Category Archives: Sleeping Tips

To sleep well it is important to have a bedroom that strengthens this cause. To do so there are a few simple guidelines to improve your bedroom and thus improve your night’s rest. Follow these 7 steps:

 
1. Make your bedroom a single-purpose space.
A bedroom is not meant to be a multitasking room. They are solely for sleeping, resting, curling up with a good book and lovemaking. Stop using your boudoir as a home office space or workout area. Exclude these items to another part of your home and create a peaceful calm place in your bedroom.

 
2. Banish clutter.
This might be a more known bedroom problem and most of all sleep improver but make sure your bedroom is neat and clean. A buys cluttered bedroom creates a feeling of restlessness and this in turn makes it harder for people to relax and sleep well. If your room is clean and looks calm and tidy, you’ll be able to clear your head and relax! Still need a lot of stuff to be stored in the bedroom? There are enough storage boxes that help an uncluttered look such as under-bed storage for example.

 
3. Remove dust.
Dust can be a real problem when it comes to resting, it can trigger all kinds of allergies and can prevent you from sleeping. Make sure you regularly clean your bedroom to prevent dust to settle and make sure you breathe in clean and healthy air at night.

 
4. Use the right curtains
Every presence of light in your bedroom can alter your natural sleep patterns. By creating a complete dark bedroom you’ll notice your sleep will be deeper and more rejuvenating when you wake up!

 
5. Not unimportant – Find the right mattress.
Make sure to do your research when buying a new mattress. The ideal mattress should suit your personal needs. You should consider preferred sleeping positions, sleep habits, weight etc. when buying a new mattress. Everyone is different and therefor every person has different needs when it comes to a new mattress. When you go mattress shopping make sure you dress comfortably and wear easy-to-slip-off footwear so you can spend time sprawling out and testing the mattresses

 
6. Get the right pillow
Might seem like a small adjustment but a pillow can change a lot about your sleep. As stated about the mattress the pillow also can greatly improve your night’s rest and eliminate midnight tossing and turning. You sleep the best when the muscles in your head and neck are most relaxed. When sleeping on your sides your neck needs more support for example from a high pillow. But when you’re a stomach sleeper you’ll prefer a low pillow.

 
7. Set the mood.
When all the clutter is banished and your mattress and pillows are perfect you can turn the focus on decorating the bedroom. You can change the color of the walls for example, but make sure you choose a relaxing color palette. Do not choose bright or busy patterns!

You may be asking yourself: who is Tim Ferris? Tim Ferris is the serial entrepreneur who has written a couple of influential books including “The Four Hour Workweek”, “The Four Hour Body” and “The Four Hour Chef”.  Tim is passionate about optimizing anything in his life and the life of people around him, and he recently tackled the subject of sleeping in his podcast. Tim explains that his interesst in sleep began when he was doing an experiment (going without sleep for 5 days and observing the side-effects. He starts off with saying he did not make it 5 days. Hallucinations prevented him to last the entire 5 days, but he has always continued to experiment with sleep optimization and variation.

The following tips are ones he has picked up over the last 15 years which he actively uses to improve his sleep and his nights rest.

1. Consume 150-250 calories of low-glycemis index foods in small quantitys prior to bed.

Low blood sugar followed by overnight fasting often is the reason for morning fatigues and headaches. When you have a small healthy snack before bed this can be prevented. What are low-glycemic index foods? Try a stick of celery with almond butter, a mandarin and some almonds or plain low fat or fat free yoghuty with an apple.

2. Use ice baths to provoke sleep.

As mentiouned in our previous blog Tim Ferris also mentiones the mistakenly assumed fact that warm baths before turning in help you fall asleep faster. According to Tim, cold baths are more effective.

As there aren’t really any studies done on this subject, Tim decided to test the effects of taking 10 minute ice baths 1 hour before going to bed and found that it absolutely helped him be more relaxed and sleep easier. How do you take an ice bath? The icebath is simple: 2-3 bags of ice, put into a half-full bath until the ice is about 80% melted. Beginners should start with immersing the lower body only and progress to spending the second five minutes with the upper torso submerged

The result: it’s like getting hit with an elephant tranquilizer. Don’t expect it to be pleasant at first.

3. Eating your meals at set times can be as important as sleeping on a schedule.

People talk a lot about rythyms and establisging a regular sleep schedule. But often people cut into their bedtime as this is an easy way to create “more” time. Having a set time to go to bed is just a question of being firm and once you see the benefits of a sleeping schedule it’s easier to hold on to. Also eating meals at set times helps you to regulate hormones like: melatonin, ghrelin, leptin, and other, these hormones affect your sleep cycle.

4. Embrace 20-minute caffeine naps and ultradian multiples.

Test “caffeine naps” between 1-3 pm. Set your alarm for no longer than 20 minutes, which prevents awakening in the middle of a restorative sleep cycle. Interrupting these cycles often leaves you feeling worse than no sleep

For longer naps, test multiples of 90 minutes, which is called an “ultradian” rhythm, But don’t forget to factor in your time-to-sleep. If it takes you up to an hour to fall asleep your alarm for 7 hours should be: ((4 x 90 minutes) + 60-minute time-to-sleep)= 7 hours away

5. Turn off preoccupation with afternoon closure and present-state training.

As tim ferris has “onset insomnia” he has no trouble staying asleep but does have a difficult time falling asleep. He feels there are two approaches that have a good effect with this issue. 1. Determine and set a to-do list in the afternoon for the next day to avoid late-night planning. 2. do not read non fiction prior to going to bed. this encourages projection and future planning. fiction however engages imagination and demands attention to the present.
Want to listen to the full podcast yourself? Follow the link below!

Tim Ferris: 5 Tools I Use For Faster And Better Sleep

Starting in our relationships we spend a lot of time being in love and in bed with our partner. At that time we can’t keep our eyes, hands and thoughts off of each other but after some time this changes. We get more busy as life takes over and instead of going to bed together tv shows, internet games, children, work etc. need more attention than our spouse.

Turn in at the same time
Research shows that if couples turn in together this has an influence on the relationship. 75% of people who are in a relationship and turn in at the same time are happy within their relationship as this percentage goes up a lot of women even label their relationship as improving! This  seems easy enough right? So pick the right priorities and turn in together!

Sleeplessness causes more than just tiredness
When we don’t sleep well our face shows signs of sleeplessness such as deep wrinkles, dark circles around our eyes and an overall less colourful face. It’s not only our face that shows signs of distress, also our mood and temper is influenced if we don’t have a good night’s rest. Ever had an argument with your spouse that didn’t need to escalate that badly? Negative feelings often get a predominance over positive when we feel tired and haven’t slept well.

Arguing and Sleeping
As we shouldn’t leave our houses when we are in an argument with our loved ones we shouldn’t go to bed angry either. Irritation in the night doesn’t help a relationship. the more tired we are the more important our disagreements seem. especially women are more inclined to hold on to angry and/or sad feelings in the morning. So suck it up give each other a kiss and sleep better but also keep a better relationship with your loved one.