The #1 Way To Get Better Sleep Tonight

To get better sleep, we need to promote melatonin production.  Daylight signals our bodies that it is time to stay awake.  Even small amounts will do this, so it’s important to minimize these.   It takes at least an hour of dim light for melatonin levels to begin to rise.  Dimming your lights is very helpful since not only does it lower the level of the light in a room, but with incandescent bulbs, dimming also shifts the light toward the orange end of the spectrum.  If you want to read and still be able to sleep, a reading light with a small incandescent bulb may still be a good solution.  The thing you absolutely want to avoid is placing the backlit screen of a tablet or similar computer right up to your face where all that light completely halts melatonin production.

Once you go to sleep, your bedroom should be as dark as possible.  Even the light from a small clock can interfere with melatonin production and reduce the quality of your sleep.  If you can’t completely darken your room, an eye mask to block all light can be extremely beneficial at increasing your quality of sleep.

Starting at least an hour before bed, but even earlier, if possible, lower the lights in your house.  Turn off lights in rooms where you don’t need them or put them on dimmer.  Light chores like cleaning up the dishes are fine.  Reading under a low light is excellent.  This hour before bed should be a mini digital-detox.  Avoid bright lights, TV and computer screens close to your face.

On my computer, I use a free program called F.Lux that matches the color spectrum of the screen to the outside natural light shades and Apple smartphones and tablets now have a brightness setting called “Night Shift” that eliminates much of the blue spectrum, both of which make a tremendous difference for me on those nights I have to work late and then try to get right to sleep.

What do you do to get a better night’s sleep?