Hacking Your Sleep for Better Quality

In 2021, Americans are simply exhausted, and with good reason. In the past few years we’ve been through a global pandemic, which certainly brought far more than only concern for our health and for the health of our loved ones. That would have been enough, but the pandemic and all its fallout affected everything in our lives to a permanently altering degree. 

We were already struggling with stress and exhaustion prior to COVID, but the pandemic caused many of us to feel a new sense of insecurity with a vivid awareness of the fragility of life. Now, more than 2 years in, many things have returned to normal, but the reality of the mental and emotional toll has not budged for everyone. 

It certainly doesn't help that, in the post-pandemic world, we are struggling to thrive under massive inflation, and we’re stressed over a war that is affecting the entire global economy. Life is simply more overwhelming than many of us are prepared to handle, and it shows. 

More than half of Americans report feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted, but this has nothing to do with physical activity. We aren’t sleeping, and many of us are neglecting to care for ourselves in effective ways. 

Getting the proper amount and quality of rest is one of the most important things we can do in attempting to stay healthy and balanced in this super stressed and hyper connected world. With mental illness and debilitating emotional turmoil on the rise, it’s vital that we learn to care for ourselves so that we can keep doing the things we deem important and keep caring for those we love. 

Staying emotionally, mentally, and physically balanced begins with making rest and sleep a priority. Lack of sleep means more illness, weight gain, mental fog, poorer memory, and poorer decision making, among other things. 

Shutting down at night should be something that is non-negotiable in our lives. We need to turn off the screens, and make our sleep environment calming and inviting. We can do this by surrounding ourselves with calming colors, scents, sounds, and of course comfortable bedding. Sheets that are cool and calming, with a thread count of 200-800, are highly effective in ensuring the quality of our rest.