Get a great night’s sleep with these eight tips

Get a great night’s sleep with these eight tips to ensure tomorrow starts right and stays that way.

While a healthy lifestyle requires a balanced diet and exercise, sleep is another pillar of overall wellness that is both essential to your health and success, and often overlooked.

By simply making small changes to your daily routine you can improve your quality of sleep. Follow these tips from Dr Sujay Kansagra, Mattress Firm’s sleep health consultant and director of Duke University’s Paediatric Neurology Sleep Medicine Programme, and get on your way to better night’s rest and a healthier life.

1. Manage your sleep time

Rather than trying to accomplish everything on your to-do list at the expense of sleep, reverse your approach. As the average adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep each night, make sure to set aside the time needed for a full night of rest.

2. Stay on schedule

Try to keep your bedtime and wake time consistent on both weekdays and weekends. With time, your brain and body will adjust to these set times, but until then, rely on an alarm – not only to wake in the morning but to keep you from staying up too late at night, too.

3. Find a routine

A routine performed 20-30 minutes before bedtime every night can subconsciously ease your brain into sleep. Unwinding with a book, taking a warm bath or meditating are all ways to slow your mind and induce some peaceful rest.

4. Brighten up the morning

Getting plenty of bright light in the morning helps keep your sleep timing on track, particularly if you wake up early. Make opening the curtains and blinds your first task each morning.

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