Lifestyle

Experts share 7 Lifestyle Hacks for a Perfect Night’s Sleep

Published

7 years ago

July 27, 2019

Having loaded schedules at work, or even at school if you’re still a student, can make you feel exhausted throughout the day. While you’d believe that this entire day of exhaustion could cause you a solid night sleep, that’s not entirely true. In reality, having inadequate sleep in a good evening could be the primary reason why you’re stressed throughout the entire day.

Depending on the person involved, there are several variables that could contribute to irregular sleep quality. There are few easy ways that you can try to improve the quality of your sleep and have more restful sleep if you still feel tired even after doing several attempts of going to bed early.

Obviously, the best answer to this is to boost your sleep quality by putting as much rest and energy as much as you can in your bed. Healthy and productive individuals understand that there is no replacement for sufficient sleep and a few simple practices can guarantee them waking up relaxed and ready to get moving. That’s why here are 7 lifestyle hacks that you can do for a perfect night’s sleep:

Create a bedtime routine

Coming home from a long and tiring day can be hard for you to sleep as you lie down in your bed. One of the simple ways that you can do to prepare your body and mind for shuteye is to create a bed routine that will tell your body that it’s already bedtime.

Your routine could include a relaxing warm bath, having a cup of your favorite herbal tea, listening to soothing music, or even short meditation. However, developing a certain routine and adhering to it implies you are less likely to have unexpected thoughts before you lie down on your cozy memory foam mattress. Also, it’s not a bad idea to remove your phone from the ritual.

Avoid doing checking your work emails, or any other activity that could possibly stimulate and might bring you stress. This can increase your cortisol level that makes sleeping more difficult.

Build a sleep haven

The perfect sleeping setting for your body is cool, peaceful, and dark. Do everything to prevent any noise as well as bright lights that may disrupt your sleep cycle. You can look for high-quality home furnishing products online from Resident Home that would make your bedroom cozy and sleep-inducing. If you don’t have time to look at a new Turkish Rug in retail shops, you can shop rugs online and have it delivered right to your doorstep.

Of course, a comfortable bed is necessary. This implies investing in a comfortable and supportive mattress or plush pillows. If you’re tumbling and tossing at night and more pressure during the daytime, this means that you need a fresh new mattress. Also, if you’re unsure what to buy, you can have the mattress tested for at least 20 minutes before buying. Asking important questions that suits your requirements such as how wide is a queen size bed or what is the recommended level of mattress firmness could help make a better decision.

Practice journaling before bed

During sleep, the subconscious part of your brain can enable you to make the right decisions and produce creative thoughts. This can be done by taking the time to write a few ideas every night about the previous days or your hopes for the future. Before heading to your bed, give yourself 15 minutes to reflect and write down all the good news you experienced during the day.

Letting your thoughts run freely can boost your anxiety and stop you from falling asleep. Writing down your thoughts at night can help you focus on the positive side to lower your stress and anxiety level and enhance your sleeping habits.

The main goal of this practice is to get rid of distractions in your mind before going back to your bed. Every night, create a to-do list for tomorrow and clear your mind from things that bother you.

Schedule for your exercise

One of the well-known and effective ways to enhance your wellness and sleep quality is exercise. As it improves every characteristic of sleep, it has been used to alleviate the symptoms of insomnia. The positive effects of exercise in our body are limitless.

While we usually attach workout to weight loss, it’s a contribution to the improvement of overall wellness and getting a good night’s rest is equally important. Start with exercising for at least 30 minutes every day. This will not only remove the extra energy before going to bed but also add to your overall wellness which keeps consistency in such significant functions like sleep.

While regular physical activity is essential to a healthy night of sleep, conducting it later during the day can lead to problems with sleep. Because of exercise’s stimulating effect, it can increase your wakefulness and production of hormones such as epinephrine and adrenaline.

Keep your smartphone out of reach

Browsing your Instagram feed mindlessly will not fix your insomnia. This also goes for playing mobile games which can leave you sleepless playing for hours. Blue light is one of the main culprits why using mobile phones can make you sleep deprived. During the daytime, blue light is good because it boosts your alertness, mental state and reflexes, however, during the night it can disrupt your sleeping pattern.

Placing your mobile phone away from your bed is the best way to fight sleepless nights. Rather than placing it next to your pillow, you should put your phone somewhere you need to take some steps to use it.

For an hour or so before bedtime, don’t expose yourself to digital screens to avoid disruption. However, there are some mobile phones have also been modified to include a night mode that limits the amount of blue light on your screen while browsing.

Add aromatherapy to your bedtime ritual

Essential oils can generally have many distinct advantages, such as combating some viruses and enhancing your immune system to relieve anxiety. Also, it can be an effective way to improve your sleep and relaxation.

While the study on the use of essential oils is scarce, it is commonly acknowledged that lavender essential oil is considered a healthy sleep remedy. Lavender promotes relaxation like no other fragrance with calming characteristics that assist regulate emotional and mental stress, enhance moods and relaxes nerves. It’s no wonder that when you think about calming aromas, lavender is the first fragrance on top of the mind. Using a diffuser with the scent of lavender in your bedroom will help you have a rejuvenating sleep, meaning you will wake up more alertness and be prepared to tackle the day.

Turn your bedroom into a spa-like atmosphere by trying lavender and rosemary mixtures; this coupled with the combination of aromatherapy and relieve stress.

Try meditation

If you don’t get sleepy at a certain time, don’t get stressed out if you can’t stick to your plan. Get up and do a little more of your favorite relaxation sleep practices such as meditation.

Aside from helping you improve your concentration and anxiety; meditation can help you create a sacred space in your mind between you and your inner self. Also, practicing mindfulness meditation can enhance your self-awareness and prevent yourself from doing things that could affect your sleep pattern such as using mobile phones while in bed or drinking caffeine in the afternoon.

Lifestyle

When Seasons Shift: Dr. Leeshe Grimes on Grief, Loneliness, and Finding Light Again

Published

3 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michelle Langton

Some emotional storms arrive without warning. A sudden change in weather, a holiday approaching, or even a bright sunny day can stir feelings that don’t match the world outside. For many people, the hardest seasons are not defined by temperature; they are defined by what’s happening inside, where grief and loneliness often move quietly.

This is the emotional terrain where Dr. Leeshe Grimes has spent her career doing some of her most meaningful work. As a psychotherapist, registered play therapist, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, and founder of Elevated Minds in the DMV area, she understands how deeply seasonal shifts and unresolved grief can affect people. Her upcoming books explore this very space, guiding readers through the emotional weight that can appear during different times of the year.

What sets Dr. Grimes apart is her ability to see clearly what many people overlook. Seasonal depression, for example, is usually tied to winter months. But she often sees it appear during warm, bright seasons, the times when the world seems happiest. For someone already grieving or feeling disconnected, watching others travel, celebrate, or gather can create its own kind of heaviness. Sunshine doesn’t always lift the mood; sometimes it highlights what feels missing.

The same misunderstanding surrounds grief. Society often treats it as a short-term experience with predictable phases and a clean ending. But in her practice, Dr. Grimes sees how grief keeps evolving. It doesn’t disappear on a timeline. It weaves itself into routines, memories, and milestones. People learn to carry it differently, but they rarely leave it behind completely. And that’s not failure, it’s human.

Her approach to mental health centers on truth rather than pressure. She encourages clients to acknowledge the emotions they try to hide: sadness that lingers longer than expected, moments of joy that feel out of place, and the waves of loneliness that return even when life seems stable. Instead of pushing for quick recovery, she focuses on helping people understand how emotions shift and how to care for themselves through those changes.

Much of her insight comes from her military years, where she witnessed the emotional toll of loss, transition, and constant survival. She saw how people continued functioning while carrying pain that had nowhere to go. That experience shaped her belief that healing requires space, space to feel, to speak, and to move through emotions without judgment.

In her clinical work today at Elevated Minds, she encourages people to build small, steady habits that anchor them during difficult seasons. Journaling helps them recognize patterns and name what feels heavy. Community support breaks the cycle of isolation. Therapy creates a place where emotions don’t have to be minimized or explained away. And intentional routines, daily sunlight, mindful breaks, and calm evenings help rebuild emotional balance.

Her upcoming books expand on these ideas, offering practical guidance for navigating both grief and seasonal depression. She focuses on helping readers understand that healing is not about escaping pain. It’s about learning how to live with it in a healthier way, honoring memories, acknowledging loneliness, and still allowing room for moments of light.

What makes Dr. Leeshe Grimes a compelling voice in mental health is her ability to bring language to experiences that many struggle to explain. She reminds people that emotional seasons don’t always match the weather and that there is no single path through grief. But within those shifts, she believes there is always a way forward.

The seasons will continue to change. And with the right tools, compassion, and support, people can change with them, finding steadiness, softness, and light again, one step at a time.