Your flight is delayed, again, and you’re stuck exhausted and jet-lagged in the terminal. Too many people are home for the holidays and you’re stuck sleeping on the floor. It’s your turn to sleep when taking turns driving on a long distance road trip. Depending on your work or lifestyle these less-than-cozy sleep situations might happen more often than you’d like.

Regardless of how often you might relate to these story scenarios, these situations come up in our lives. It’s best to know how to make the most of un-ideal sleep conditions

Set Yourself up for Success With Good Daytime Sleep Habits

Since un-ideal sleep conditions can prevent comfortability, it’s best we focus on things within our control. This includes our habits during the day. Physical activity and avoiding large meals, alcohol, and caffeine before sleep can all help you have a better night’s rest.

Waking up at the same time and going to bed at the same time every day, can also aid in your ability to sleep. If you like to nap, and you find yourself taking naps daily, you should avoid taking them for long periods of time and later in the day.

Another good habit to pick up is to expose yourself to daylight early in the day. This can help regularize your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is your night and day clock - it aligns your body with the feelings of sleepiness at night time and wakefulness during the day.

Pre-sleep routines

Following a routine before bed during your un-ideal sleep conditions might also help counteract them. Brushing your teething, turning the your lights down, and shutting off any electronics can help you unwind. If you don’t have control of the lights, a pair of sunglasses will go a long way. You should do this routine at least thirty minutes to an hour before bed to help prime your body for sleep.

Avoiding light from electronic devices and lights in general before bed can help with your body’s production of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone your body produces that promotes sleep. Melatonin production is higher when it’s dark out, and lower when it’s light out.

There are various activities you can do to help unwind before bed. You could meditate, practice breathing exercises, or even read a book. These are all great ways to unwind and relax your body for a good night’s rest.

Make the most of what you got

You may have experienced un-ideal sleep conditions in the past and you might experience more in the future. With this information, you should be ready to make the most of these un-ideal sleep conditions.

To sum it up, here are all the habits you can use to make the most of an un-ideal sleep condition:

• Exercise during the day
• Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bed
• Wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day
• Expose yourself to sunlight first thing in the morning to normalize your circadian rhythms
• Turn off lights and shut down electronics an hour to thirty minutes before bedtime
• Unwind and relax your body with an activity like reading, meditation, or stretching

If you struggle to unwind before bed, BetterSleep can help with bedtime stories and even sleep hypnosis techniques. Destress, relax, and get the good night’s rest you deserve, try BetterSleep for free today!