Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep series.

This week we are talking about the best beds and bedding to help you get the best possible sleep. 

Mattress

Mattress companies will tell you in their marketing that you spend about a third of your life in bed so you should invest in a good mattress, and they’re actually right.

Choosing the right mattress can make a huge difference to your sleep quality.

I personally use a Sleeping Duck mattress and recommend them to everyone I know. 

I don't get anything for saying that but you can check them out next time you are in the market for a mattress:

Sleeping Duck

I highly doubt anyone is going to impulse buy a new mattress after reading this so let's move on. 

Pillows

Good pillows are far cheaper than mattresses - and unless your mattress is terrible, I think a good pillow could give you an equal improvement in the quality of your sleep.

Just shop around and find a good one that suits you. Pillow Talk is a good shop to go to as they let you try them in store.

$100-200 for a good pillow might sound like a lot, but I think it's well worth it for the improved comfort.

If you are a side sleeper like me, I recommend our Side Sleeper Pillow.

Most pillows are okay for sleeping on your side and okay for sleeping on your back.

Our pillow is great for sleeping on your side and terrible for sleeping on your back. 

I sleep with mine every night and find it far more comfortable for sleeping on my side than other pillows. I find it terrible for sleeping on my back, but that's the trade-off.

Sheets

Good sheets can really improve your sleep experience. 

I recommend linen sheets for winter, and silk in summer. 

We had our silk mask factory make silk sheets for us and they are amazing, the most luxury sleep experience you could imagine. 

If you would like us to get them to custom make silk sheets for your bed, just send us an email and we will organise it for you. (Keep in mind real silk is incredibly expensive, it's around $1000+ for a set).

If you are looking for linen sheets I recommend the Australian company Bed Threads.

You can check them out here.

I don't get anything for recommending them but one of their co-founders said she loves our eye mask so they will forever be my favourite sheet company. 

Pillowcase

If you want warm linen sheets in winter, but don't want scratchy fabric on your face while you sleep.

If you don't want to spend $1000+ on a full set of silk sheets but you want to feel nice cool, smooth silk on your face and hair while you sleep.

Then a silk pillowcase is probably the second best value for money upgrade you can get for your sleep experience. (The best being a good pillow)..

Our silk pillowcases are 100% Mulberry silk - Genuine silk, not "vegan silk" ie cheap satin.

Blankets

I’m sure you all have a blanket.

What’s more important in Australia is being too hot to sleep.

I’m sure you all know that it’s harder to sleep without aircon but here’s the science, the optimal sleeping temperature is 18degC.

You heard it here first. It’s easier to sleep in Australia with the aircon on.

Ok, so my tips are getting to the point where the only people who would benefit from them are those who have never slept in their life so I think I’ll end this here.

Conclusion 

Spending a little extra in key areas of your bed and bedding can make a huge difference.

Spending $1000s to upgrade your mattress and spending $1000+ more on silk bedding may not be realistic.

However spending $100-200 on a silk pillowcase and a good pillow can be really good value when it comes to improving your sleep experience.

Summary

1. Get a new mattress - I like Sleeping Duck

2. Get new sheets - linen in winter, silk in summer (email us if you want us to make you a custom silk sheet set)

3. Get a new pillow - If you sleep on your side I recommend our Side Sleeper Pillow

4. Get a silk pillowcase (much cheaper than a full set of sheets and you get most of the benefits)

5. The optimal sleeping temperature is 18deg -Turn the air conditioner on? Get a blanket?

Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep series.

In previous weeks we have covered the most effective ways to improve sleep.

However... they are also the most boring things you can do to help you sleep better.

So this week, we thought we would do the total opposite.

This week is all about a topic that may not even be effective at helping you sleep better.

I'm certainly not going to try and find studies about this topic and convince you it's effective.

But that's not the point. 

This week is more about making your sleep experience nicer, better, more enjoyable.

The fun stuff.

If you want to have the best possible sleep, wouldn't making it the most pleasant and enjoyable environment be apart of that?

So let's begin today's topic:

Aromatherapy

What is aromatherapy?

The idea is that certain scents can help you with certain things.

For example, some scents can be very relaxing, pleasant and help you to sleep better.

There are a number of scents that claim to help with this. 

Here is a quick summary of a few of them.

Our sleep spray actually already contains all four of the essential oils mentioned above, as well as Frankincense to make it smell even better. 

The essential oils used to create the unique scent of our pillow spray not only smell amazing, they were chosen and blended specifically to calm and relax you to sleep after a long and stressful shift.

They are made by an aromatherapist in Melbourne. We chose her to make it because she was truly passionate about creating the best calming sleep spray blend for us, and it showed when compared to the others we tried.

She didn't dilute lavender in water and call it a spray, nor did she blend just a couple of fragrances. She carefully chose 4 high quality essential oils, all known to be calming, relaxing and sleep inducing.

She then perfected the ratios creating the most pleasant blend we think you will ever smell.

She now creates all of our sprays for us right here in Australia, never compromising in quality.

If you want to experience it for yourself, you can get yours here: 

Conclusion

There isn't really much more to say about aromatherapy, if you want to try it, you can order some essential oils and a humidifier or something similar, or you can order our sleep spray which already has a beautiful blend of sleep essential oils and spray it on your pillow before you sleep.

Bonus Tip - Tea

Since this week is all about aromas, relaxing herbs, and creating a beautiful sleep experience, we thought it would also be right to mention tea. 

There is nothing better than relaxing before bed with a hot cup of sleep tea.

Studies have shown that certain herbs can aid with things like insomnia, anxiety and trouble sleeping.

Chamomile and Lavender, which are also mentioned above are not only great essential oils to help with sleep, they are great in tea as well.

There are also other herbs which are used in tea to help with sleep, here is a couple of them:

View Sleep Tea →

Summary

1. Try our Essential Oil Humidifier

2. Try our Sleep Spray

3. Try our Sleep Tea

Welcome back to the 7 weeks to the best possible sleep program.

It is now week four, this week we will cover the 4 best supplements for sleeping better on night shift.

You have possibly noticed by our product offering and the tips I’ve given so far that I much prefer naturally sleeping better rather than using sleeping pills, however there are of course some supplements known to help with sleep.

Make sure you check the laws in your country and state before buying each of these supplements. Make sure you seek medical advice and check the proper doses, side effects and allergies and what you shouldn’t take them in conjunction with before taking them. This is not medical advice, do not listen to me, make your own decisions.

Alright let's start with the main one:

Melatonin 

I think we have talked enough about melatonin for you to know where this is going.

Here is a quick excerpt from webmd.com:

“Melatonin's main job in the body is to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles.

Darkness causes the body to produce more melatonin, which signals the body to prepare for sleep.

Light decreases melatonin production and signals the body to prepare for being awake. 

Some people who have trouble sleeping have low levels of melatonin. It is thought that adding melatonin from supplements might help them sleep.

Some people take melatonin by mouth to adjust the body's internal clock.

It is used for jet lag, for adjusting sleep-wake cycles in people whose daily work schedule changes (shift-work disorder),and for helping blind people establish a day and night cycle.”

I take this myself when I can't sleep and find it effective. Much better than sleeping pills as you don't wake up drowsy. 

I have heard you can build up a tolerance so I wouldn't use it all the time.

But if you just use it for night shift I'm sure that would be all good.

At the time of writing this you can order it for under AU$10 a bottle on iHerb, here is a link:

Bonus tip

Now as a bonus tip and thought on this subject, I have a bit of a theory which is not scientific at all and I do not want this to be considered advice or facts but bear with me anyway.

So, we already talked about how supplementing melatonin can help induce sleep as melatonin is the sleep hormone.

And we also already talked about how when it is light the body converts melatonin to serotonin which wakes you up making it hard to sleep during the day.

So, here goes my unscientific conclusion and tip. Hopefully you can already see where I am going with this and I’m not crazy.

When you wake up for nightshift and it is dark, I would draw the conclusion that your body does not convert enough melatonin to serotonin, leaving you a little deficient.

Now, if you don’t already know, serotonin is known to be the feel good chemical in our brain. 

This possibly explains how we always feel worse and more tired on night shift than on day shift, even with the same amount of sleep.

So what can we do about it? We can’t supplement serotonin as I don’t think it exists.

However, there are 3 supplements you can use to increase your serotonin levels instead.

I’ve put them in order of what seem most effective to least effective.

L-Tryptophan

From Wikipedia:

“Tryptophan is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is essential in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it: it must be obtained from the diet. Tryptophan is also a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin, the hormone melatonin and vitamin B3.

Because tryptophan is converted into 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) which is then converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin, it has been proposed that consumption of tryptophan or 5-HTP may improve depression symptoms by increasing the level of serotonin in the brain.

There is evidence that blood tryptophan levels are unlikely to be altered by changing the diet, but consuming purified tryptophan increases the serotonin level in the brain, whereas eating foods containing tryptophan does not.”

You can order L-Tryptophan Here:

5-HTP

Mentioned in the Tryptophan paragraph above but here’s some more from Wikipedia:

“5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), also known as oxitriptan, is a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor as well asa metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin.”

You can order 5-HTP here:

L-Theanine

L-theanine is an amino acid that enhances your bodys production of GABA, serotonin and dopamine. Here is a copy paste explanation from Wikipedia:

“Large studies in humans have not been undertaken; however, several smaller-scale studies (fewer than 100 participants) have shown increased alpha wave generation and lowered anxiety, along with benefits to sleep quality in people with ADHD.

The combination of theanine and caffeine has been shown to promote faster simple reaction time, faster numeric working memory reaction time and improved sentence verification accuracy. Due to this, the combination has become popular over recent years as a nootropic supplement typically found in the form of a pill, drink, or gum.

Theanine has been reported to raise levels of brain serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, with possible improvement in specific memory and learning tasks.”

You can order L-Theanine here:

Where to Order From?

You should be able to buy these supplements at most health stores or online.

The website I order mine from is iHerb.

I order from them because they have probably the biggest selection of supplements in the world and are very cheap.

They are international but orders arrive very quickly to Australia.

Here’s a little sales pitch from their website:

“Browse our site and you'll find over 1,200 brands and 30,000 brand name products that you may also find at health food stores and natural pharmacies -- with one important difference: Our prices are typically 30 - 50% less!”

You can use any of the links on this page to get a further 5% off. I will also get 5% credit towards my next order:

Link to all 4

If you want to purchase more than one supplement, to make it easier I have created a link to a cart that contains each of the products listed below, just remove the ones you don’t want and checkout.

There are 100’s of brands and sizes and doses of each supplement to choose from so feel free to browse the store if you aren’t happy with the ones I recommended.

The ones I chose are the best value (dose x quantity/price) I could find at the time of writing this.

Conclusion

In conclusion melatonin supplements are well documented in helping you sleep better and have worked for me. Just don't take them too regularly, save it for night shift. 

There are also other supplements which assist with serotonin production, which I think could be really good for helping you feel better while on a night shift.

Summary

1. Melatonin

2. L-Tryptophan

3. 5-HTP

4. L-Theanine

5. Try all 4

Over the next 7 weeks we will be sharing with you a full guide on how you can get the best possible sleep.

And we thought we would start this off with the tip that will have the biggest impact on your sleep:

Block out light.

This is the single most important factor when it comes to getting a good sleep.

Ok, I know what you are thinking, we sell sleeping masks, of course we are going to say that. 

That might be true, but actually it’s the other way around…

We sell sleeping masks BECAUSE blocking out light is the single most important factor when it comes to getting a good sleep. 

We all know how hard it is to sleep during the day.

When it is light, your body converts melatonin (the sleep hormone), to serotonin which wakes you up.

When it is dark, your body converts the serotonin back into melatonin, making you sleep.

No wonder it is so hard to sleep on night shift.

If you don’t want to take our word for it, here are some studies you can take a look at:

Everyday Health

Sleep.org

Sleep Foundation

NCBI

So how do you block out light?

 Ok let’s get this out of the way:

Get a good sleeping mask!

Sleeping masks work by blocking out light so that your body will naturally start to induce sleep.

They also prevent light from waking you up during your sleep. 

Most sleeping masks do not do a very good job of blocking out light.

Which begs the question, why even wear it if it hardly blocks out any light?

This was the question that led me to design my own sleep mask and eventually start Love Nightshift.

Now, I’m not claiming I invented a magic sleeping mask that blocks out 100% of light for everyone who wears it.

This would be impossible as everyone’s face is different. 

However, it does have a number of features which make it block out light far better than any other sleep mask.

And for those few people who it doesn’t fit, we have our 30-day return policy.

Shaped nose area with added material

The nose area is by far the most common area other masks let light in through.

I’m sure anyone who has ever tried another sleep mask has experienced this first-hand.

We fixed this by shaping the nose area so it fits around your nose, we then added extra material to create an even better seal.

Memory foam padding

The super soft memory foam shapes comfortably to your head, sealing out light.

Instead of the mask leaving gaps, especially around the corners where other masks usually let light, our mask holds its shape and moulds to your head.

Adjustable elastic strap

Not everyone’s head is the same size, that would be weird.

Our strap is adjustable so you can fit the mask to your head as tight or as loosely as you’d like.

The strap is also elastic so it can stretch and comfortably hold the memory foam against your face.

Contoured eye sockets

The contoured eye sockets have 3 benefits:

• They prevent the mask from pressing uncomfortably on your eyelids.
• They allow your eyes to move freely during the important Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of your sleep. 
• They prevent the mask from touching your eyelashes - and more importantly if you have them, your eyelash extensions.

Summary

Ok, that’s enough selling, you aren't reading this to be sold to, you are reading it because you want to sleep better... so if you want to sleep better what are you waiting for, buy our mask! (haha)

But seriously, all jokes aside, if you want to purchase one, the link is below, they really have helped 1000’s of people sleep better, you can read the reviews when you click the link. 

I promise you that aside from one from my Mum, all of the comments on that review page were posted by genuine customers who I do not personally know.

I don’t know if there’s many businesses out there that get so many nice positive reviews and comments like we do.

This makes me really proud and happy knowing that we have helped so many people and have had such a huge impact on their sleep and in turn, their jobs and their lives.

That is why this company was started.

So if you want to get the best possible sleep, get yours below:

If you already have our sleep mask, here are some more tips on how to reduce light and sleep better.

Tip 2: Reduce the light from electronics

Ok, so we are still on the subject of blocking out light. A big emitter of light that is often overlooked is your electronic devices.

I’m talking about the little LED lights on your smoke alarms, chargers, alarm clocks, TVs and air-conditioners.

Eliminate the light that any of these electronic devices in your bedroom emits.

You can put tape or stickers over the little lights and turn any off that you are not using before you go to sleep. 

This might not seem like much but it can make a huge difference.

The constant red lights aren’t that bad, but flashing lights like on smoke alarms and blue lights are terrible for affecting your sleep.

Either way it’s an easy fix and will make a difference.

Tip 3: Reduce the blue light from your screens

Reduce the blue light your electronic screens emit when using them before you go to sleep.

The blue light your devices emit is like UV light which stops your body from producing the sleep hormone melatonin.

Here’s a link to a study that shows just how serious the impact of these is.

The best thing you can do before going to sleep is to not use them, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.

There are special apps and settings you can use to reduce this blue light before bed:

• For iPhone you can use the built in “night shift” mode.
• For android I’m sure there are apps you can install which will do the same.
• For computers there is an app called f.lux.

This is another easy tip that does not seem like much, but try it, they spent all that time making those apps for a reason.

Tip 4: Wear blue-light blocking glasses

Blue light blocking glasses filter blue light which can reduce the impact it has on your sleep. 

Wearing them while on your phone before bed can help reduce the impact the light from your phone has on your sleep. 

Wearing them during your shift can also help with the impact fluorescent lights have on your sleeping pattern. 

We have a range of blue light blocking glasses which are perfect for wearing during your shift.

They are also anti-fog so that they won't fog up when you wear a mask.

They are stylish and protective.

We have 10 cute colours to choose from and they come with a protective case.

Tip 5: Change your light bulbs

If you are using a lamp to read, replace the bulb with a warm, low wattage bulb.

I would opt for an old school bulb or if you can’t find one, an LED bulb.

The fluorescent energy saving bulbs are designed to emit UV light and also tend to be much whiter.

It would also be a good idea to use your lamp instead of your main light before bed too.

You can buy a lower wattage bulb, and a “warm” instead of “white” one for your lamp so that it’s not as bright and white before bed. 

Tip 6: Block out curtains

Get block out curtains.

These can be expensive, and you probably won’t want to or be able to do this if you are living in a rental property but they do block out a lot of light. 

If you work night shifts long term and are not moving anytime soon then these are a good investment to help you sleep better.

Otherwise our sleep mask should be enough.

Tip 7: Cover your windows 

If you are renting or don’t want to buy block out curtains, you can cover your windows with tinfoil.

I have also stayed in rooms at work that have had the windows covered with tinfoil and it does block out light very effectively. 

I have heard of people using shampoo or water in a spray bottle to stick the tinfoil to their windows.

It sounds very messy and time consuming but again, it does block out light so you can sleep better.

Tip 8: Put a towel under your door

Put a towel or something similar up against your door to block out the light from coming in underneath. 

This has the added benefit of blocking out sound as well.

Final thoughts

Prepare in advance.

During the day you will be able to see all the little gaps where light gets in and cover them as best you can.

You will be surprised once the bulk of the light has been blocked out, just how many sneaky places it can get in and interfere with your sleep, and what a difference it makes.

It's best to do this before your night shifts start, the last thing you want to do after work is be covering up lights in your room.

Bonus tip – Paint your walls

Paint your walls a dark, tranquil colour, making sure to use a matte paint and not a gloss paint.

This might be a bit of an extreme tip however it is meant more for if you are painting your bedroom anyway.

Picking a colour that will make your room appear darker and easier to sleep in would be worth considering.

Conclusion

That concludes the first day of the 7 days to the best possible sleep challenge, I hope you learned something and enjoyed it!

Make sure you check your emails tomorrow for day 2.

Also, make sure you take action on all of the tips that you are able to - sleep is so important, especially for shift workers.

You really can make a big difference by just following a couple of these tips. 

Summary

1. Get a good sleep mask

2. Cover the LED lights on your electronics

3. Reduce the blue light from your screens with apps

4. Reduce your blue light exposure at work and at home with our blue light blocking glasses

5. Change your lightbulbs

6. Get block out curtains

7. Use tinfoil to block out your windows

8. Put a towel under your door