4 Clever Sleeping Habits That Optimize Shut Eye

Did you know that by the time you die, you will have spent almost a quarter of a century sleeping? Although that doesn’t mean your bedtime is wasted, it definitely doesn’t mean that it’s well spent either. We all know how important sleep is to our everyday lives, but not a whole lot of people realize how to make the most of the time spent under the Z’s. Here are 4 sleeping habits to make the most of your pillow time.

1 - Create a sleep schedule.

This is perhaps the most significant sleeping habit that you can get into because it can truly transform your life by providing optimal energy levels and clearer thinking. Although you may not always be conscious of what time it is in the morning and night, your body is. Your body is constantly trying to figure your sleep schedule out so it can moderate your energy levels appropriately. For this reason, changing your bedtime on a regular basis can cause problems; it makes it very tricky for your body to know how to plan around your routine. Sleep experts agree that it is ideal to maintain both a consistent bedtime as well as a time to wake up in the morning…. yes, even on the weekends. After just a couple weeks of doing this you’ll notice that your energy levels are higher throughout the day than before and your mind will be much clearer too! ☺

2 – Sleep hygiene.

I’m not saying that you have dirt on your bed or that your room is a total pigsty but in all actuality it’s highly likely that your sleep hygiene has disrupted your sleep at some point in your life. Just saying. Sleep hygiene involves much more than just taking a shower everyday or brushing your teeth before bed. More so, it’s the healthy habits you create around sleep such as getting rid of any distractions in your bedroom, abstaining from napping during the day and dedicating your bed as a station for sleep. Some people create the unhealthy habit of watching movies for long periods of time while in bed or playing on their cell phone late into the night. Doing this can often cause difficulty sleeping and is one of the most common contributors to insomnia for people all over the world, not to mention that looking at LCD screens is not good for REM sleep. Remember to consecrate your bed as a place of sleep and sleep only!

3 – Pay attention to your dreams.

Okay, this one may sound kind of crazy to some but paying attention to your dreams can truly transform your life. The area of your brain that’s most active while you dream is called the amygdala. It is heavily engaged in moderating your emotions and fears. You know the old saying “woke up on the wrong side of the bed”? Well, we tend to wake up on the wrong side of the bed when we don’t dream well at night. Poor dream sleep often results in moodiness through out the day; you know those days when your best friends laugh suddenly sounds like an alarm clock? There is a direct correlation between insomnia and depression for this very reason. Dreams are vital to happy living. You can actually learn all kinds of things about yourself by paying attention to your dreams though. In fact, many psychologists take a keen interest in what people dream about when it comes to emotional comprehension. As you make it a habit to pay attention to your dreams at night, you too can develop a better understanding of what your emotions are trying to tell you. I’m not necessarily recommending that you buy a copy of Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams but rather watch for patterns in your dreams because you can truly learn some pretty remarkable things about yourself. Working on your dream recall is probably the best place to start. Just by writing down your dreams in a dream journal each morning you can greatly enhance your ability to remember your dreams. That’s where the fun begins! ☺

4 - Learn how to fly in your dreams. ☺

If you’re going to be dreaming for roughly 30 years of your life anyway, why not learn how to control your dreams? Lucid dreaming is the scientifically proven act of becoming conscious while you dream. In these dreams people develop an ability to control what they dream about and do amazing things, like fly! Interestingly, lucid dreaming is also one of the few proven methods for helping people overcome night terrors. Here are just a few interesting advantages to lucid dreaming: 1 - It helps improve your ability to perform cognitive tasks and become a better problem solver. Psychologists at the University of Lincoln in England found in a study they did on dreaming that people who have frequent lucid dreams are better at cognitive tasks and problem solving. 2 - Improves creativity. 3 – It can help resolve emotional trauma like PTSD or even help you overcome night terrors. 4 – It can even be used for skill mastery, such as for piano or golf. Did you know that Jack Nicholson developed his golf swing in his dreams? Lucid dreaming can be easier that you might think. With a little practice and the right supplements, you can become an expert in no time. Hopefully you now have the information you need to begin making the most of those 30 years you’ll spend sleeping. I’m sure this list could be MUCH longer but these are just a few creative sleeping habits that you can use to get your best slumber.