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How to Sleep Better at Night: 8 Easy Tips

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Lady Gaga, Bill Clinton, and Elon Musk have all told the press they wish they knew how to sleep better at night. If you have ever thought the same thing, this article is dedicated to you. 

Although everyone sleeps, most people would find it quite difficult to define what sleep is, exactly. Sleep is so vital to our health and wellbeing, that Harvard’s medical program actually has a website dedicated to sleep science. 

Research has shown that the average person takes 7 minutes to fall asleep. Incredibly, we spend about a full third of our lives unconscious. This state known as sleep is our body’s chance to troubleshoot and refresh. During sleep, we store new information, clean ourselves of all kinds of toxins, and basically undergo maintenance.

However, not all rest is created equal. High-quality sleep is not always possible. Being able to sleep well requires a delicate balance between your body and mind.

We know how important rest is for your everyday life, and we know how easy it is to fall out of whack. For this reason, we would like to offer you these eight counterintuitive suggestions for better sleep at night. All of these suggestions have been backed by science. 

Follow these simple tips to learn how to sleep better at night and improve your overall wellness:

• Wear socks
• A warm bath before bed
• Avoid bright lights past 10 p.m.
• Try CBD
• Learn to meditate
• Know yourself
• Journal
• Create a routine

1. Wear socks

Have you ever noticed how wrapping yourself in thick blankets on a cold night is even nicer than sleeping at room temperature? One of the reasons for this is that our body temperature has a profound relationship with the quality of our rest. 

We get the best rest at temperatures just below normal room climate. Your body is actually cooler while you sleep and then gets warmer as the morning approaches.

The reason why warm hands and feet aid in sleep is because heat from your body is disproportionately released from the top of your head and the bottom of your feet. To best maintain the balance you need for good shuteye, it pays to wear socks. 

2. A warm bath before bed

It might sound counterintuitive that a warm shower or bath would help you rest when the science says your body likes sleeping a bit on the cooler side, but there is a good explanation for this.

Warm water raises your temperature while you soak and then drops it when you get out. This reaction to a bath before bed is conducive to optimal rest, it has been shown in research that 

3. Avoid bright lights past 10 p.m.

Just like our mouths intake food, our eyes absorb and process light. It might be less obvious, but think about how overwhelming it feels to look directly at the sun. The reason it feels the way it does is because you are essentially feeding your eyes a million calories a second. 

Just like our digestive system processes food, the light our eyes take in also gets used throughout our body. Light cues trigger chemical and hormonal activity all over your body. Your body knows what time it is based on light strength and color. 

The hormone that regulates this rhythm is called melatonin — not to be confused with the skin pigment molecule, melanin.  

Blue light reminds your body of the afternoon, whereas red light is interpreted as a signal it is the evening. For this reason, we suggest you activate your phone’s night mode past 10 p.m.

Other good practices include using softer and redder lights in your bedroom past 10 p.m. 

4. Try CBD

Human beings are born with a system of hormones and triggers called the endocannabinoid system, which has been shown to play a role in regulating sleep. CBD interacts with your endocannabinoid system and allows you to get a better-quality slumber by also regulating a stress hormone in your body called cortisol. 

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a variety of processes in your body, including your metabolism and stress response. 

By helping to lower your cortisol levels, CBD can reduce anxiety and stress levels, helping you fall asleep easier. There are a variety of ways to take CBD, from oils to gummy candies to supplements. CBD products also come in a range of different extract levels, so you can take just the right amount of CBD for your needs.

5. Know yourself

We all have different practices and rhythms. After a certain point, we just have to honestly ask ourselves how we can sleep better at night. 

For some of us, napping has no consequences on our quality of sleep or energy levels throughout the day. However, it is important to be honest with yourself about how your body responds to factors like pressing the snooze button and napping. 

Both can be detrimental to your quality of sleep.

It is preferable in some cases to set your alarm a bit later than you are used to rather than opening yourself to a routine of pressing the snooze button.

6. Journal

Journaling before bed can focus your mind on real-life problems in a productive way. There are two main benefits of journaling before bed. Positive psychology research recommends making a list of moments in the day when you were happy.

The first benefit of journaling before bed is that it can prevent insomnia. Journaling will let you process problems that might keep you up otherwise.

The second benefit involves brain wave activity known as alpha and theta. 

The reason we sometimes have particularly interesting epiphanies while we are sleeping, in the shower, or driving on the highway is because of two particularly positive types of brain wave patterns called alpha and theta.

7. Learn to meditate

Situations that require a minimum level of focus like shallow sleep and deep meditation make our brains emit energy in patterns known as alpha and theta. Theta, in particular, is known by scientists to be a means of boosting creativity and fighting depression.

8. Create a routine

You may have heard of the circadian rhythm, but if you have not, it is our pleasure to tell you about it.

The circadian rhythm is the reason you sometimes wake up just before your alarm — essentially, it is your body’s internal clock. 

Light, exercise, and eating before bed are all signals to your inner sense of time that can disturb your sleep pattern. Your body likes routines. Make sure you adopt a healthy one that makes it easy to get tired at the right time.

Conclusion: An easier way to sleep better at night

Now that you have a variety of information on how to sleep better at night, you can give these tips a try and see the difference that they make.

Aside from these easy lifestyle tips, we offer science-backed products to help you achieve the healthy routine you deserve. The Hemp Philosophy features a full line of CBD products to help. Explore our sleep formula oils or edibles which are chemist-formulated and combined with melatonin for a deep, great night’s sleep.