Turn Your Bedroom into a Sleep Sanctuary

We spend a lot of time asleep, in fact, the average human spends a third of their lifetime sleeping. That’s a lot of sleep, and yet many of us fail to treat our bedrooms as the sleep sanctuary that it should be. With the busy lifestyles of the modern world, it’s becoming increasingly important to think about our sleep environment; you’ll be shocked how the smallest of things can impact negatively on our sleep.

Thankfully, it’s quite easy to transform your bedroom from a place of rest to a full-blown sleep sanctuary.

Declutter the Bedroom

After a long at work, all we want to do is return home and relax. However, if you’re having to climb over piles of clothes to get to an unmade bed, it’s just going to remind yourself of all those chores which you need to do. An untidy bedroom is not conducive to sleep, it doesn’t allow your brain to switch off. A clean and tidy bedroom is one of the reasons why many of us sleep so well in a well-made hotel room. Try and get into the habit of making your bed in the morning. A well-made bed is much more inviting and visually appealing than mounds of unkempt bedding.

Introduce a Work Free Zone

It’s hard enough getting our brain to switch off without the immediate reminder of work. If you’re one of those people who doubles up their bedroom as a home office, it’s virtually impossible to switch off in the evening. If possible, try and take the office out of the bedroom. Allowing your mind to separate your office area and your bedroom is vital to relaxation. If you can’t move your office out of the bedroom, at least keep the paperwork off of the bed and turn off the computer an hour before bedtime.

Remove the Technology

Think about it, how often do you find yourself unable to sleep and grab the nearest mobile or tablet for ‘one last browse’ of social media? The light emitted by smartphones, laptops, tablets and TV screens  triggers a state of wakefulness in our brain. Ensure that you turn these devices off at least one hour before bedtime. If you can’t resist one last peak of social media or writing one more email, you might want to enforce a blanket ban on screens in the bedroom. Rather than reading social media, why not read a paperback book?

Introduce Neutral Colours

Finally, the décor of the bedroom should be calm and relaxing. Neutral tones are favoured by hotels and spas over bright colours and busy patterns. Bright colours can cause problems with your brain trying to switch off. If your bedroom is bright and vibrant, it might be time to choose some new wallpaper to tone things down.