How To Get Healthy Sleep For Busy Women

On average, adults should optimally receive between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, but those needs vary individually. For example, some people feel best with eight consecutive hours of sleep, while others do well with six to seven hours at night and daytime napping. Some people feel okay when their sleep schedule changes, while others feel very affected by a new schedule or even one night of insufficient sleep.

You fall asleep within 15-20 minutes of lying down to sleep.

You regularly sleep a total of seven to nine hours in a 24-hour period.

While in your bed, your sleep is continuous—you don’t have long periods of lying awake when you wish to be sleeping.

You wake up feeling refreshed, as if you’ve “filled the tank.”

You feel alert and are able to be fully productive throughout the waking hours (note, it’s natural for people to feel a dip in alertness during waking hours, but with healthy sleep, alertness returns).

Your partner or family members do not notice any disturbing or out of the ordinary behavior from you while you sleep, such as snoring , pauses in breathing, restlessness, or otherwise nighttime behaviors.

・Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.

・Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.

・If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.

・Establish relaxing bedtime rituals.

・Use your bed only for sleep and sex.

・Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.

・Limit exposure to light in the evenings.

・Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.

・Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.

・Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.

・Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.

・Reduce your fluid intake before bedtime.

Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There's a caveat, though. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.