Everyday we hear the horror stories of how bad some people’s sleep issues really are. How well you sleep comes across the second you meet a new person. It’s easy to see if they slept great or awful the night before, just based on their facial expressions or in their attitude. It really does shape your entire day.

When you wake up and think — boy I didn’t sleep well, there’s an unlimited number of reasons you might not be sleeping your best. The first one is pretty obvious, did you sleep long enough? Adults should get seven to eight hours each night. Teens should get nine to ten hours of sleep and tweens should get ten to eleven hours of sleep. If your kiddos are between five and ten years old they should be sleeping around eleven to twelve hours each night. How do you stack up against these numbers? Are you getting enough sleep?

More than likely you’re not, and even if you’re laying in bed thinking about sleeping, these amounts are supposed to be quality sleep time. So many people suffer from restless nights or wake up multiple times throughout the night. We even wake up throughout the night without knowing it. It’s probably fair to say you’re getting on average one hour less of sleep from waking up and not sleep through the night.

It’s also important to set your sleep clock each night, and what we mean by that is going to sleep at the same time each night. (Yes, that even means weekends) Diet also plays a significant role to sleeping well. The food we eat and when we eat it can keep you up at night. Sugar and carbs should not be eaten within a few hours of going to bed, and caffeinated drinks should not be consumed after 2pm. If you drink alcohol or smoke, these can both have a major influence on your quality of sleep too.

However, the room environment is the most important.

As Dark as Possible

Try to make your bedroom as pitch black dark as possible. That means no light from your TV, cell phones, ipads or computers. It’s a scientific fact that the blue wavelength lights throw off your body’s biological clock causing your circadian rhythm to be off track. The blue wavelength light in the daylight actually helps boost your mood, attention span and reaction times. However at night, increased exposure to blue wavelength light, will affect your sleep.

Get Comfy

You’ll also want to set your thermostats somewhere between 65 and 68 degrees. A comfortable mattress that’s not over 8 years old, and a firm pillow are also necessary for a quality night of sleep. Lastly, we suggest performance sheets that wick moisture away and keep your body cooler. We’re not talking about cotton based sheets either.

After trying many brands, DEEPSPORT has been proven to be best at keeping you cooler and stopping night sweats. We know every person is different, but sleep is still the most important thing we do in our lives everyday. We should focus on it since it’s directly related to our cognitive skills, memory, performance, recovery and well-being. In fact, a lack of sleep has been linked to cancer, diabetes, low blood pressure, poor grades in school and a host of other negative things in our lives.

Sleep is important at all ages of life. It helps run your body and keeps you going. We’ve all heard the saying to “get your beauty rest,” but it’s true since your complexion, wrinkles and circles around your eyes are all enhanced when we don’t get enough sleep. Our bodies recover when we sleep. Make sure your sleep environment is ideal and that you have taken every step to gain a quality night’s sleep to set you up for success the next day. Add an extra hour to your sleep tonight and see how much better you feel!