How To Make Your Sleep Environment More Comfortable

Good sleep is a must if you want to stay healthy and happy. Sleep can greatly affect not just our mood, but also our productivity and efficiency in our waking life. If you don't feel rested even after 7 hours of sleep, there's a high chance that you'll be constantly exhausted and grumpy even in your day-to-day activities.

Having trouble sleeping recently? Here are some of the best ways on how you can make your sleep environment more comfortable.

1. Use cool colors in your room

Believe it or not, the color of your room actually has the ability to impact the quality and duration of your sleep.

This was proven in a study conducted on 2,000 British homes, where researchers from Travelodge discovered that people fell asleep better and longer in rooms painted with cool colors like blue, green and yellow as opposed to warmer and darker colors like brown, grey and purple. On average, those who slept in a blue room managed to get about 7 hours and 52 minutes of sleep time, while those who slept in a purple room could only get about 5 hours and 56 minutes.

One theory for this strange phenomenon is that blue, green and yellow are calming and relaxing colors which can help put people to sleep. Grey and brown are said to be depressing and unpleasant to the eyes while purple helps activate creative imaginations, which could cause an individual to not fall asleep as easily.

2. Choose a comfortable mattress

Believe it or not, something as simple as the quality of the bed you're lying in could be the culprit to your restless slumber. Get an adjustable bed sleep junkie recommends and you'll start feeling the difference right from your first day.  

Indeed, you shouldn't underestimate the power of a good mattress. Even when you're just picking out the bed for your room, you should already consider the factors that can affect how comfortable you'll be in your private haven. Some of the most common ones are mattress thickness, firmness, bounciness, or even material. There's no answer to what the perfect mattress is since it's mostly a matter of preference. Do keep in mind that you spend a third of your life sleeping, so it's only natural that you take your time to pick out the best bed for you.

3. Adjust your room's temperature

It's hard to sleep in a hot room, that much is certain. Not only is it more difficult to breathe when the air is too warm, but it also makes you more prone to sweat. Obviously, all that sweat is neither relaxing nor comfortable. If you want to have the best sleep possible, it's recommended to adjust your room's temperature to 60-67 degrees, also known as the optimum temperature level for most people.

Aside from that, there's also a scientific reason why cooler temperatures are better for the bedroom. Our ancestors have always slept during the night when it's a little bit cooler than during the day. Over time, our bodies have begun to associate the cool temperature with bedtime, hence the reason why you feel sleepier during the cold weather. 

4. Turn off the bright lights

If there is one thing that can prevent you from sleeping peacefully even when your eyelids are already drooping, then it's this: lights. They are the single biggest factor that could affect your ability to sleep at night. 

Back in ancient times, our ancestors relied mainly on their body's natural clock in order to know when was the right time to sleep and to wake up. One of the things that can affect this body clock is the presence of light, thanks to a nifty little hormone called melatonin. This melatonin is in charge of regulating our sleep-wake cycle and is easily influenced by environmental factors such as lights.

Simply put, a bright environment decreases our melatonin levels and sends a message to our body that it's time to go outside and hunt for food. A dim environment, on the other hand, increases melatonin and sends a message that it's now time for our body to rest and repair itself.

If you have trouble sleeping but can't sleep in a completely dark room, the best solution would be to install dim lights or night lights. These types of lighting serve the purpose of giving you a small light source without hurting your eyes too much or fooling your body into thinking that it's actually morning.

5. Make sure your room is quiet 

Just because you're sleeping doesn't mean you're fully unconscious. During regular sleep, your brain is still working to process outside information like sounds or physical feelings. This is the reason why people can still wake up to the sound of a baby crying or the feeling of being shaken.

An easy way to combat this problem is to eliminate as many sources of noise as possible in your bedroom. Remember, the quieter your room, the likelier it is for you to hear even the slightest sound. A digital alarm clock is better for light sleepers than a mechanical alarm clock, for example, since the latter's ticking sound could easily deter you from falling asleep.

Take note though that many people do find it more comfortable to have some kind of background noise when they sleep. If that's also the case for you, you could connect your phone to a speaker and use that instead of your actual phone, just to keep your room as dim as possible.

6. Reduce your usage of electronics

Electronic devices like phones, tablets, and laptops, are some of the biggest reasons why the amount of insomnia cases in the world is continually rising. This is because such devices emit blue light, a kind of light that is environmentally friendly but can deter people from sleeping because it reduces melatonin levels.

As of 2018, almost 50% of the entire world's population is suffering or has suffered from insomnia at least once. In the United States alone, one in four US adults is affected by insomnia, translating to around 60 million of the US population. As a result, an estimated $63 billion a year is lost in the economy due mainly to decreased productivity in the workforce.

In fact, prescription sleep aid usage increased from 4% of the population in 2010 to more than 10% in 2018. In comparison, 96% of all Americans now own at least one cellphone as compared to 83% in 2010. This makes experts believe that there may be a correlation between the two.