hi I'm Tasha from one big happy life on behalf of the financial diet and this is the lifestyle fix brought to you by fresh books the lifestyle fix is all about how can you create the life that you want on any budget today I'm gonna be talking about things you need to purge from your bedroom right now our bedrooms are supposed to be a sanctuary a place where we go to unwind relax and recharge at the end of the day according to the National Institute of Health sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health your physical health and your quality of life given that we spend a full third of our life in our bedroom sleeping it makes sense to optimize that space to provide us with the best possible sleep our bedrooms are also where we start the day waking up every morning to an organized clutter free space gets our minds into an optimal head-space first thing so let's talk about some things you might want to get rid of as you work to transform your bedroom into a sanctuary number one an uncomfortable mattress I've said it before but it's worth repeating sleep is important chronic sleep deprivation can impair your ability to learn new things solve problems and make good decisions it can also have long-term consequences on your physical health and is linked to increased risk of heart disease kidney disease and stroke just to name a few the quality and comfort of your mattress plays a key role in making sure that you get a good night's sleep not to mention that a crappy mattress can lead to chronic back pain over time but given the cost of a good mattress it's also the piece of furniture that you're most likely to be tempted to skimp on but don't do it it's worth taking the time to save up for a high-quality mattress that works best for your body test out a lot of mattresses before selecting one preferably from a store with a good return policy once you find your perfect mattress remember that it requires care to maintain and that all mattresses have a life span even the best mattress can turn into a thing of nightmares if you continue to use it past its useful life number two crappy sheets just like no one likes spending all day in scratchy sweaters no one likes sleeping on uncomfortable rough sheets also in the crappy sheet category are stain sheets or sheets with holes even that sheets are made of a flat material they don't tend to mend that well unless you add extra material as a patch which also does nothing to add to the for a factor of your seats there's nothing like slipping into a bed with clean soft sheets at night good sheets don't have to break the bank the first thing you'll want to look at is the thread count generally a low thread count makes for rough and uncomfortable sheets but beware just because the thread count is high doesn't mean that the sheets are actually better thread count refers to the number of threads in the square inch of fabric but there are also sneaky tricks that some manufacturers use to inflate the thread count and the price but not necessarily the quality as you're looking for the most comfortable and long lasting sheets pay attention to the type of cotton that was used and the weave good sheets will feel better and better after washing and never pill number three lumpy pillows a bad pillow can contribute to poor sleep and make it harder for you to fall asleep quickly if you found yourself stacking several pillows or repeatedly rearranging them to get comfortable it's probably time for you to get a new pillow a quick test to see if your pillow needs to be replaced is to fold it in half if it bounces back to straight right away then it's in good shape if not it's time to get a new one or if you're a little crafty you can rehabilitate it feather and down pillows are the most prone to lumps reducing the amount of moisture your pillow is exposed to can help prevent lumps from forming in the first place you can use a waterproof pillow cover under your pillowcase to hold out water if your pillow is already lumpy here's how you fix it you can toss it in the dryer on low or no heat with a few tennis balls you can also try opening up your pillow along the seam and manually pulling the lumps apart and then stitching your pillow back together if none of that works it's time for a new pillow you also want to make sure that you have the right type of pillow for the way that you sleep each sleeping position back side or stomach requires different support and the wrong pillow can cause neck pain and disrupt your sleep a side sleeper needs a firmer sometimes thicker pillow to keep their neck in line with their back a stomach sleeper doesn't need a pillow at all or should only use a thin or very soft one a back sleeper needs a medium pillow with medium thickness so if your pillow is disrupting your sleep at night let it go and find one that fits your needs number four clutter crowding your surface is when clutter starts to collect on surfaces in your bedroom it starts to weigh on your mental health and turn your bedroom from a relaxed area into a stress zone seeing all of that clutter and not dealing with it can even make you feel guilty right before bed and who wants that the mental stress from clutter can stifle your creative side and hurt your ability to problem-solve none of these feelings will contribute to a nice and relaxing slumber when it comes to dealing with clutter in a bedroom or any other room I like to first start by looking at exactly what's causing the clutter is it dirty laundry piled up on a chair clean laundry and a pile on the floor cuz you didn't get to folding it on open mail that somehow made it to your dresser as you work to declutter your space try to come up with alternative solutions for dealing with the clutter to minimize the likelihood that it will happen again for example if you keep piling up dirty laundry on a chair get rid of the chair because you're not sitting in it anyway and put a new laundry basket with a lid in its place instead number five books you've read or are meaning to read if you're like me and love books then it's really hard for you to look at them and see clutter but if you aren't actively reading those books or magazines then clutter is exactly what they are a pile of unfinished been meaning to we'll get there someday stuff keeping it around your bed where you can knock it over or trip on it at night isn't gonna make that pile get smaller any faster trust me instead of letting those books and magazines take up residence on your nightstand select one to keep and relocate the other books to a designated to read shelf elsewhere in your home having said that while reading before bed is a well-known way of relaxing and getting your mind primed for sleep some sleep experts believe that while it's good to read before bed you should not be reading in bed beds they insist are for two things and two things only sleep and sex so for the best and most relaxing sleep experience you might want to consider purging all books from your bedroom and doing your pre bed reading in a comfy chair somewhere else instead number six your work desk with laptops and cell phones it's really easy to take our work to bed with us working on a big project or sending a last-minute email is a great way to wind down and de-stress for bed said no one ever even if you aren't pulling out your work while you're laying in bed just having it in the same room as you serves to remind you of work and what you could be doing which can get your mind thinking about work stuff when it should be relaxed a bedroom should be a safe haven for you and that includes freedom from work staring at you in the face if you have a small apartment and can't escape your workspace completely try to hide your computer and any work papers or anything that reminds you of work by getting them out of sight keeping your work desk out of the bedroom makes it easier for you to truly clock out of the office and focus on just relaxing and drifting off to sleep number seven screens screens are everywhere but the one place that they really shouldn't be is your bedroom well disclosure I do have a television in my bedroom that I have a love-hate relationship with almost everyone has at least one electronic item in their bedrooms a National Sleep Foundation poll also showed that 95% of adults use electronics within one hour before bed and about two-thirds of adults take their phones to bed and 90% of 18 to 29 year olds do this is not a good trend because blue light the same kind of light our screens produce has been shown to affect the production of melatonin that's the chemical in our body that makes us feel drowsy letting us know that it's time to sleep less melatonin makes it more difficult to fall asleep and lets us feel like we aren't tired yet even though we are the same light from screens can also degrade the quality of our sleep throughout the night in addition to the physiological effect using the screens hurts us by adding extra stimulation and not the good kind right before bed and it also makes it more likely that we'll pick up our phones first thing in the morning and be bombarded with outside messages instead of using that time to focus on our personal priorities for our day so consider doing a digital detox and banning screens from your bedroom entirely go back to an old-school alarm clock or use a smart speaker like Amazon echo or Google home as your alarm clock and music player in the morning number 8 your pet I'm gonna qualify this one a bit and say that you don't have to kick your furry pal out of your bedroom entirely but you might want to consider banishing them from your bed now I know that this one is gonna have people all up in arms but hear me out our pets can be a great source of comfort they can help us de-stress and relax after a long day there are our companions and so many of us can't imagine sleeping without them but a recent sleep study found that 30 percent of people who shared beds with their pets are woken by their pets 63% report poor sleep and 5% had trouble falling back asleep the fact is that pets make noises and move around throughout the night those noises disrupt our sleep either by pulling us out of deeper and super essential phases of sleep or by waking us up entirely so if you are at all concerned about the amount of sleep that you're getting or the quality of your sleep it may be that you need to consider having your furry friends spend the night in a bed of their own or in a different room now that you know how to turn your bedroom into a tranquil oasis so you can get better sleep and live a healthier life let's talk about an essential business tool for a healthy business freshbooks making sure your business is in good shape starts with keeping your books in order things like invoicing tracking time and expenses project coordination and other accounting tasks can be confusing eat up valuable time and in turn caused unnecessary stress FreshBooks accounting software has been designed to make running your small business easier it streamlines all of those time-consuming accounting tasks so that you can use your business savvy or actually running your business so save yourself time and stress and improve your relationship with your business with fresh books right now fresh books is offering TFT listeners a free 30-day trial of fresh books no credit card required go to fresh books comm slash TFT and enter the financial diet in that how did you hear about us section thank you so much for watching be sure to subscribe and hit that notification valve and tune in here every single.

Friday for new episodes of the lifestyle flicks see you next time.