We spend about one third of our lives sleeping. Like eating and drinking, sleep is integral to our survival. However, many of us still find it difficult to get a good night sleep.

Fortunately, in many of us, these symptoms of insomnia are caused by inadequate sleep hygiene. This means that we can easily reverse the undesired effects of poor quality sleep if we follow some simple tips and advice.

1. Control your bedroom temperature

Have you ever found it difficult to get comfortable because the room was too warm and you were sweating bullets? Or consider the converse where you were shivering away struggling to get comfortable under the sheets? Studies have found that the ideal body temperature for good quality sleep is between 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything out of this range would cause us to have more frequent awakenings and result in poorer quality sleep. However, everyone has a different tolerance to temperature. Hence, make your own judgement about your perfect sleeping temperature!

2. Eliminate loud noises

If your house is next to a busy road, you know what I am talking about. Loud traffic noises are very disruptive as they tend to wake us up in the middle of our sleep. With frequent awakenings, we will not be able to get the restorative sleep that we need for our body to recover. In these cases, you should invest in soundproof windows.

Sometimes, these unwanted loud noises come from the most familiar of sources, your sleeping partner, who is snoring away like a freight train. In this situation, you may consider noise cancelling earphones or moving to a different room if it is too unbearable. It might be worth noting that snoring can be a sign of sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea. So, it would also be sensible to get your sleeping partner checked out by a sleep professional.

3. Avoid bright lights at night

In the day, we want to immerse ourselves in the bright sunlight. But, as night falls, we should reduce our exposure to bright lights to align our circadian rhythm to the notion of sunrise and sunset. By doing so, we prime our brain and body to increase production of melatonin, the powerful hormone that induces sleep. With increased melatonin, we would find it much easier to achieve great quality deep sleep leaving us rejuvenated by the next day.

Besides the lights from our ceiling lights and lamps, the bright blue light emitted by our electronic devices can also affect the production of melatonin and our sleep quality. Therefore, give your FaceBook update a break and switch off that phone. If you must use electronic devices, a pair of light filtering eye glasses might help.

4. Invest in comfortable bedding

As mentioned earlier, we spend ⅓ of our lives sleeping so it would definitely make sense to invest in a comfortable bed. All mattresses have a life expectancy. Beyond which, mattresses start to lose their support, resulting in aches and pains for the user. When purchasing a mattress, you should always check with the retailer the expected life expectancy. When the time is up, make a change!

Another major part of bedding are your pillows. Pillows come in all shapes and sizes to cater for all types of sleepers. Stomach sleepers generally do well with a thinner pillow. People who sleep on their back usually prefer a pillow with medium support. Side sleepers will need pillows that support the head, neck and ear at the same time. For those of us who are hyperallergenic, pillow fill will determine if we wake up feeling refreshed or as if we walked through a giant pollen field. In this situation, a hypoallergenic pillow or hypoallergenic sheets would be the best choice.

The last aspect of bedding are your sheets. Sheets come with different thread counts, weaves and materials. All these characteristics contribute to the warmth and softness of the sheets. The choice of sheets would depend on the type of sleeper you are. If you frequently wake up in the middle of the night feeling cold and shivering away, you should consider fleece and jersey. If you tend to wake up sweaty and hot, then consider cotton or even bamboo bed sheets.

To summarize, comfortable bedding is critical to good sleep. Invest in high quality bedding as they can make great difference to the quality of your sleep.

5. Try aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is the application of essential oils from aromatic plants. This is done through inhalation, massage or bathing. Inhalation is the easiest to achieve and maintain through the night as you can just pop it in an air diffuser. Many studies have validated the effectiveness of aromatherapy in improving sleep quality. One such recent study conducted in Texas found that aromatherapy improved the sleep quality of participants by a substantial margin. However, out of all the fragrances that are available, you would want to bet your dollar on lavendar as the research on lavendar is the strongest currently. Aromatherapy is definitely a winner in my book because it is easy to execute and relatively inexpensive.

6. Paint your wall sensibly

We are all creative at heart but we might want to think twice before expressing that artistic flair on our bedroom walls. Bold colours in your bedroom will deceive the mind into thinking it needs to stay alert and hence prevent you from falling asleep easily. When choosing bedroom wall colour, go with neutral colours, pastels or muted shades. These soothing colour schemes will relax your mind as you turn in for the night.

If you have every wondered what your room color says about you, check out our guide here on color psychology and how it affects your mood.

7. Declutter your bedroom

Mum was right. Clean your room. Mum may not have the science behind it but instinctively she knew. She knew that a tidy and neat bedroom somehow contributes to our overall well being. As it turns out, there was a study presented at the 2015 Seattle Sleep conference that shows that sleeping in a cluttered bedroom may increase risk of sleep disorders.

Moral of the story: Don’t doubt your mum.