It's horrible when you can't get a good nights sleep and however much you try, it just seems to become harder and harder to slip into that state of unconsciousness. Then when the next day comes around and it's time to get up you can definitely feel the lack of sleep. The good thing to note is that you're not alone when it comes to sleep deprivation, and the good thing is that normally it has something to do with your daily routine.
You'll be surprised how much daily and evening habits can have an affect on sleep, and can either help you with sleeping or hinder you from sleeping.
1. Consistency
The body naturally likes consistency as its internal body clock relies on it. Making sure that you get in tune with your bodies natural sleep and wake-up times is one of the first essential things for you to do. If you go to bed and wake-up at varying times over the week then that means that your body is out of sync with its internal body clock, but there is a way to reset it.
To get your internal body clock back into sync with your body all you need to do is keep to a sleeping schedule - go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time, simple. Set an alarm clock as-well to make sure that you get up at the right time, I've written a previous post about the amount of sleep people should get: How Much Sleep do we Need?
It may take your body a couple of weeks or more to adjust to the new sleeping schedule and once it has will make going to sleep easier.
2. Relax
I've already written a post about this so I wont go into too much detail here. Basically, relaxing before bed will cause your body to become more susceptible to sleep and is great for unwinding from what has felt like a long day. One example of what you could do to relax before bed would be to read.
If you are interested in reading about this in more detail I'll refer you to the main article: How to Relax Before Bed.
3. Amount of Light-Exposure
Our bodies need light-exposure to properly function, when it gets dark a hormone called melatonin that is regulated by your body will start to kick-in and make you tired. This is as the production of this hormone is based upon light-exposure. The more light-exposure your body has - the less melatonin is produced, and vice-versa the darker it gets the more melatonin is produced.
Now you may be saying, "okay, well that's fine as its light when it's day and dark when it's night, so why are you telling me this". That's a good question. Well there are things that can mess with the production of melatonin during the day and night, and can make it difficult for you to get to sleep.
Things like having a day job where you aren't exposed to as much daylight (an office for example) or wearing sunglasses all the time can cause a increase in the amount of melatonin that is produced making you feel sleepy during the day. Similarly watching t.v, being at a computer or around some other source of artificial light at night can cause a deduction in melatonin levels making you more awake and making it harder for you to relax and fall to sleep.
4. Watch what You Eat and Drink
Food is another thing that will affect the body during sleep and depending when and what you eat can also depend how good a nights sleep you could get.
Fatty foods and other 'heavy' foods will take a lot of energy for your stomach to digest and so should try to be avoided within a couple of hours leading up to bed. Also try to eat your meals earlier in the evening as this will give your stomach more time to digest the food. I know for some people this isn't possible but if it is then give it a try.
Avoid alcohol before bed and avoid caffeine altogether (for example in coffee) if possible. Alcohol can send a person to sleep quicker, which you may be thinking that's a good thing, however it reduces the quality of sleep and your body will find it harder to go through all of the stages of sleep.
Caffeine whilst okay in smaller doses can actually provide a restless nights sleep even after as much as 10 hours after consumption.
Another thing, drinking too much water before you go to bed can also mean a midnight walk to the bathroom, so if you're going to drink lots of water I would suggest 1-2 hours before you go to bed.
Another thing, drinking too much water before you go to bed can also mean a midnight walk to the bathroom, so if you're going to drink lots of water I would suggest 1-2 hours before you go to bed.
5. Exercise More
Daily exercise is another thing that you can do during the day to help yourself get a better nights sleep. Something like only 30 minutes a day can make a big difference. As I've said in other posts, daily exercise doesn't have to be in one go and can be split into smaller chunks (10 minutes for a section lets say) spread across the course of the day.
If you're wanting to get into exercise more, then here's a previous post of mine: How to Create an Exercise Plan.
6. Avoid Smoking
As-well as being bad for your health in numerous ways, it can also be detrimental to sleep quality and can have you awake for much of the night in some cases. This is as nicotine is a stimulant which will disrupt sleep. As-well as this, depending on how much you smoke a day, you may find yourself getting up during the night to smoke as the withdrawal is too strong.
Here's another previous post of mine: How to Stop Smoking.
7. Avoid Stress
Another thing that's detrimental to sleeping and health in general is stress and anxiety. Being stressed and anxious can make it very difficult for you to sleep, I know from where I've been stressed in the past and as a result have experienced sleepless nights and then long drawn-out mornings. Try to reduce stress levels as best you can. When first starting this blog I wrote an article about stress which I will direct you to if you want to read about it in more detail: The common causes of stress and how to deal with it.
Conclusion
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