Can’t Sleep At Night? Here Are 5 Tips That Can Help
After a long day of exercising your body and mind, or after simply staying conscious, we all lay down and close our eyes, hoping for the sweet satisfaction of rest. For some people, sleep is as easy as just closing your eyes and waiting a second or two. For others, trying to fall asleep and stay asleep becomes a daily battle that you might lose daily.
Without a satisfactory night of sleep, many of the important functions in our body will not work as smoothly as usual. According to the Cleveland Clinic, some short-term effects of a loss of sleep are impaired memory, relationship stress and a higher chance of a car accident. The long-term effects carry a greater loss as sleep deprivation is associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, obesity, depression and a weak immune system.
If your sleep is affecting your daily life to a great degree please consult with a medical professional. However, if you find yourself struggling to go to sleep and have experienced the short-term effects listed above, here are five tips that can help you!
1. Before Bedtime
It’s best to avoid caffeine, alcohol or any meals with a large amount of sugar at least 8 hours before bed. Sleepopolis found that consuming sugar before bed will cause your blood sugar levels to rise allowing your pancreas to release insulin. The insulin will break down the sugar and begin the process of converting it into energy. So while you want to lay down and take a rest, your body will be hyped up and ready to go.
2. Avoid Blue-Light Screens
We often have a temptation to end our day sitting in bed with our phone, laptop or TV. Resting while watching a never-ending stream of Reels or while binge-watching our favourite show, either as our option for some wind-down time or as revenge bedtime procrastination. For those working in high-stress jobs or those finding very little time to themselves, revenge bedtime procrastination is defined by the Sleep Foundation as “the decision to sacrifice sleep for leisure time that is driven by a daily schedule lacking in free time”. Turning off phones, laptops and TV screens two hours before sleep can reduce the negative effects of interrupting your sleep-wake cycle.
3. Exercise During the Day
Physical activity during the daytime can help improve the quality of sleep you get every night! John Hopkins Medicine has found that a moderate amount of aerobic exercise, around 30 minutes, can increase your slow wave sleep, otherwise known as deep sleep. Aerobic exercises can cause endorphins to release which may keep some people awake, in turn, it’s best to exercise 1-2 hours before going to bed to allow endorphins to leave your system.
4. Leave Your Bed
If you have been trying to sleep for 20 minutes, just laying there and nothing seems to be working, then it’s best to simply get up and go to a different room to do something else. It’s natural to lay in bed for around 10-20 minutes before you drift off to sleep, falling asleep right away or after long periods of laying down is not exactly good for you either. Try doing a small activity in another room such as reading a book, doing laundry, or any small activity that will cause you to feel sleepy. Rather than laying for hours without a wink of sleep, it’s best to change your environment and activity.
5. Relax the Room and Yourself
Have you ever noticed that you fall asleep faster on the living room couch than on your bed? The reasoning behind this phenomenon is as simple as the activities that separate each room in your house. We fall asleep faster in rooms that we usually spend our time relaxing or resting in. To apply this effect to your bedroom, adjust the temperature so that your room is not too hot or cold. Use a humidifier and use bedtime essential oils to create a soothing scent in the room. If you usually do your work in your bedroom, it’s time for a change, as sleeping in the same room that we do our daily work in can cause us to continue to think of work even after working hours.
These five tips surround what controls and affects your sleep, your daily habits and lifestyle choices can have a great impact on the quality and length of sleep you get every night. While we might sacrifice our sleep to get a little more personal time, the long-term effects of sleep loss might become detrimental and irreversible. So before it gets to that point, it’s best to take care of yourself now and encourage a healthier quality of life.
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