The Ultimate Guide to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

You definitely go to sleep every night… but is it always a good night’s sleep? When was the last time you woke up feeling well-rested and refreshed?

I am sure most of you don’t remember.

So, even if you fall asleep, you might not get the deep restorative sleep that recharges and motivates you to fight a new day… even when it’s such a basic and critical necessity for a healthy life.

P.S. We have enlisted different products that can you help you get a good night sleep, in this guide, here.

But not anymore! In this think-piece, I am going to tell you everything that you need to know for a good night’s sleep. So, dive in, buddy!

What are the different stages of sleep?

Sleep isn’t just drifting off with your eyes closed and opening your eyes when you’ve had enough. There are repetitive cycles of sleep and each cycle has four stages in order. A cycle approximately lasts 90 minutes. So, let’s know what they are here…

1. Non-REM (rapid eye movement) Sleep: Stage 1:

This is when you drift off to sleep and your breathing, eye movement, heartbeat, and brain waves slow down and muscles relax. But any disturbance can easily wake you up at this stage.

2.Non-REM Sleep: Stage 2

During the second stage, your heart rate drops, the brain slows down a lot other than brief bursts of activity, any eye movement ceases, and even your body temperature falls further.

3. Non-REM Sleep: Stage 3 aka Deep Sleep

The third sleep stage is deep, heavy, and restorative. It’s hardest to wake you up from this stage of sleep and your breathing and heartbeat slow down the most during this.

4. REM Sleep

In this stage, your eyes dart back and forth sidewise quickly even with your eyes closed, your breathing rate increases or become irregular, and brain activity becomes comparable to while you’re awake.

You get most dreams in this stage, and your heart rate and blood pressure return to waking standards. However, your limb muscles stay in a paralysis-like state which protects you from getting hurt in your sleep if you were to react to your dreams.

Earlier at night, you spend more time in deep sleep and later more in REM sleep. Though the entire sleep cycle is important, deep and REM sleep is the most critical for your learning and memory consolidation procedure.

Wondering what might go wrong if you don’t get enough sleep? Let me tell you.

Why is Sleep Important for Your Health?

Sleep is mandatory for both your physical and mental health. So, in a nutshell, without sufficient sleep, everything in your body can get jeopardized. Here’s how.

1. For your brain

Human brains run on chemical energy and it produces by-products or metabolites during the process.

While sleeping, the metabolites get flushed out of the system and conserve Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) which is important for the interaction between brain cells. Though you won’t regularly count your brain ATPs, due to lack of sleep and thus low ATP production you might:

• Face difficulty in concentrating and remembering things
• Feel irritable and run out of patience
• Have twisted judgment and make rash decisions
• Act more emotional than normal
• Have poor hand-eye coordination
• Have Alzheimer’s and neurological issues with long-term lack of sleep.

2. For your body

Poor sleep for a day or two might cause:

• Feel hungry, crave fast food, and eat more
• Have a higher risk of catching a cold and have a poor immune system

Whereas long-term poor sleep causes much more issues like:

• Declining heart health and hypertension
• Obesity
• Anxiety, depression, and mood disorders
• Type-2 diabetes
• Poor immunity
• Pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, premature birth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia
• Early death

So, now that you know all the impacts of insufficient sleep… here’s how much is sufficient for a healthy body.

How much sleep do you actually need?

This answer depends on a range of factors like age (younger ones need more sleep than older people) and genetics (some naturally sleep less than rest).

On average, adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night. But a few more hours add up for younger kids, adolescents, and older adults. This helps to maintain an optimistic mood, enhance learning capabilities, and prevent hypertension, heart disease, pain, and diabetes.

However, if that’s too confusing, know that your recommended hours of sleep are when you wake up feeling refreshed. If you feel tired after waking up every day, it’s time to get a checkup for sleep disorders.

Ofcourse, you can’t sleep on the floor and expect it to be peaceful. Here are some things that you must invest in for your healthy sleep schedule.

What do you need to sleep well?

You can’t just sleep anywhere and get a fulfilling sleep. Your ambiance, mattress, pillows, bedding, and other factors are responsible for improving your sleep quality. So, if you’re ready, let’s explore all the important bits here…

1. Mattress

Without a quality mattress, your body might ache from the poor spinal alignment. It might even make you toss and turn, snore, or have allergic reactions in your sleep. Moreover, that can indirectly impact your sleeping partner’s sleep quality.

So, a good mattress can help you alleviate your overall sleeping experience much better. It can even prevent daytime tiredness and irritability.

But will any new mattress work? Well, everyone’s sleeping necessities are unique and the type of mattress also changes with that. So, if you’re confused about which one to get, visit here.

2. Pillow

If you sleep with the wrong angle between your neck and head, you might fidget a lot in your sleep, wake up in the middle of the night, or even get bad neck aches in the morning.

All of these can ruin your sleep quality and even make you feel irritable throughout the day. But no worries because a good pillow can help you deal with these troubles and sleep straight 8 hours without interruption.

Curious if just any pillow will work? Well, a suitable pillow depends on many factors like sleeping position, mattress firmness, and a lot more. So, know all about it here!

3. Comforter

If you live in a primarily cold region or you easily get cold at night, a cozy comforter can bring you the sleep of your dreams. The multiple layers of fillings keep you warm and comfortable throughout the freezing night.

But, if your sleeping partner is a hot sleeper, don’t fret because comforters with changeable layers are also available.

If you’re all set to get yourself the weapon to battle with freezing nights, wait up! Go through all the various details here and find out the best type for you.

4. Blanket

If you’re a hot sleeper, i.e., frequently get sweaty in your sleep, or live in a warm area, a comforter might be uncomfortable for you due to its multiple layers and thick filling. Instead, a blanket can help you deal with the cold much more efficiently.

With a quality blanket, you can get uninterrupted sleep for hours without frequent tossing and turning from overheating.

If you’re ready to head out to the stores or scroll through an app, there’s more to consider. So, why don’t you dig deeper and find your perfect fit here?

5. Bed Base

If you have a good mattress, pillow, blanket, and other necessities, that’s not enough. To help your bedding last longer and stay as effective as ever, you must elevate it from the floor.

The floor not only makes your bedding more vulnerable to mites, insects, and molds, but it also doesn’t support your sleeping posture as the mattress might slip and slide on the floor.

A bed base supports and secures your mattress and your body perfectly and also saves you from an allergic reaction from infestations.

So, if you want to buy one right now, let our guide find your perfect one!

6. Soundproof Curtains

If you live near a busy street or the area is always under construction, soundproof curtains can help dampen the noise and even prevent it from echoing in your room. Moreover, soundproof curtains are also available in many variants which prevent bright light and pollutants from entering your room.

Overall, these curtains help you in making the perfect ambiance for a good night’s sound sleep without much noise, light, or allergic pollutants.

So, if you want to grab yours now, don’t hurry! Let us help you here so you don’t regret buying the wrong one.

7. Eye Mask

If you work at night and sleep during the day, you’re probably as bothered by the sun as Count Dracula. Moreover, the sunlight (even through your closed eyelids) reduces melatonin production which plays an important role in sleep induction.

Sleeping eye masks create the perfect environment whether you’ll sleep during the day or in a room full of glaring lights. It promotes melatonin production and makes you feel sleepy faster.

But whoa there! Before you use a random cloth as an eye mask, explore this guide and know about the better and more effective options here.

8. Anti-snoring mouthpieces and mouthguards

If you snore in your sleep, your sleeping partner probably can’t fall asleep beside you. This happens when your tongue constricts the oropharynx which leads to a narrower airway that vibrates and makes snores.

Sometimes people even get woken up by their own sleep and snores can even lead to sleep apnea. So, anti-snoring mouthpieces and mouthguards control your tongue or jaw positioning to avoid such issues and sleep peacefully with your sleeping partner.

But, before you assume these devices will hurt you, check this guide at a glance and know for yourself.

9. Apps for Sleep

If you’re confused about how much sleep you need or what improvements in your surroundings will improve your sleep, a sleep app can help you with it all. It even asks you to input your entire day’s activities to analyze which activities might hurt your sleep.

These tools guide you in leading your daily life so that you can easily fall asleep at night. It also promotes sleep without any dependence on it.

The apps also provide you with different sessions to treat your stress and anxiety and help you fall asleep without much struggle.

Wondering if signing up is worth it? Let me tell you more about it here.

10. Sleep Robot

These devices help you with meditative exercises with their rhythmic beats, pulsing light projection on the ceiling, or guided meditation for sleep.

The device helps you calm your nerves and lowers your heart rate and breathing rate with different procedures and some of these might even produce white noise to help you focus on sleeping.

Some sleep robots come with added features that help you to get rid of your stress and anxiety from daily life troubles which might keep you awake all night long.

Wondering if you really need a sleep robot? Have a stroll here.

11. Portable Sleep Sound Machine

Sleep sound machines produce different colored noises (white, pink, brown) and even natural sounds which help you fight tinnitus symptoms (ringing in the ears), mask noises from your own house and neighborhood, and even calm your anxiety.

Some of these apps come with movement sensors that switch the noise off when you’re asleep and turn it on if you’re on the verge of waking up. These are even travel-friendly and help you fall asleep during the noisy day (for when your routine is jumbled up).

But if you’re still confused about these devices, visit here.

12. Headphones for sleeping

Soothing audio and video before sleep can skyrocket your sleep quality. But often, external sounds might negate the impact of the content. Sleeping headphones are here to rescue you!

It allows you to listen to your favorite music or just white noise peacefully and blocks any external noise that might interrupt your sleep if it has noise canceling features.

So, if your sleeping partner snores or you want to sleep during your flights, nobody can disturb your sleep anymore!

Can’t wait to get a pair? Well, let’s patiently learn which kind suits you here.

No, that’s not all… you must also avoid certain things that can ruin your sleep, including…

What can hinder your sleep?

Sometimes, even after getting the best sleep products, you might still be feeling fidgety at night. You might not even know but you and your lifestyle might be responsible for it. So, let’s beat the issues here…

1. Stress

Your brain is in a fight-or-flight mode 24/7 when you’re stressed and it can’t calm you down enough to let you fall asleep.

To deal with a combination of excess stress, hypertension, and the burdens of life requires self-care, meditation, exercise, yoga, loved ones’ support, learning to refuse, and even therapy.

2. Irregular work shifts

If you have irregular shifts or night shifts, your sleep routine gets messed up. You force your body to stay awake and sleep at odd times which impacts your system a lot. Sleeping headphones, an eye mask, and blackout or soundproof curtains are a necessity for this lifestyle.

3. Poor sleeping environment

If your neighbors, the people under the same roof, the roads, and the environment are too noisy, nobody can sleep like that. To deal with these, you need perfect bedding, soundproof and blackout curtains, mattress, and sleeping gadgets that can help you create a soothing sleep environment.

4. Medical problems

Sleep apnea, autoimmune diseases, and other medical conditions deeply disturb your sleep and rest. You can only solve this with the help of a medical health professional.

5. Medicines

Some medicines make you alert while others make you drowsy. It’s better to speak with a healthcare professional about when to take these medicines to minimize the side effects.

Do you want to turn your sleep quality one notch higher? Well, let’s prepare you here…

How to sleep better tonight? – Tips

Though everyone faces different issues in their quest for good sleep, there are always a few common ones. If you take enough preventive measures against them, you’ll slowly have less trouble falling asleep. So, let’s learn them all here…

1. Create a sleep routine

Always go to bed and wake up at a particular time even if it’s a holiday. This helps your body’s natural clock to adjust to your lifestyle. You’ll feel sleepy and wake up when you get used to a routine. Without this, you’ll face lots of trouble falling asleep and waking up.

2. Reduce your caffeine consumption

Caffeine consumption is the worst enemy of your sleep. It’s cool if you have it in the morning. However, you mustn’t have high-caffeine concentration beverages within the last 6-7 hours before you go to sleep.

3. Stick to regular exercise

Regular 20-25 minutes of exercise promotes better sleep. But make sure you don’t engage in intense workouts around bedtime as it makes your system feel alert with higher body temperature and heart rate. This makes you face a hard time falling asleep.

So, also avoid any heavy housework before bed as it leads to the same kind of alertness.

4. Keep away from bright lights and screens around bedtime

Around your bedtime, avoid any source of blue light like a fluorescent bulb, LED, smartphone, tab, or computer screens.

Blue light sends a similar signal to your brain like sunrays. It slows down or blocks melatonin production which promotes sleepiness. If your room gets light from outside, invest in blackout curtains.

5. Do something if you can’t fall asleep

If you go to bed and you don’t feel sleepy even after 20 minutes, don’t lie down in vain as it won’t help you. Rather, get out of bed and try out a boring activity. Read a book that can tire out your brain cells or try stretching out your muscles gently. Remember, don’t exercise intensely.

6. Don’t delay your waking time

Everyone wants to hit the snooze button in the morning… because how bad can 10 more minutes of sleep be? Well, this second sleep will be much light, fragmented, and dissatisfying which can make you even more irritable. So, instead wake up and sleep again at the definite bedtime that night for proper restorative sleep.

7. Avoid random naps

Short power naps are beneficial but irregular or long naps disrupt your nighttime sleep as it confuses your body’s natural clock.

You might feel sleepier in the morning from this due to erratic naps. So, even if a daytime nap is important, reduce the time duration so it doesn’t impair your night sleep.

8. Avoid alcohol consumption

Alcohol aggravates sleep apnea, disrupted sleeping patterns, and snoring issues. Drinking at night also hurts your circadian rhythm as it suppresses melatonin production along with raised concentrations of HGH hormone in the bloodstream.

Avoid alcohol consumption after the evening until you go to bed for the best results. Dodge evening parties where you’re obliged to drink.

9. Do something about your bedroom environment

The factors out of your control regarding your sleeping environment are noise, external light, and even the arrangement of your bed. If the light comes in from outside on your bed, either move your bed away from this light or get blackout curtains and eye masks. If it’s noisy, buy soundproof curtains and sleeping earphones.

10. Optimize your bedroom temperature

You probably noticed that you can’t fall asleep if you feel hot. Heat can even increase your wakefulness and lower sleep quality. So, try out all temperatures to test which helps you sleep comfortably. Usually, 70°F or 20°C is the most preferable temperature for sleeping worldwide.

If you tried out everything but nothing worked out, perhaps a professional can help. So, let’s know if you must seek them here…

When should you seek professional help?

When your sleeping troubles start to take the form of insomnia or you can’t even have satisfying sleep for a minimum of three nights in a week, that’s when you mustn’t ignore your issues and avoid treating them with sleep-inducing gadgets or medicines.

It’s also an alarming sign to seek professionals when you feel too drowsy during work and while driving, or during regular activities like cooking, brushing teeth, etc.

Final Statement!

Remember that good sleep and feeling well-rested isn’t optional, it’s important to lead a healthy and balanced life. Without enough rest, you might ruin your interpersonal relationships and even meet hazardous accidents.

For beauty enthusiasts, it can strip the youth from your skin. For ambitious students and workers, it can ruin your performance and drag you down. So, give your body what it needs and do the needful.

Otherwise, you’ll only have yourself to blame when life doesn’t follow the plan. So, take out a notebook and figure out which part of your lifestyle needs to change and what needs to be added.

Create your way to the dreamland, buddy! You deserve it!