One of the dilemmas of our modern 24/7 world is the temptation or pressure to always be on.
Always answer emails, even at night.
Always remember something else you absolutely must do, the minute you pull up the covers.
The only solution to sleep deprivation or a lack of rest is to simply prioritize it. Creating new habits can be a challenge, but that’s what you’ll need to get better sleep.
The good news is that changing your environment can help you change those habits. If you’re building a new custom Florida home or thinking about doing so, we’ve got some design tips for your new bedrooms.
Here’s how they can help you get your Zs.
Restful colors promote better sleep
You may love sleek black and bright red, but such edgy colors — and others like them — have been scientifically proven to help keep us awake.
Not by themselves, of course. Yet we all know how we feel in an open, airy room with soothing neutral shades of white, vanilla and gray, compared to kids’ rooms that scream cheery blues, greens and oranges.
Use intense colors as accents in a bedroom, with muted shades or neutral ones as the primary color. Natural elements such as wood floors and stone tiles also turn down the color volume.
Go analog before bed
Leave the phone, tablet, laptop, gaming system or computer in another room. Shutting down screens cues your body and brain that it’s time to power down too.
And, scientific studies strike again: the light beaming from our digital devices tends to keep us wired for a while after we use it.
Help yourself form a new no-digital-before-bed habit by shutting down at a certain time every night. Allow yourself TV in the bedroom and watch only that screen until you doze off.
Better yet, read a real book, not one on a digital screen. You’ll be snoozing before you know it.
Lower your thermostat at night
More science! Our bodies sleep better in a cooler environment.
Pile on those yummy sheets and blankets. Crank up the ceiling fan. Another strategy is to take advantage of today’s smart-home technology and pre-program your thermostat to automatically drop at a certain time at night, and rise with your morning alarm.
Then you don’t have to think about it. And crawl out of bed to manually crank it down.
Make your personal sleep environment happen
Sometimes this requires negotiation if you share your bedroom with a partner or a spouse. Even so, give yourself every chance to get a good night’s sleep.
If silence bugs you, buy a sleep machine that simulates natural sounds such as ocean waves, rainfall or a thunderstorm. If noise bugs you, try the white background option that quietly masks barking dogs, the movie one floor down, or the dryer thumping two doors away.
Ready for your new custom Florida home? Talk to ICI Homes here.