Guest Blog: How To Set Up Your Bedroom For Restful Sleep
For all the marvels of modern society, we still have trouble with one of the simplest facets of life: getting to sleep. In fact, now more than ever young professionals and urban dwellers report sleepless or interrupted nights, which can have a massive impact on your health and well-being in waking life.
The bad news is, your bedroom is probably causing some of this stress, but the good news is you can do something about it. Here are four easy, cost-effective ways of setting up your bedroom to be a restful place that encourages sound sleep.
Screen-free environment
It might be the last thing you want to hear, but secretly you probably know already: your screen usage is the number one thing preventing a good night’s sleep. The blue light from TVs and smartphones mimics daylight, tricking your brain’s circadian rhythm into thinking it’s time to be awake. Even if you do use screen dimmers, scrolling through your smartphone just before bed is encouraging your brain to be active when you should be relaxing.
Try a no-screens policy in the bedroom. Invest in a physical alarm clock to avoid having to have your smartphone on your nightstand, and remove the TV. Removing screens might also promote other good behaviors, like reading, mindfulness and communicating with your partner.
Bedtime rituals
Why not work your screen-free time into a soothing bedtime ritual? Having a relaxing set of practices that gets you in the right state of mind is a great easy way to encourage restful sleep. Gradually dim the lights, mimicking the setting of the sun, drink herbal tea or take a bath with scented candles.
“Smell is a huge stressor that no one thinks about. If you’re feeling stressed, making your home smell nicer can be a great way to unwind,” says Burt Kamolin, a blogger at 1day2write and NextCoursework.
Clear away clutter
Another easily avoidable barrier to a sound night’s sleep is clutter. If you can keep you room clean and clear during the day, you’ll have one less thing to keep you up at night. Also, clutter might be making getting to bed physically more laborious at a time where you want everything to be easy.
The best way to declutter your mind is to declutter your room. Your mess is keeping you up at night, even if you’re not conscious of it,” says Mindy Kwan, decor writer at Write My X and Britstudent.
Often the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night is your nightstand, so try to keep it free of anything you don’t use every day. If it does take up room, try to make it sensory pleasing to amplify your sleeping environment: fresh flowers, a scented candle, some herbal tea.
A clear nightstand is also a great place to place items to encourage you into a new hobby. Want to read more? Keep a book next to your bed. Trying to get into exercise? Keep your running shoes or your FitBit right by you, so you’re reminded to go jogging when you wake up.
Comfort above all else
Mildred Delgado is an experienced marketing strategist at 
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