1. Get an Early Start with a Regular Routine

Waking up early helps your Circadian rhythm (or internal clock) to connect with the natural rhythms of the earth. When the sun rises, so do you. Be consistent with your early morning routine.

2. Get Red Light from the Sunrise

The wavelengths of red light from the sun pass through human tissue easier than other wavelengths. Red light creates a biochemical effect in our cells that increases mitochondrial function and gives cells energy. Natural light at sunrise is better than artificial, but there are products to use in your home that create both infrared and near infrared wavelengths.

3. More Daily Sunlight is Healthy

Sunlight is usually associated with vitamin D, but the benefits of sunlight have a positive effect on sleeping patterns, too. The hormone melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in our brain during dark hours. Being exposed to sunlight in the morning causes nocturnal melatonin production sooner, making it easier to sleep at night.

4. More Physical Activity

If you struggle to fall asleep, get your workout at the gym earlier in the morning. If you struggle to stay asleep, try evening strength training. Give yourself at least 3 hours before bedtime so your body can settle down. Also, remember to get a reasonable amount of physical activity throughout the day. These tweaks will improve your sleep.

5. Avoid Eating 90 Minutes Before Bedtime

If you often wake up around 2:00-3:00 a.m., it’s probably due to a crash in blood sugar. This causes you to wake up. If this is a consistent problem, try having a high protein snack containing the amino acid tryptophan. It increases serotonin which converts to melatonin and helps you sleep.

6. Tryptophan at Dinner

Because tryptophan is converted to serotonin, a key hormone that promotes relaxation, foods containing it help you sleep. When serotonin is converted to melatonin in the pineal gland, it activates sleep by reducing body temperature and other functions. It also inhibits the release of more insulin from the pancreas, preventing a rapid drop in blood sugar level.

Melatonin also helps release growth hormone, important to all the body’s recovery systems. As recovery hormones initiate the repair, maintenance and rebuilding of bone, muscle and other body tissues, it also goes on to impact memory consolidation.

7. No Caffeine at Least 5 Hours Before Bed

Because caffeine is such a powerful stimulant, it is very popular. Caffeine can temporarily make us feel more alert by blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain and increasing adrenaline production, but it cannot replace sleep. A good rule is not to drink coffee after 4:00 p.m. If your nervous system is wired, you cannot get quality sleep.

8. Drink Less Alcohol

If you are looking for quality sleep, forget about alcohol. Although studies show that you may fall asleep quicker after drinking alcohol, the quality is far from being the best. Alcohol will inhibit your REM sleep, not allowing short-term memories and experiences to convert into long-term memories.

9. Take Magnesium Before Bed

Magnesium is a mineral found throughout nature and one of the body’s electrolytes. In the body, it is the fourth most abundant mineral and is crucial to many aspects of health, such as alleviating premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, reducing blood pressure, boosting performance, relieving inflammation, preventing migraines, improving blood sugar levels, fighting depression, enhancing sleep quality and promoting relaxation.

Getting your magnesium levels up can almost instantly reduce your body’s stress load and improve the quality of your sleep.

10. Use Blue Light Blockers

Researchers found that blue light has the most potent effect on preventing the secretion of melatonin from the pineal gland. Unfortunately, today most of our lighting, computer screens, tablets, TV and cell phones fall into this blue zone of the light spectrum. Blocking blue light is one of the most beneficial quick fixes that you can do to improve sleep quality.