How Your Home Affects Your Sleep
How Your Home Affects Your Sleep
A person's home can affect their health in many ways, including how well they sleep. Here are a few changes you can make to improve your sleep.
- Clean up your bedroom.
A study from St. Lawrence University in New York found that people with clean bedrooms usually sleep better than those with messy rooms. The researchers also noted that if people sleep poorly, they sometimes don't make good decisions, making it harder to clean up.
- Get more houseplants.
Studies have shown that house plants help with stress, which can lead to better sleep. Also, plants such as lavender and gardenia create smells that may help some people relax and sleep better.
- Turn off the lights.
When light hits your eyes, it tells your body to stay awake. So if you want your body to know that it's time to rest, turn off the lights – including your phone and TV screens – about an hour before bedtime. You may also want to use dark curtains to keep any outside light from entering your bedroom.
- Turn down the temperature.
The body becomes cooler at night, so lowering your room temperature before bedtime can help you relax and fall asleep more quickly. The National Sleep Foundation in the US says your bedroom should be about 16 to 19 degrees Celsius for a good night's sleep. Just be sure to sleep with enough blankets!
