HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP QUALITY

By Ryan Hook

So many people undervalue the importance of sleep. A lot of the time, just a few small changes to our evening routine can have a big beneficial effect on not only the HOURS of sleep we get, but also the QUALITY of sleep (which is equally as important).

One thing that is sabotaging people’s sleep quality now more than ever is LIGHT.

Humans go to sleep when it’s dark for a reason! The absence of light sends a critical signal to the body that it is time to rest. The problem is, most of us now spend all evening staring at devices that emit bright light… often right up until the moment we go to bed.

By doing this, we are delaying the release of the ‘sleep hormone’ melatonin.

The ‘blue light’ emitted from these devices are the guys we need to be concerned with most, as these wavelengths have been shown to have the largest negative effect on melatonin release.

There are a few things we can do to start reducing blue light in the evenings and thus start to improve sleep quality. I have listed a few of them below.

Set a screen curfew. Ideally, we should turn off all screens as early on in the evening as possible. Try setting a screen curfew (even if it’s just 30 minutes before bed) and stick to it every night. Spend the time leading up to bed doing something relaxing. Read a book, have a bath, meditate etc.

Download F.lux. This is a great (free) application to download onto your laptop/computer. If, like me, you find yourself having to work late into the evening on your laptop, this is a great way to reduce the blue light emitted from it.

Turn on night-shift mode! If you have an iPhone, go into the settings and turn on ‘Night Shift’. This has a similar effect to F.lux in that it helps to reduce blue light by altering the colour of your screen.

Use blue night blocking glasses. This is another cool way to reduce blue-light in the evenings. I tend to put mine on as soon as I get home from work. Type in ‘Terminator Blue Light Blockers’ into Amazon and you should find them. They aren’t the most fashionable things so you definitely won’t want to wear them in public! But they are perfect for wearing in the evenings at home whilst watching TV etc.

Start implementing everything above and let me know if you notice a difference in your sleep quality.

Photo credit: John Schnobrich on Unsplash