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Understanding your sleep is key for maintaining a longterm healthy sleep routine. Here are some tips on how to do it.

You don’t need to read how important sleep is. You already know it. It’s one of those pivotal things that makes everything better or worse. Lack of sleep can lead to weight gain, irritability, poor work performance, and result in more problematic issues, like increasing the odds of heart attacks and diabetes.

Sleep issues are very common and very difficult to treat. There’s not a one size fits all solution; what may work for some, may not work for others, which is why it’s important to understand how your sleep works. Here are three tricks that can help you understand how you sleep and thus, improve your quality of sleep:

Build a sleep schedule and adapt as you go

Morning people are not a myth. There are genetic predispositions that make people prefer to wake up early in the mornings, and others who need a later alarm clock and some coffee in order to utter their first words. But while it is true that some people have easier mornings than others, the majority of us have to work in the mornings, which is why going to bed a little early can do wonders.

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It doesn’t matter the time; just try to stick to a schedule that works and that allows you to sleep eight or seven hours a night. The more strict you are — yes, even on weekends — the better you’re results will be. Adapt your schedule until you find a time that works and help yourself get to bed by any natural means necessary, especially at first, since your body is adapting. Some suggestions include meditation apps, melatonin, or the always reliable weed.

Do your research on sleep cycles

Sleep is a thing we all do, but it’s surprisingly complicated, with a lot of moving pieces. Understanding how it works can help you get better at sleeping. Devices like smartwatches can help you track your sleep habits and how deeply you sleep. After wearing them for a while, they’ll start to get to know your body, providing you with bedtime recommendations, which can help you develop a schedule that works for you in results in you feeling rested and shiny in the morning.

Keep a sleep journal

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Logs are annoying but extremely effective tools at tracking your behaviors and discovering patterns and things that are working and not working. A sleep journal should contain all of the relevant sleep information, whether you slept poorly or well, or you get sleepy every day after your lunch. Write down what snacks make you feel more awake or if an afternoon nap does the trick and makes you feel productive. While this all sounds like a crazy amount of unnecessary pages, over time, this journal can help you pinpoint what could be improved with your sleep schedule and your overall health.

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