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January is right around the corner, which means it is time to start planning your New Year’s resolutions! No matter what your resolutions are for the upcoming year, sleep plays an important role in all of them. Without enough high-quality sleep, it’s difficult to accomplish any goal. By adding better sleep to your list of new year's resolutions, your other goals will fall into place much more easily.

Sleep Resolutions

A new year means a clean slate. Pick from any or all, of these sleep resolutions to pursue throughout the coming year. You might be surprised at how many additional benefits they each can offer.

1. Sleep More

The recommended number of hours of sleep for adults is generally between 7-9 hours. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of American adults don’t get enough sleep.

Sleep deprivation on a regular basis can lead to memory issues, mood swings, trouble concentrating, a weak immune system and weight gain, just to name a few effects. If you’re consistently getting less than seven hours per night, a simple but important resolution is increasing your hours of sleep each night.

2. Create A Bedtime Routine

A great way to get more sleep is by getting into a consistent, healthy bedtime routine. Waking up at the same time each day helps you sleep better at night. Go to bed early and wake up early every day if possible. That way, you have a full day to accomplish a different new year’s resolution!

You may also want to start engaging in healthy bedtime habits. Here are a few productive things you can do before bed to wind down:

Tidy up your room
Have a cup of decaffeinated tea
Put your phone on the charger and walk away before getting into bed
Read a few chapters of a book

3. Quit The Midnight Snacking

Many people have the willpower to eat healthy foods all day, but as soon as those late-night cravings hit — it all goes out the window. Studies show that the calories from late night snacks are more likely to be stored as fat than food eaten during regular mealtimes.

If you don’t think you can quit the midnight snacking cold turkey, at least quit eating the cold turkey. Replace your usual fattening or less-than-healthy midnight grub with nutritional snacks like nuts, bananas or sweet potatoes. You can also make a promise to yourself to just avoid eating after a certain time of night, like 8:00 pm.

4. Lessen Your Caffeine and Alcohol Intake

This one isn’t as obviously sleep-related, but it matters in getting both high-quality and quantity sleep this upcoming year. Caffeine is a stimulant that can interfere with falling asleep at a reasonable time of night, especially if you’re not used to drinking it. If you do regularly drink caffeine, reduce your overall intake and don’t consume any caffeinated beverages a few hours before bedtime. This small change will likely help you fall asleep easier and get more hours of sleep.

Alcohol, on the other hand, is a depressant that can throw off your sleep cycle when consumed in great quantities. After a heavy night of drinking, it is common to wake up in the middle of the night or wake up much earlier than usual the next morning. This may leave you drowsy and sleep-deprived the following day.

5. Start Tracking Your Sleep

Sleep tracking is a hot new trend and people are reaping the benefits of using data to adjust their sleep habits. Monitoring your sleep contributes to a healthy lifestyle, helps optimize your future sleep patterns and motivates you to regulate your sleep.

Buying a sleep tracking device (if you don’t already have one) before the new year can get you motivated to track your sleep starting January 1.

6. Learn To Stop Snoring

Snoring is a natural, but potentially annoying and embarrassing habit. If you sleep with a partner, it may disrupt their sleep. If you don’t sleep with a partner, it’s still better to break the habit now! A great sleep resolution is to learn how to stop snoring for good and make a conscious effort to break that pattern.

7. Extreme Makeover: Bed Edition

When was the last time you purchased a new mattress? A new set of sheets? If you struggle with sleep issues, your outdated bed could be a contributing factor and you haven’t even realized it.

In the new year, reassess your sleep system and decide what needs to be updated. Have fun purchasing new bed decor to reflect the phase of life you’re currently in. After all, the bed is the centerpiece of the most important room in the house —yours!

New Year, New Sleep System

A great way to guarantee better sleep is through Mattress Warehouse’s bedMATCH™. By using mathematical measurements and scientific calculations, this system matches you with the best mattress for your body type and sleeping position. Throw out the old, lumpy mattress and start the new year off right with a brand-new bed that’s perfect for you.

Constantly feeling well-rested will help you tackle all your New Year’s resolutions. Be dedicated to improving your sleep and watch as it becomes easier to improve your life in other ways, too.