NEW YORK – LIVING – Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on the body and mind. Without adequate sleep, one’s metabolism can start to slow down as hormones become unbalanced and they lose their cognitive function.
Sometimes the secret to a good night’s sleep is creating a better sleep environment. Here are some of the upgrades you can make to your bedroom to help you rest easier.
Invest in an Adjustable Bed
If you struggle to get comfortable, you should try an adjustable bed base to improve sleep. You should also make sure that you have a high-quality mattress to go with it. There are many reasons that this is the first change you should make when trying to improve your quality of sleep. First and foremost, a high-quality mattress can support your joints and prevent pain, discomfort, and restlessness. Secondly, the adjustable bed base can customize your sleeping position night after night.
Consider this: you catch a cold and can’t sleep because you’re too congested. When you have an adjustable bed frame, you can elevate yourself to open up your airway. Or, you’re training for a marathon and have that jelly leg feeling after a particularly long run. The ability to elevate your legs will reduce inflammation and help you hit the road faster while feeling comfortable enough to rest.
Block Out the Light
Unless you’re someone who has always slept with a night light, you’d be surprised how much a little light can impact your sleep. This is especially true during the summer months when the sun rises much earlier in the day. The best way to work around this is to block out the light in your room.
Blackout curtains are an affordable option for creating a dim, cozy sleeping environment. If you leave the hallway light on for your kids, you can get a door cozy to block the light streaming through the crack in the door. If you’re not ready to make such big changes, purchase a cheap sleep mask from the local dollar store and see if it helps.
Use a Gentle Alarm
Nothing is quite as jarring as being woken from a dream by a noisy, repetitive alarm. To feel well-rested, you need to have a gentle transition to the world of the waking. A smart alarm can assist in these situations.
Get a smart alarm that will monitor your sleep cycle and start to gently wake you at the optimum time. You can purchase these in the form of bedside table alarms or use a smart integration through your phone or activity tracker. Fitbit has the capability to monitor your sleep cycle an wake you with a gentle vibration on your wrist.
Temperature Control
Something as subtle as the temperature could be disrupting your sleep. The ideal sleeping environment offers a cool temperature to prevent overheating. If you’re someone who is always cold, you can layer blankets on top of yourself to find balance.
The Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link is a luxury item that maintains a constant temperature in your room. Consider it a smart combination of a space heater and a fan. If you’re someone who values precision, you can use it to monitor air quality and maintain your ideal sleeping temperature.
Ambient Noise
You don’t necessarily need a quiet room to get a good night’s rest. If you’ve lived in the city your whole life and move out to the country, you might find quite the opposite. The point is to have ambient noise present, be it a fan that blocks out other sounds or the muted chaos of New York City streets. Incorporate a noise machine or fan into your room to block out distracting noises that could disrupt your sleep cycles.
There are a lot of variables that could be impacting your sleep quality. Experiment with some of these upgrades to see if you can make your nights a little calmer and your days a lot better.
