are all at a point in our lives where school is a main priority and should have most of our focus. Some of us even have part time or after school jobs we need to maintain, so having an ideal 8-10 hours of sleep is really helpful. But, some people have a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep through the night. Here are a few things you could do…

Sleep Schedule

Right off the bat we know when we stick to a schedule or routine we get better and better at it. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time everyday will help train your body to know when you start feeling tired and when your body is feeling awake. It could be hard at first but the more and more you do it, the easier it will be. If it is still difficult to fall asleep then do something that you know will make you feel sleepy and once you start to feel tired let yourself doze off. Though when it’s the weekend, we like to stay up a little later than we would on weekdays. It’s better to only give yourself an extra hour before going to bed so you don’t fall off track.

Eating

Everyone loves a good midnight snack. But, it is recommended that you don’t go to sleep on either a full or empty stomach. You would want to eat your last meal around two or three hours before you go to sleep. The discomfort of being stuffed can keep you awake, along with the feeling of being hungry. It’s always good to have a reasonably portioned and balanced meal a couple hours before you go to bed.

Restful Environment

It’s best to fall asleep in an area where it’s cool, dark, and quiet. Those who sleep with their lights on, or any other way light is able to come through, tend to have a harder time falling asleep. This is because when the lights are on your brain isn’t able to make sleep-inducing melatonin. Always thought is weird why some people would listen to whale noises to fall asleep? It is funny, but it is also quite helpful to put someone in a tired state. Some people turn on a fan or need to fall asleep with the TV on low in the background. If you have a hard time getting comfortable enough to fall asleep, you should test out some of these tips to see what works for you.

Limit Naps

If you’re a napper, you should limit how long they last. Also, avoid taking naps so late in the day. Naps are really helpful in giving you that boost of energy and the quick break you so desperately needed. But naps could mess with your sleeping routine and you are less likely to feel tired at night, once it’s time for you to actually go to bed. Even a quick nap a few hours before can really mess up your sleep schedule as well. Do you ever find yourself waking up from a long nap feeling the same, or possibly worse, then when you first fell asleep? Long naps can leave you feeling groggy and tired because you were in deeper sleep. So it’s definitely better to take less and shorter naps throughout the day to still be able to fall asleep at night.

Physical Activity

Getting some physical activity at any point of the day will help you not only feel tired, but also impact you physically and mentally. This could be walking, jogging, swimming, exercising, bike rides, etc.. You do want to avoid doing any of these types of activities close to when you go to bed because it could lead to a very disruptive sleep. Even spending time outside every now and then can help you too.

Rest Your Mind

Once you wind down and finally get to a point where you don’t have to do anything and only have to think about going to sleep. That’s when it happens…your mind starts bringing you to all these places where they don’t want to be right now. You start thinking about your assignment due this week that you haven’t started yet, the Christmas shopping you still have to do even though Christmas is next week, and all the other stressful things you are trying to not think about right now. It’s best to write down all the things on your mind on a piece of paper and don’t look at it till tomorrow. Being organized is a big game changer and helps you a lot in the long run.

These tips and tricks you can use for a restful sleep are extremely easy and certain you will get just that. If one night you are feeling like you can’t fall asleep and you need a last resort, definitely try some of these and find out which one works for you. Not everyone’s the same so they aren’t going to work for every single person. But it is cool to be able to rely on other people’s advice and benefit from them. Hope you have a great sleep tonight and keep in mind that there are still many different ways for one to fall asleep. If none of these work for you then you can try to come up with some tricks of your own.