Catch Up on Some Quality Z’s!
April 10, 2018 - 5 min read
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In today’s era, the term “night owl” seems to be getting common. Sleep-deprived zombies walk the day, and active, alert human beings show up “active” on social media at night. Some adjusts fine, others not so much, the latter being the early birds.
Whatever species you may be, one thing is common to all. Everyone needs to sleep and catch up on some Z’s so that everyone can be presentable, healthy, alert, and reap all the benefits of sleep. You can’t be the best that you can be without your Z’s!
But have you wondered why sometimes you still feel tired and weary after having an 8-hour slumber? (Who still gets 8 hours of daily sleep anyway?) You can’t just catch up on some Z’s to be the best that you can be. You need some of those quality onezzzzz’s (get it?). The question is how? Continue to read on to learn 5 ways on how you can get those quality Z’s!
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1. Turn Your Bedroom into Your Sanctuary
Do you work in your bedroom? That’s not good. Do you work on bed? Nope, not a good idea either! Take those laptops, papers and other work-related stuff away from your bedroom! Your bedroom is your sanctuary. It’s where you recharge. It’s not where you try to juice yourself out and stress yourself, because if you do, you’ll associate stress with your bedroom, unconsciously making you feel uneasy just entering your bedroom. How can you rest well if you’re not relaxed?
It’s best to have an uncluttered room. Going home, opening your bedroom door and seeing those laundries, books or other things lying around isn’t very welcoming, eh? It makes you feel more tired. It makes you feel worse.
Another thing you might want to consider in building up your sanctuary is your bed. Change your sheets frequently! Microbiologist Philip Tierno said recommended in an interview to change them once a week. He added:
“If you touched dog poo in the street, you'd want to wash your hands.
Consider that analogous to your bedding.
If you saw what was there — but of course you don't see it — after a while
you have to say to yourself, 'Do I want to sleep in that?' “
Convinced yet? It may sound like a chore, but the rewards are lasting! I mean, who doesn’t like the smell and the feel of freshly washed sheets?
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2. Make Your Bed
It’s pretty easy to just get up from bed to rush off to your day. You may be eager and excited to go to work or wherever your agenda for the day is; or you just might be getting late due to your lack of sleep as you were tossing and turning during dawn. (I’d know because I’ve been in those two scenarios!) Making your bed not only boosts how your bed might be feeling, but it also boosts how you feel before finally resting and after waking up.
Asurvey by the National Sleep Foundation in 2012 reported that those who make their beds everyday are 19% more likely to be well-rested in the morning.
Adding to that additional 19% chance of being well-rested when you wake up, the psychological and emotional benefits. Let’s take what Admiral William McRaven says about making bed:
“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.
By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.”
So, can we safely say that making your bed is the first step to unlocking that driven achiever in you?
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3. Use a Sleep Calculator
Sleepcal or Sleep Calculators have been a thing recently. The sleepcal computes the time that you should go to bed if you want to wake up at a given time. It can also be used the other way around wherein you put in the time that you are planning to sleep and it computes what time you should set your alarm so that you can feel refreshed when you wake up.
The logic behind this sleepcal is that the computation is based on the 90-minute sleep cycle of a regular adult with a dropping off period of 15 minutes. Waking up at the middle of a cycle can make you feel tired and a groggy.
There are a lot of sleepcal apps available for free at Google Playstore or iTunes for you to try. There are also online websites likehttp://sleepcalculator.com
With the use of a sleep calculator, you can now say sayonara to morning sickness!
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4. It's All About the Atmosphere
Yes, you’ve read right. It’s about the atmosphere. It’s not just about how your bedroom looks but it’s also about how your bedroom feels.
It helps to bring in some scents. Lavender is recommended for relaxation but you can go with whatever scent that helps you relax.
Playing some soothing music or nature sounds can also help you calm down and relax. While you’re at it, you can also turn on your night light or dim lights for the perfect chill night bedroom atmosphere.
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5. Rest in Peace?
Nighttime should always be chill! After working at the office, the fierce battle to get a ride home and the traffic jam, it is effortless to fall asleep even without eating dinner which could lead to bigger dilemmas.
Get a hold of yourself! You don’t need to be chained to the path of destruction. Eat your dinner, wash up, brush your teeth, set the atmosphere and relax. If the room looks good, the atmosphere feels great but if you, yourself aren’t at peace with something, what’s the point?
Make yourself feel good by unwinding. What do you do to unwind? Do you watch movies or TV series? Do you spend your time with your loved ones? Do you read a book while you drink some tea? How does “me time” sound? Do you meditate? Do you write on a journal, preferably a gratitude journal? You know what to do! If it doesn’t put you or your loved ones in trouble, then that’s the thing.
You can make a list of things you do to relax and unwind if you’re a little too undecided and have forgotten how it feels like to unwind. Don’t let the blank page intimidate you, just write whatever comes to mind just to get you started!
If there’s something at the back of your mind, it helps to write about it or to talk about it with someone that you trust or with someone who is concerned. Peace of mind is one of the greatest treasures anyone could ever find. If you have this before you sleep, then quality sleep is more likely guaranteed.
Sleep is essential to everyone and is a huge factor on how we deal with our everyday lives. Now that we’ve shared to you some tips on how to get quality sleep, we wish you a happy and restful sleep the next time you do so!
