For many working class people, sleep is a luxury. Many people in the world choose to work overtime or take on multiple jobs to survive instead of getting enough rest. 

However, sleep affects our mood. Short or interrupted sleep may cause irritability and make us unproductive during the day. To help you sleep faster and get better-quality sleep, here are some easy yet helpful steps you can follow.


1. Have a relaxing bath or shower

Washing away the day’s stress can help you prepare your mind for sleep. Nothing also beats the feeling of laying on your bed after having done your entire nighttime routine and having only sleep on your agenda.

Scientifically, these also help condition the body for sleep. According to Discover Magazine, taking a warm bath or a shower an hour or two before going to bed aids the body’s natural flow into sleep by lowering your body temperature.


2. Use essential oils

Introducing essential oils to your nighttime routine is an economical and convenient form of therapy. Certain scents can put the body in a calm state and prepare it for sleep. According to The Sleep Doctor, this is due to the emotions and memories we associate these scents with.

Vanilla, lavender, jasmine, rose, citrus, and sandalwood are only a few examples of scents used to induce better sleep. To use these, you can add a few drops to your bath, apply a diluted solution directly to your body, put it in a diffuser, or use it as a linen spray.


3. Turn off your electronics

Blue light emitted by electronic devices causes the brain to think that it is still daytime, making it reduce the amount of melatonin it produces and keeping you from sleeping. 

For this, you should turn off your television as well as other sources of bright light two hours before bed. If this can’t be helped, you can also install apps that put a blue light filter on your screen, such as f.lux for your desktop or laptop.


4. Make yourself comfortable

Sometimes, an uncomfortable sleeping space is actually what makes it hard for people to sleep. A comfortable mattress is a great investment that improves your day-to-day wellbeing. Some people even go as far as to buy weighted blankets for the feeling of security during sleep. However, if you’re on a budget, clean beddings should be enough.

For people who wake up feeling too hot at night, it may also be helpful to check if your air conditioner or fan is working as well as it should. To get uninterrupted sleep, have your cooling device checked by a professional repairman. Regular maintenance check-ups help appliances work better and last longer, say the experts at Ceiling Fan Repair Singapore.


5. Check with a doctor

If your difficulty in sleeping lasts for weeks at a time, it is best to go to a doctor to see if you have insomnia. They can prescribe you a melatonin supplement for you to fall asleep faster and have better sleep quality.

If you snore loudly, wake up several times at night, and you are easily fatigued in the morning, ENT Doctor Singapore suggests you may have obstructive sleep apnea instead. This needs urgent medical action, so see a specialist right away.

Anyway, these are only a few quick ways to sleep faster and without interruption. If you’d like to improve your sleeping quality for the long term, however, there are also permanent lifestyle changes you could do such as exercising and eating better.