According to Consumer Reports, an estimated 164 million Americans struggle with sleep at least once a week. A lack of sleep makes you irritable and obviously impacts your productivity and can also lead to more serious problems like depression, ADHD, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues and more. After a long day’s work, chores, and the many tasks you need to do each day, having a bedroom sanctuary to collapse into is one of the best feelings in the world!

Regardless of the beauty of your home and the relaxing space it might provide, your bedroom should be the place your tired body longs for at the end of the day. The room you sleep in should be a clean, peaceful place that helps you relax into your bed, so you can fall asleep quickly.

Insomnia is no fun, and it affects many people daily. Sometimes insomnia can be associated with your bedtime routine. If you’ve got the television blaring or kids coming in and out while you’re trying to sleep, your sleep might suffer. But if you create a sleep sanctuary for yourself, you’re more likely to sleep like a baby and support your body in regeneration and restoration.

The following are some helpful tips to turn your bedroom into a space that helps you relax, unwind, and sleep like a baby.

5 Ways to Creating a Bedroom Sanctuary

1. De-Clutter Your Bedroom

Believe it or not, clutter in the bedroom may cause you to experience a feeling of unease. Have you ever experienced your house getting all cluttered up and then you started feeling anxious?

Then you started cleaning and felt the anxiousness disappear once you were done? The same thing can occur in the bedroom. When it’s cluttered and messy, it can feel like anxious energy that can make you feel the same. But if you de-clutter and clean it up, you’re more apt to feel relaxed and pleasant, making it easier to relax and fall asleep.

2. Choose Pastel Colors

If you have loud colors in your room, consider changing them to pastels. Calming colors like beige, white, cream, soft blues etc. have more of a calming effect on your body. If your upholstery or bed coverings are loud colors, you might want to consider changing them as well.

3. Limit Or Remove Technology

One of the most significant things you can do to support your body in making melatonin, the sleep hormone, is to minimize your exposure to blue light after dark. For many people that opt to have a television, tablet, or mobile phone in their room, it causes no problem. For others, it tends to interfere with their circadian rhythm. If you choose to have technology in your bedroom, limit your screen time in the evening (shutting down at 7pm is optimal) and be sure to turn off your Wi-Fi before going to sleep. You’re more apt to sleep better this way.

4. Add Some Candles or Essential Oils

Scented candles can take an ordinary bedroom and turn it into a relaxing space much like you’d see at a spa. Go ahead and place candles throughout your room and take time to sink in your bed with just the candles on sometimes and relax to the max.

Diffuse essential oils to help with sleep. Oils like cedarwood, lavender, vanilla, geranium and jasmine are excellent for relieving stress and anxiety and promoting sleep. Take some time to meditate, pray, contemplate, etc. When you take your room and make it into a sleep sanctuary, you’re likely to fall asleep faster and sleep better throughout the night.

5. Have Some Quiet Time

When we’re in an over-stressed state, our body produces too much cortisol, which depletes our hormones and impacts our body’s ability to make adequate sleep hormones. Even taking five or ten minutes, just sit or lie down and breathe slowly can help to shut down the cortisol that’s coursing through your veins.

Take this quiet time to release all that pent up energy you accumulated during the day. Focus on your breath, offer gratitude for the day, and simply relax fully. This helps your mind and body know that it’s nearing time for sleep, which can help you fall asleep.