How To Use a Sleep Journal to Improve Sleep Quality

If there is one fundamental thing that’s most critical to your health and overall well-being, it would have to be sleep. Sleep impacts everything, including your focus and ability to concentrate, your hunger level, your insulin sensitivity, your recovery from exercise, and your immune system strength. It’s not something you can afford to be low on.

Many people aren’t getting the quality of sleep they need however, which can make every day feel dreary and less than optimal. A sleep journal can help you overcome this.

Let’s look at how to use a sleep journal to improve your sleep quality.

Track Your Sleep Hours

The first thing you’ll want to do is track your sleep hours. What time are you going to bed and getting up at every day? Keep a record of this. It can help you spot patterns both in how long you should be sleeping to feel optimal as well as what bed time and time of waking is best for your body.

While you may not always be able to control what time you get up in the morning, you can still look for trends and try and lean towards them as best as possible.

Track Your Meals Prior To Sleep

Remember that everything you do can influence your sleep quality – your food intake included. Take the time to track the meals you eat prior to going to bed as well.

Certain foods may keep you up more than others and it’s good to have a record of this. Other foods, such as complex carbohydrates for instance, may cause you to feel drowsy, so if you always find you have a good sleep after eating those foods, you may turn to them more often.

If you aren’t writing this down however, it can be hard to spot these trends.

Write Down Your Stressors

Often the biggest culprit of keeping people awake at night is stress. Part of your sleep journal should be dedicated towards writing down whatever happens to be stressing you.

Simply getting those thoughts out on paper can go a long way towards freeing them from your worries and helping you fin da solution to get past them.

If you are the type to ruminate in bed over whatever happens to be stressing you, this step will be critical.

Note Any Additional Information

Finally, jot down any other information you feel relevant. Did you start a new medication or supplement? Were you especially active that evening? Did you try reading before bed?

Keep tabs on all this information as it may influence your sleep quality and it’s good to know to build proper sleep habits into the future.

So keep these points in mind and make sure that you apply them to your nightly routine. It pays to make the most out of your sleep quality as sleep impacts just about every element of your well-being.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.