6 Psychologist-Approved Ways to Getting Perfect Sleep Every Night

1. Tidy your room

Whether it’s too much clutter or you have clothes thrown everywhere, these things can keep you awake at night (often without you realising).

If your bedroom is in a total state of disarray, this will have a dramatic impact on the way you sleep. In fact, there have been studies that have shown people who have more clutter filling the open space in their bedrooms take longer to fall asleep, compared to those who have neat and tidy rooms. Put simply, a messy room makes for a messy mind and a messy mind will have trouble falling asleep. Do your best to keep your room tidy and if that’s difficult, consider some storage options that might make your job easier.

3. Check your lighting

Lighting can have a dramatic effect on a person’s mood, health, overall wellbeing and of course sleep. Our bodies require a certain amount of light at certain times of the day to send cues to our internal body clocks, signalling when we should be awake and when we should be asleep.

When this lighting isn’t right, our whole bodies can be thrown off. During daytime we need high levels of light to stay alert and at night we need dimmed lights or none at all for sleeping. Too much artificial light such as LED light can keep a person awake, as well as cause issues with a person’s ability to think clearly. An ideal home should have a good mix of both natural and artificial light, ideally with mood lighting that can be turned up or down.

5. Get enough zzz’s

As a general rule, humans need on average 5 – 8 hours of sleep a night. Five hours is enough time to ensure your body has regenerated, yet eight hours is optimal to feel well-rested. Listen to your body and give it the rest it needs.

Also, be mindful of those nights where you might be in bed for long enough but aren’t actually sleeping that well – poor or interrupted sleep doesn’t really count for a good night’s rest. 

It’s important to know that the same system that manages negative emotions is tied to the cyclical circadian rhythms of your sleep. So, getting enough sleep will make you feel your best mentally and the best bit is, this is bound to show on your face (hello, beauty sleep). Ensure you’re getting a solid rest each night for your mental wellness and the bonus is that your appearance will benefit, too.