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3 Keys to Getting Better, More Restful Sleep Here are ways you can improve your sleep intensity, quality and duration -- and feel awesome in the morning.

By Jason Fell

We all need sleep. For busy entrepreneurs who need every minute they can get, having a restful night's sleep is critical to success.

When setting out to get a better, more restful night's sleep, we should look to improve our "sleep intensity, sleep quality and sleep duration," according to behavior science expert and Entrepreneur contributor James Clear.

Here are his three tips for falling asleep faster and feeling awesome when you wake up:

1. Exercise and eat better.

Eating right and working out won't directly impact your sleep, but if your body is healthy and feeling good, you increase the likelihood of falling asleep quickly and staying asleep longer, Clear says.

Related: The Beginner's Guide to Getting Better Sleep

2. Reduce sound and light.

This one sounds simple but make sure your room is dark at night -- and quiet.

Bringing devices like phones, tablets and computers to your bedroom makes getting it dark and quiet increasingly difficult. The light and sound these devices generate can disturb our body's natural process of falling asleep. They can also distract us or stress us out.

Clear recommends an app called f.lux that makes the color of your screens adapt to the time of day -- warmer at night and brighter during the day.

3. Avoid drinking alcohol.

Some people drink alcohol to fall asleep easier: the "proverbial nightcap," as Clear says. But while alcohol can make some people fall asleep, it causes most of us to get less restful sleep, he says.

In other words, you wake up feeling like hell. So, maybe think twice before pounding a six-pack before bed.

For more insight, check out the video above.

Jason Fell

Entrepreneur Staff

Former Managing Editor

Jason Fell is the former managing editor of Entrepreneur.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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