14 DAY TRIAL // We live such hectic, stressful lives that the only moments we get entirely to ourselves are while we sleep – or so we might think. As it happens, we often take most of our worries and problems to bed, which prevents us from getting a restful night slumber. This, in turn, means that our health is suffering from the lack of rest but, happily, there are a couple of housewife tricks that should work wonders for us and, at the same time, help us wake up in the morning feeling refreshed.
One of the oldest rules in the book is that routine does have its benefits, at least in what regards our sleeping habits. Keeping late hours and a hectic schedule may sound like a lot of fun when we’re still young, but by the time we reach our early ’30, we all feel as if this simply does not cut it anymore and we’re constantly tired. To avoid this from happening, it’s best if we kept regular hours, both for bedtime and for waking up in the morning, with an 8-hour interval dedicated solely to sleep.
Eliminating stress from our life is yet another housewife trick that can’t but come in handy. It may sound like an impossible feat to achieve, but the least we can do is to “program” our mind to think of work or other problems we may have as little as possible before going to bed. This is why the bedroom should be a place where we only sleep – no computer, no TV, and definitely no paperwork. If a good book does not work with taking our mind off daily problems, a glass of warm milk might.
Also with the purpose of eliminating stress is cutting down on caffeine. While few are those who can still function throughout the day without it, it’s highly recommended that no caffeine drinks be consumed after lunch. This means not only coffee, but also carbonated soft drinks, all of which should be avoided lest they make us agitated and hyper-active. However, if for one reason or another we simply can’t help ourselves, then a walk a couple of hours before bedtime should be more than enough to drain us of energy and prepare our body for a resting sleep.
Other old-school tricks that are guaranteed to help us catch some well-deserves Z’s are avoiding watching TV or movies, buying a sleeping mask if we’re highly sensitive to the morning light and wake up at the break of dawn, and getting ready for sleep before we’re actually starting to feel sleepy, so as to be in bed when it hits.