6 Tips to Sleep Better at Night

If you lived for 60 years you would have spent 20 years sleeping. That's right, 20 years of just snoozing, resting your body, detached from the whole world around you. There are many important functions of our brain and body that happen during sleep. It's more than just resting and relaxing and it's not just the quantity of sleep but the quality of sleep is also very important. During sleep you get rid of fatigue and prepare your body for another active day but you also organise information and store memories. My name is Sarah Jefferies. I'm a registered nurse with experience in ER, nursing, education and sleep therapy. In this video I'm going to tell you all about the benefits of sleep and stick around at the end. I'll share six tips for the greatest sleep ever. So what is sleep and what are the benefits of a good night's sleep? Sleep is more than just resting our body and brain. Our sleep has four different stages. It has non-REM which is categorised into three stages and then it has REM sleep or rapid eye movement sleep. The US Committee on Sleep and Medicine and Research show that all stages of sleep are equally important and the different stages of sleep show different brain waves. Our brain completes different tasks in each sleep phase and the time we spend in each stage can vary depending on how tired you are and the environment you're in. Also it can vary depending on how much caffeine you've had, certain medications and loads of other stuff. So sleep really is an essential function for healthy life. Sleep improves our ability to learn, it helps our memory, it helps us make logical decisions, it improves our emotions, increases our creativity. In fact every part of our body has an important thing to do when we're awake and it's equally important when we're asleep. Good sleep is also needed for a strong immune system which I think a lot of people forget about. You need good sleep to help your body fight off infections, to organise the different energy stores of our body and it also affects our appetite and our eating habits. In short good sleep is essential for a healthy life. So what happens when you don't get a good enough sleep? Well first the most obvious change is becoming irritable and losing our temper quickly. We also develop an increased appetite for sugary and high calorie foods. Lack of sleep also makes us feel sleepy during the day which you know sounds obvious but you think you're getting a good enough sleep, six hours, seven hours and then you think why am I still tired through the day? Well you're probably not getting the good amount of quality and quantity sleep. A recent study from the University of Colorado conducted in 2020 actually showed that there's a higher chance of traffic accidents relating to the point that when you're tired your judgment is decreased and the study showed that accidents increased by six percent due to daylight saving times. Six percent that's just a massive amount which is ultimately due to more people being tired. Also sleep problems that continue for a long time can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure, mental health illness, diabetes, obesity and even heart disease. Before I share six great sleep tips I'd love to know how you sleep and the things that you try, what's worked for you, what hasn't? Let me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to see more tips about sleep. So here are six tips on how to get the greatest sleep ever. Number one, the most important thing about sleep is to be consistent. This means going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. Our body has an internal clock and it likes to have a predictable pattern so try to follow this pattern even on the weekends. Number two, avoid using caffeine six to eight hours before sleep. Caffeine is present in coffee, tea and most soft drinks which I think people forget about. It stimulates the brain and reduces sleep by blocking the adenosine receptors, that's the chemical that causes sleep pressure. The effect of caffeine lasts for about eight hours so if you sleep at 10 p.m then don't take caffeine products after 2 p.m the very latest and try non-caffeinated drinks in the afternoon instead. Tip number three, have a wind down routine. This means that 20 or 30 minutes before you sleep, practice habits to get yourself ready for sleep. Try changing your clothes into, you know, your lounge clothes, brushing your teeth, anything else that you find relaxing and this tells your brain that your body is preparing for sleep. Tip number four is making your environment comfortable so quiet, dark, a little cool. Being in the dark releases the chemical in our brains called melatonin and melatonin tells our brains it's time to sleep so avoiding bright lights and bright screens at least an hour before bedtime. If you are in a bright environment and you can't get around it then cover your eyes with a sleep mask when you go to bed. You can try some blue light blocking glasses. Tip number five, avoid intense exercise right before you sleep as it puts our body in a wake mode. Instead do something relaxing and less stimulating like reading a book. Tip number six, if you're finding it difficult to fall asleep and it's been about 30 minutes and you're just tossing and turning in bed then rather than just sitting there with your eyes wide open try and get out of bed and walk around a little bit, do something else. Only go to bed when you're sleepy and this way your brain knows that lying down in bed means going to sleep. Disclaimer, this video is for educational purposes and not a replacement for medical advice or treatment. What are some sleep related problems and when should a person see a sleep doctor? Well it's important to know that some people may have sleep problems that need medical treatment, for example some people have severe insomnia, difficulty falling asleep even after trying all of the behavior changes and we've discussed previously, you know they've tried that for a few months and it's still not working, you should seek help from a professional. Also a common problem is sleep apnea, when a person stops breathing at different times during sleep, this causes severe consequences or just mild consequences but it does affect your sleep and you should get it taken care of. It can also have an effect on your blood pressure. Some people may have excessive daytime sleepiness even when sleeping for a good amount of time and this could be from poor sleep quality or many other problems, so see a doctor if you have any of these sleep issues. If you want to get to sleep fast, click here where I give you tips on how to do just that.