What To Do To Sleep Better

Ever dream of that perfect night's sleep? Or maybe you can't be dreaming of one because you're not sleeping to begin with. Well, thankfully, this infographic from housewares company Moshells can teach you how to become a successful sleeper. And even better, it just takes a few changes to our sleeping habits to becomes conquerers of Slumberland. I've been in desperate need of something to give me a good night sleep — and it turns out that I've actually been committing some of the cardinal sins to not getting that dreamy snooze. Good thing I can do something to fix that now, right?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, about 20 percent of Americans are getting less than six hours of sleep at night. The recommended amount for adults, however, is actually seven to nine hours of sleep — and not clocking in those hours can put people at risk for things like depression and anxiety.

So what are we doing so wrong that we can't seem to fall asleep? Well, if you do things like work on your computer or watch TV in your bed, your body can start associating your bed with non-sleep related activities. This keeps your brain awake when you want your body to be asleep, so maybe it's time to kick that Netflix-in-bed habit. Additionally, alcohol can also hurt our sleep; although it acts as a sedative initially, when your blood alcohol drops level later on, it can lead to wakefulness. This is usually when I start going through my phone looking at all the regrext messages I sent before bed, which probably isn't helping matters, either. Oh, and speaking of your phone? Cell phones and other electronic devices output the same low light levels as the sun and cause your body to stop making melatonin, the brain chemical linked to sleep.

So basically, we're all goofing a lot on the sleep front. But there is hope! To start changing your routines and getting a better night sleep, check out the infographic here:

Images: planetchopstick/Flickr; Moshells/Visual.ly