Nine Genuinely Useful Tips For Having A Wonderfully Restful Sleep Tonight

Alas the weekend is at an end and now you've got Monday to look forward to.

With that in mind, we've assembled some top tips to help you reach a point of relaxation where you'll snooze like a baby tonight, waking up refreshed and full of beans for the your work week.

Here are nine ways to have an amazing sleep tonight.

1. Aromatherapy

It's not just something they made up for a Herbal Essences ad. We've talked before about the de-stressing benefits of lavender before, and a 2005 study indicated that a whiff of this fragrance before bed can help promote a wonderfully deep sleep.

2. Switch off all electronics

Light suppresses your natural melatonin production, which can disrupt your sleep. Try to start switching off your electronics an hour before bed to avoid this problem.

3. Keeping your room as dark as possible

Like the problem caused by our personal electronics, sleeping in a room that gets a lot of street light could also be messing with your melatonin levels, so make sure your curtains are thick enough to block it all out (or for a short term solution, throw a few bed sheets on top of your existing curtains).

4. Make sure your room is the right temperature

You don't want the room to be too hot or too cold, with the optimal sleeping temperature thought to be around 18 to 20 degrees Celsius.

5. Work through your thoughts before bed

If there are things you need to organise for the next day, make your to-do list before getting into bed. It's about mentally disassociating your bed with anything connected to stress to maximise your relaxation.

6. The 4-7-8 technique

We talked about this before. It's a breathing technique that requires that you take a deep breath for four seconds, hold that breath for seven seconds, exhale it for eight seconds, then repeat.

This exercise requires you focus on counting and breathing, and as a result prevents you concentrating on anything else, helping your doze off in no time.

Way more effective than counting sleep.

7. Don't eat heavily near bedtime

It may seem counter-intuitive, especially since you always feel a nap after a big meal, but since the body isn't supposed to digest food when we're asleep, a big meal may cause you to stay awake.

8. Keep your socks on

According to a 1999 study, the warmness of our extremities is directly related to how fast we fall asleep, so if you're one of those people with permanent cold-feet you can actually speed up the slumbering process by putting on a fresh pair of socks before bed.

9. A long bath

Try having a bath 90 to 120 minutes before going to bed to really get into that relaxed headspace, and if you can dim the lights and work some lavender into the mix, you'll be halfway to an amazing deep sleep tonight.

READ ALSO: 7 Natural Ways To Increase Your Relaxation Right Now