Every year we lose an hour sleep on the last Sunday of every March. The clocks will go forward by one hour on Sunday 25th March as this is when British Summer Time officially begins for another year. The official time changes at 1.00 am, moving forward to 2.00 am across the UK.

 
If you are dreading the thought of losing that precious hour, let us help ensure your nights sleep is as good as possible. If you often get up early or can’t sleep due to your bed not being as comfortable as possible, it may be due to an old or lumpy mattress, or simply that the mattress isn’t right for your bodies needs. Often people think that an ultra soft mattress is best as they desire that ultimate comfort for a nights sleep, this isn’t the case for many people though and a very soft mattress can lead to muscle pain especially in the back or neck. Similarly a mattress which is too firm can put pressure on your joints and lead to uncomfortable aches. The best thing to do is to think about the posture which you sleep in, any medical problems you have or what has been best in the past. We always suggest those with an existing medical condition consult their Dr or physiotherapist before buying a new mattress or bed to ensure their new purchase will help them achieve a restful nights sleep.

The first question is what kind of theme do you want to create?
For example do you want a modern look, a traditional look or something else entirely? However when considering the theme of your bedroom you should consider that theme should create somewhere comfortable and relaxing in order to help you get the best nights sleep possible. Once you have decided on the theme, have a look at colours that would fit the theme, again consider the colours carefully as bright and vivid colours could make getting to sleep more difficult than neutral colours.

When the theme and colour scheme have been decided upon, then it is time to consider the furniture you want in the bedroom, obviously a bed is a priority so there is somewhere to sleep but have a look at what you want to keep in your bedroom as too much bedroom furniture makes the room look cluttered and so can make it difficult to relax. Furthermore the style of bedroom furniture will also be detrimental to the overall look of your bedroom so when choosing your bedroom furniture you should consider the theme you want to create.

Finally, finishing touches such as lamps, curtains, and soft furnishings like cushions, throws, duvet covers should also be carefully thought about as these finishing touches can enhance the overall look and feel of your overall bedroom design.

A survey between January the 29th 2010 and February the 8th 2010 was conducted by the Sleep Council which looked at people’s sleep patterns and brought about some interesting results.

• 36% of people sleep poorly most nights
• The average amount of sleep is 6.6 hours
• Almost a third of people get less than 6 hours sleep

It also asked people what they thought would help to improve their sleep and again the results were interesting

• 29% suggested a new bed would help
• 29% suggested changing bed times
• 10% suggested de-cluttering the bedroom
• 6% suggested darker curtains

Interestingly the results of this survey suggest that people know what can help to improve their sleep however don’t seem to act upon it; simple things can easily help to improve your sleep which in turn can improve your health.

As people are looking to improve their health through healthy eating and keeping fit, then why not look at one major aspect of your life that could really improve your health, and look at you sleep? As after all we spend nearly a third of our lifetime in our bed sleeping why not make that time spent in the complete luxury of a comfortable bed? As you never know it may just improve the amount of healthy sleep you get and in turn improve your overall health.

Sleep helps you function better during the day and provides you with more energy, so in order to keep your sleep healthy and help you feel and perform at your best have a look at our guide to getting a good night’s sleep.

Setting a Routine

A routine is vitally important as going to bed at a similar time and getting up at a similar time each day will help to ensure you get the right amount of sleep every night. So chose a time to get up and a time to go to sleep and stick to it, as this will help program your body clock to promote healthy sleeping habits.

Relaxation

Felling stressed can cause significant problems with your sleep; it can disrupt both getting to sleep and staying asleep during the night. One way to ensure you can get to sleep and that sleep is not disturbed is by relaxing, relaxing can take many forms such as exercises or simple things such as a bath, so before you go to bed try to unwind from your daily grind.

Diet and Exercise

Whatever you eat or drink can affect the way you sleep, in order to promote healthy sleep avoid eating or drinking anything containing caffeine as this stimulant keeps you awake. Another thing to miss is alcohol, as the presence of alcohol disrupts the natural pattern of sleep types of both the body and brain which in turn affects how you feel when you wake up.

A Comfortable Environment

Where you sleep has an incredible influence on your sleep, the colour of you bedroom can be important, bright and vivid colours can distract you from falling asleep whilst neutral colours are recommended. A tidy, uncluttered, dark and quiet bedroom will also help not to mention a combination of a comfortable bed, mattress and pillows.

All in all it is simple things that help to make a good night’s sleep, however if you get these simple things right then not only will you sleep better, but feel better, improve your energy and mood.

Climbing into a king-size wooden bed with fresh bedding and the perfect mattress is the best way to end the day, but did you know that a good sleep can greatly reduce your chances of catching a cold?

A research team from Carnegie Mellon University in the US found that the likelihood of developing a cold trebled if a person slept for under eight hours a night. This seems to indicate that sleep helps maintain the immune system, allowing the body to combat viruses.

In this particular study, 153 people were regularly interviewed about their sleeping habits for a fortnight. After that, they were quarantined and exposed to the cold virus. Any symptoms were then reported for the next five days and mucous samples were taken as well.

There was a correlation that the less people slept, the more likely they were to get a cold. Similarly, those who spent time in bed but not asleep were also more likely to suffer.

Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at the University of Cardiff, said:

“I do believe there is enough information on this to indicate that lack of sleep or sleep disturbance will reduce our resistance to infections such as colds and flu.”

Sleep is clearly a good thing for us. Those who get seven or eight hours sleep a night also have lower rates of heart disease.

You may have noticed how a problem that had been troubling you for all of one day can suddenly and miraculously be solved after a night’s sleep. German scientists looked into this and it seems your brain does mull problems over while you sleep – all the more reason to get yourself a brand new king-size bed and a high quality mattress to go with it.

A maths test was set up which would result in a ‘eureka moment’ when those involved would realise that there was a shortcut to get them to the solution. The principles were explained to 66 participants who then either stayed awake to do the test or slept before it. In both cases, eight hours elapsed before the test itself was taken.

Those who had slept were far more likely to deduce the quicker way to solve the problems than those who hadn’t. Specifically, 13 of the 22 people who slept worked out the shortcut to solving the problems whereas only five of the 22 who had stayed awake managed it. A second experiment was carried out to prove that the difference was down to sleep and not simply freshness.

If you need to have two people sleep in the same room, you have several options. You can put in a double bed, two single beds or a bunk bed.

What you choose is largely down to who you need to accommodate. If it is only an occasional thing, like when guests come to stay, you could maybe put in a single guest bed with a pull-out underneath. If it is for you and your partner in the main bedroom, you will most likely go with a double bed.

Two single beds can be good, particularly in a guest room because it means you won’t have to wash as much bedding if only one person stays. However, two beds take up a lot of space. A solution to that is to get bunk beds.

Bunk beds are idea for children’s rooms. While they only take up the space of a single bed, they nevertheless offer additional sleeping space if your child has a friend come to visit. Furthermore, children find bunk beds fun and sociable. They will also benefit from the extra floor space, not just because you can place additional furniture items, but because bedrooms are used for playing in is as well by children.

A recent study has found that getting a good night’s sleep can benefit the brain in several ways. We all know that a terrible night’s sleep can leave us feeling groggy and incapable of doing certain things, but the specific effects are largely unknown.

A psychologist at Washington University recently performed a test that showed that sleep had a big impact on our ability to make what he called ‘weak associations’.

Professor Dr Mark McDaniel tested two groups of students. One group did a test after doing preparation the night before. The other group did the test on the same day as their preparation. Those who had slept performed better in the prospective memory test.

Michael Scullin, a junior researcher, said:

“We think that during slow wave sleep the hippocampus is reactivating these recently learned memories, taking them up and placing them in long-term storage regions in the brain. The physiology of slow wave sleep seems very conducive to this kind of memory strengthening.”

The message is clear. If you need to improve your prospective memory – the form of memory you use for remembering to do things – then get a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed.

How long do you need to sleep for? Eight hours is a length of time that is always mentioned when it comes to talking about what constitutes a good night’s sleep, but the real answer is that a good night’s sleep is whatever we need.

Different people have different sleeping needs. Furthermore, people will sleep for different durations at different times of their life and at different times of the year. There is no one figure that constitutes a good night’s sleep. Anwhere between three and 11 hours can be thought of as normal, depending on the individual in question.

If you feel awake and alert during the day, you’re probably getting enough. Conversely, if you’re weary and irritable, this is most likely a symptom of lack of sleep.

Sleep expert, Dr Neil Stanley, says:

“Stress is one of the major causes of poor sleep, because of financial worries and job security – we’ve also just got more things on our plate. There’s a lack of time to quieten the mind and relax the body to get a good night’s sleep.”

Tackling stress is one of the best ways of ensuring that you get the sleep you need. Beyond that, you also need to think about your going to bed routine as well as the bed you sleep in. An old mattress or an undersized bed will give you problems, even if everything else is fine.

We all know of the benefits of eating well and exercising regularly, but sleep is also vital. A recent study, carried out by Travelodge, found that three-quarters of Brits are getting by on less than eight hours a night, with reasons given being worries over work or money.

This is a concern as lack of sleep is linked to a number of health problems, including diabetes, depression and even heart disease. Dr Neil Stanley thinks that the British public are just not accepting the message that sleep is important:

“Although we have a lot of health warnings about diet and exercise, the health messages around sleep are less well-made. People see sleep as disposable. We’ve become so much busier and there’s always something seemingly better to do than sleep. But decent sleep will do you more good than diet or exercise, because it’s the bedrock from which you can build these healthy measures.”

Sleep isn’t just necessary for keeping in you in condition to do exercise, it also helps your body adapt to it. When you’re asleep, that is when your muscles are repaired. It’s also the case that when you lose sleep, you tend to hunger for sugary food more, which isn’t going to help you get in shape.

If you’ve done some exercise and your body’s aching, there is nothing better than a comfortable bed. Get a pocket sprung or memory foam mattress for added comfort and ensure your body can recuperate with some good sleep.