You might have heard this saying before: There is nothing better than a good night’s sleep!! In today’s fast-paced world, achieving quality sleep has become increasingly challenging for many individuals.
While there are many factors that cause sleep disruption, we often overlook the subtle ways in which we sabotage our own sleep without even realizing it. This blog article aims to shed light on some common practices that may interfere with your sleep quality. By understanding these potential sleep sabotagers, you can make positive changes to optimize your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and revitalized.
Ways You are sabotaging your sleep
1. You are not getting enough sunlight in the morning!
Sleep sabotaging can happen when you are not exposed to sunlight. Light exposure to sunlight in the morning shuts off the melatonin machine and resets your circadian rhythm, which puts your body on a defined sleep-wake schedule. The sunlight makes you feel alert in the morning and sets you up to fall asleep more easily at night.
2. You are in the stage of burnout
Burnout can be the reason for you not getting a good sleep time. Everyone is working to survive and thrive in this super-driven society. If you don’t study well, you won’t get a good high paying job and if you don’t have a job that pays you well, you are not respected by society.
We are increasingly working in ways that are super-driven and hyper-stimulated and with the ever-rising cases of remote work, a lot of people are working harder because they are at home It has become easier to answer office calls at 11 p.m. at night, eat lunch in front of the screen, and work on a sofa rigorously without moving a muscle.
The concept of balanced work is thrown out the window, and the sleep cycle and health of a person are affected.
I agree that it’s important to work and build yourself, but you also need to make sure you are taking planned breaks in between and sleeping whenever you can.
3. You cannot control yourself from checking your phone before going to bed
The best time to go to bed is when the majority sleeps, night. But with the introduction of social media platforms, we are constantly scrolling our screens and wasting our good sleep time. Your phone, computer, and TV give off light from the blue part of the spectrum, which specifically stops your body’s production of melatonin, which is a crucial hormone that helps you fall asleep.
So if you are checking social media platforms at night thinking about how great everyone else’s life is (FYI, social media life is a hoax, no one’s that happy in real life), you are basically telling your body to stay awake.
You have to switch off your phone and any other electronic device that has access to social media apps one hour before you go to sleep. Initially, it would be difficult to do so, but with proper planning, you can achieve it.
4. Stop relying too much on stimulants
Coffee is amazing; it makes you feel good about your life. Even if the world is falling apart, a cup of coffee could instill hope in you that you can fight anything that is in front of you (even a dinosaur). Caffeine makes you feel energized, and do you know why? But one thing that caffeine can take from you is a good sleep time.
Caffeine is a stimulant that blocks sleep-promoting chemicals known as adenosine receptors in the brain.
Normally, a buildup of adenosine during the day helps us become sleepy by night, but caffeine interrupts this process, which results in us being more alert and attentive.
Studies have also shown that when caffeine is consumed close to bedtime, it can also delay the onset of sleep by interfering with our natural circadian rhythm.
5. You have a habit of eating big, late dinners.
A heavy, protein-packed, or fatty meal can take your stomach at least four hours to digest. So if you are eating at 8 p.m., your body will be working hard to digest the food when you crawl into bed at midnight. If you already have digestive issues, it will only make them worse.
Try eating smaller, earlier meals, and if you have to eat at night, go for sleep-promoting snacks with whole grain carbs and calcium, such as a handful of nuts, cheese, and crackers, or whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana. New research also suggests that kiwi might be a perfect pre-bed treat because it helps your body produce serotonin, which can calm you down for sleep.
6. You shower when you are near bedtime
Close to 10:30 p.m., your body’s core temperature hits its nightly peak and starts to go down. Such cooling promotes melatonin production and prepares your body to visit dreamland. This is considered the best time to go to bed.
To maximize the effect, you need to take a hot shower for about 90 minutes before bed. You’ll experience that feeling of relaxation one experiences while sleeping as your body begins to cool from the steamy rinse. To read more articles such as these, you can visit The Healthcare Insights, where we dive deep and write about general health, fitness, and technology.