What is a good sleeping environment?

Your bedroom decor can make the difference between a good night's sleep and a night of tossing and turning. Find out how to design a snooze-inducing environment by watching this video featuring sleep medicine expert Carol Ash, DO.

Transcript

00:00

Unless you're extremely exhausted, and you've created sleep debt, again, normally, you need about an hour to transition into sleep.

00:06

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00:12

Well, you know, we tend to think of our bedroom as a place where we want to bring the interior decorator in. And we like bold and bright colors.

00:20

And we try to want to make-- even for our kids-- a special environment. And make it like a basketball court with all the lights.

00:28

And we bring our computers and our electronics into our bedroom. And all of that really is the worst thing you could be doing to create a sleep environment that's going

00:38

to help you get healthy sleep. The brain is looking for a safe, comfortable environment to sleep in. And so you really want to reduplicate

00:46

what we've associated with calm and soothing colors and an environment that really just allows you

00:53

to transition from all the activity of the day into sleep readiness that the brain chemistry actually

01:00

has to shift. And you need about an hour for that to occur. So I'll tell people, create a relaxing bedtime routine that

01:07

actually really gives your brain a signal, you know, this is time to start getting ready to go to bed.

01:13

It takes a bit. Most people who start this, they feel a little anxious because it's hard letting go of those old habits that you really felt like you needed to cope with your day.

01:21

Just the last BlackBerry message or the last text message, one more thing I have to do. Really is getting in the way of you really performing

01:30

at your peak for the next day. So put it all aside. Get the clutter out of the room. Make it calm, cool, and comfortable.

01:36

And you'll find you'll be much more productive the following day. [MUSIC PLAYING]