1. Set a consistent sleep and wake schedule every day

There should not be a separate timing for the weekends. Holidays abroad are the only acceptable exceptions. The best way to do this is to get 2 battery-operated alarm clocks (old school, no screens), one for you to get to sleep, the other for waking up. Few people think of setting up an alarm to go to sleep! But this works well, and will train your circadian rhythm so that the process will get more automatic in time to come. This roughly takes 21 days. 

2. No caffeine after 1PM 

Caffeine has a half-life of about 7 hours, and this means half the coffee you drank at 1PM remains in your body at 8PM. Is it any wonder why you can’t sleep? 

Every waking moment, a sleepiness chemical called adenosine builds up in your body. Caffeine effectively blocks that adenosine from the receptors in your body from receiving it, and that keeps you chemically alert. So there you lie, tired yet unable to sleep, a most frustrating situation. 

3. A cool, dark bedroom 

Before the lightbulb was invented, we all sleep when it’s dark and cool outside. Today we can try our best to do that by setting your aircon 2-3 degrees colder than your usual, 2 hours before bedtime. If you normally set your room to 26C, set it to 23C 2 hours before your sleep time.

Some are more sensitive to light than others, and can’t sleep well when it’s too bright, with all the light pollution from the street lamps outside. You can consider installing light-blocking black stickers on your windows; not only will it make it darker, it will also block off some heat from the sun in the day. 

4. No naps after 2PM 

This one is pretty obvious. The more you nap, the more energetic you are before bedtime. If your brain is forcing your eyelids shut in the middle of the day, keep it to 20mins.

5. No screens at least 30mins before bedtime 

Find another way to unwind. Most of us face screens almost more hours than we do sleeping! All our beloved screens emit bluelight, the very same from sunlight, which makes sleeping even harder. Read a book. Write something about your day. Stretch a little but nothing so intense that it raises your heart-rate significantly. Use a dim light when you are reading. 

6. Turn the clock face away 

Clock-watching while you are already anxious about not getting sleep…fill in the blanks…of course, it makes it harder for you to sleep! If your phone is also your alarm clock, do not reach for it to check time. 

7. Expose yourself to sunlight during the day 

For the sake for your sleep, it is far better to go out and have lunch than to order in and eat in the air-conditioned office. Sunlight exposure is a good way to tell your body that you had periods of daytime activity, instead of just one long day in a light-controlled, temperature-controlled environment. 

8. A quick way to drop body temperature 

A drop in body temperature prepares you for sleep. Take a warm towel and briefly apply it to your face and arms. The resulting drop in body temperature and heart-rate helps you sleep better. 

9. Don’t flip around in bed like a blanket tornado. 

If you can’t fall asleep after what feels like 30mins or so, get up from bed and do something relaxing. If there is something on your mind, write it down (paper and pen) so your brain can let it go. This is mental hygiene, and helps to take some of the noise out of your mind before sleep. 

Get back to bed when you start yawning or feel the sleep coming. 

10. Switch to a King Koil Mattress

At the forefront of sleep engineering since 1898, King Koil makes soft beds for tired bodies. Feel your body weight fade away within 15 mins, in the soft, comforting gravity of a King Koil mattress. It adapts to your body temperature, aids blood circulation & reduces pressure points. King Koil is endorsed by the International Chiropractors Association, and its mattresses helps promote proper spinal alignment and a healthier night’s sleep.

Sometimes the bed is the problem, as you might have realized when you go on holidays. Why not bring the 5-star hotel experience home with a King Koil? After all, we supply a wide range of 5-star hotels; you probably slept on a King Koil some winters ago. Bring home the 5-star sleep, every night.