Optimizing sleep: the best tips for a good night's sleep

• Who does not know that certain tiredness in the morning that cannot be dispelled even with a strong coffee. Here we want to give you five tips with which you can optimize your sleep so that you are always rested and fit in the morning.
  

If you often feel weak, tired, listless, irritable and unable to concentrate, poor sleep quality could be responsible for your symptoms. Many people cannot fall asleep properly or stay asleep. They are always awake at night. You look at the clock and toss and turn while your thoughts go on a roller coaster. The fact is: If you don't sleep properly at night, the next morning you feel tired, exhausted and cannot reach your full potential.

Why is sleep so important?

This is probably the most talked about, but also the most neglected point. It is important to remember the absolute necessity of sleep - both for our health and for our productivity. In a culture where sleep deprivation is sometimes worn like a productivity badge and people are admired who claim they only need four hours of sleep a night, we need to value sleep.

First and foremost, sleep is essential for the regeneration of your body and your mind. Sleep maintains your productivity, because intensive work during the day is exhausting for your mind. It demands focus, concentration and thinking. At the end of the day, just like a muscle after an intense workout, your brain is exhausted. Sleep allows your brain to clear out the waste that has accumulated during the day. Sleeping well also helps the body stay healthy and fight off disease. Without enough sleep, the brain cannot function properly. This can affect your ability to concentrate, think clearly, and process memories.

Most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep at night (2). Children and adolescents need a lot more sleep, especially if they are younger than five years. Working hours, everyday stressors, a disruptive environment in the bedroom and illness can and can prevent you from getting enough sleep. Eating a healthy diet and positive lifestyle habits can help and optimize your sleep - but for some, chronic lack of sleep can be the first sign of insomnia.

 

Sleep better: tips for restful sleep

Often the symptoms are accompanied by headaches, palpitations or visual disturbances, which is why many sufferers drink gallons of coffee or use guarana or other mood enhancers to stay awake. Here you quickly get into a downward spiral, because stimulating substances reduce the quality of sleep, whereupon these funds have to be used again the next day in order to remain productive. Exercise and special foods can promote healthy sleep. Below you will find tips on how to sleep better and how you can optimize your sleep.

 

1. Exercise early in the morning!

Exercise in the morning? Sounds exhausting at first, but is ideal for optimizing sleep. Why? Because the performance curve drops off in the afternoon. Your body follows a natural biorhythm, which is why you are significantly fitter in the morning than in the evening. This is mainly due to the body's own hormone cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. It drives us to perform at our best so that we can either “attack” or “flee”.

If you train in the morning between 6.00 a.m. and 8.00 a.m., the cortisol level is very high, which is why a workout is particularly worthwhile. In the evening you would only drive it up unnecessarily, so that sleep disorders are practically preprogrammed. Not only that: as soon as your cortisol level rises, your body releases less melatonin. Melatonin However, it is a sleep hormone that is formed in the pineal gland and secreted at night. It ensures a healthy sleep, which is why you should never suppress the production of this hormone by doing sports in the evening. In this way you actively prevent that you will optimize your sleep and be more rested in the future.

 

2. Darken your bedroom!

That sounds simple at first - it actually is. Still, many people have bedrooms that are far too bright. They chat late into the night or check their e-mails before bed. However, the body can react extremely sensitively to laptops, tablets and smartphones. This is due to the blue components in the light, which have a significant impact on your sleep. The blue LEDs that illuminate the screen will actually perk you up. You don't notice the blue light, but it seems to work like caffeine. Blue light stimulates the production of the happiness hormone serotonin, the stimulating effect of which does not make you sleep. Your body also releases more cortisol when you sit in front of the screen. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, which also has an activating effect.

For this reason, you should avoid blue light sources in your bedroom if you want to optimize your sleep. The darker the room or the lower the blue component of the light, the more melatonin you release. The sleep hormone that controls your day and night rhythm is mainly formed at night. As soon as you do not darken your bedroom, you completely mess up your biorhythm because your body begins to release more cortisol and serotonin. Sleep optimization starts with the furnishing of your room!

 

3. Particularly important: a regular sleep-wake cycle

There are a lot of myths about sleep. The fact is: regularity is especially important if you want to optimize your sleep. It doesn't matter whether you want to go to bed at 22.00:XNUMX p.m. or after midnight. It is much more important that you stick to bedtime so that your body can get used to a fixed sleep-wake rhythm.

Many people do not even know that they can train themselves to sleep well. However, this only works if you always go to bed at the same time. As your hormonal balance adapts, your body releases more melatonin as soon as you go to sleep at the same time. Not only will you fall asleep faster, but you will also be able to sleep better if you maintain a regular day and night rhythm.

 

4. Optimize sleep through proper nutrition

Did you know that you can also optimize your sleep through nutrition? The sleep hormone melatonin is not only produced in our body, but also in certain foods.

These include:

• Bananas
• cherry juice
• pistachios
• walnuts

So that you again sleep better foods rich in tryptophan are also suitable. Tryptophan is an amino acid (protein building block) that promotes the formation of melatonin. It is mainly found in meat. However, if you want to do without meat, it is best to use hemp seeds and leafy vegetables. But also a tea from Passionflower can optimize your sleep and improve your sleep quality. Of course, good nutrition does not only have a positive effect on your sleep, but also on your general health and performance. It is therefore worthwhile in every respect to take a closer look at your eating habits!

 
5. Integrate a short nap into your work day

Contrary to popular belief, taking a nap is extremely productive and helps optimize sleep. There are two types of naps you should know about: +

Traditional power naps

An ideal power nap takes about 26 minutes. The trick to optimizing your power naps is knowing that naps have three different benefits, depending on what time of the day you take them.

• Napping in the morning promotes memory and creativity.
• A nap (siesta) increases alertness.
• Taking naps in the evening can help revitalize your focus.

The Nap-A-Latte

The Nap-A-Latte is a real biohack that can significantly increase focus, alertness and memory for at least four hours. First you prepare a coffee of your choice. It doesn't matter whether it's black or with milk. As soon as you have finished drinking, you lie down for a little nap. Do not worry; the coffee will not affect your sleep quality, as caffeine only starts to work after about 20 minutes. While you are sleeping, your body can briefly regenerate and collect new energy. After you wake up, the caffeine sets in and you feel just as fresh as the morning after your first coffee. Of course, this method does not replace healthy sleep and should therefore not become a regularity. Nevertheless, it can free you from a performance slump in the early afternoon, donate new energy for the second half of the day and optimize your sleep.

 

Optimizing sleep: further options for improved sleep

There are a few other ways you can improve your sleep as well.

•  Keep your room cool. The recommended bedroom temperature for optimal sleep is between 16 and 20ºC.
• Learn to meditate. Many people struggle with stressful thoughts and images that keep them awake. One study found that focusing on positive images can significantly improve sleep for this group.

 

DEEP SLEEP¹

Do you want to optimize your sleep and often lie awake forever until your eyes finally close? Then try it DEEP SLEEP¹ with melatonin. Melatonin is considered a sleep hormone and helps you optimize sleep. Also contains DEEP SLEEP¹ in addition to melatonin, the active ingredient extracts Passion flower, lemon balm and hop cones.

 

¹Melatonin helps alleviate the subjective feeling of jet lag. Melatonin helps reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.