Tossing and turning in bed is never fun, especially when you have to get up early in the morning. Many people;e struggle with not only going to sleep at night but staying asleep. There could be many reasons why you can’t, but let’s cover a few.
The wrong sleep pattern can eventually cause far worse issues to your health and wellness if not fixed. Taking long naps can be harmful to your sleep pattern, avoiding these will be crucial. To help with this you may use natural sleep remedies, to fall asleep at an acceptable time.
Working in bed and eating large meals late can disrupt your sleep pattern. Along with drinking alcohol and too much phone time should be avoided as well. These factors may be interrupting your sleep pattern but that does not mean you can’t fix them.
Why You Should Avoid Long Naps
Let’s say you work at home, and you just got done finishing a long paper you have written. You have already eaten so the only thing you want to do is take a nap. That is okay but it depends on the time of day and how long you plan on sleeping.
It is recommended that you are able to take a short nap during the day. It brings relaxation, an improved mood, and rejuvenation. Although it is better if you take it earlier in the day. Napping is not for every individual though.
Naps can be a deterrent to getting sleep at night. If you already struggle to go to sleep at night, midday naps will not help you. If you struggle or your kid struggles sleeping at night you can try natural sleep remedies to aid you.
Essential oils for aromatherapy can help if you struggle with going to sleep. There are products that help you with this situation.
Should I Avoid Working In Bed?
During Covid, there was a major shift in people not going to the office. They began working from home, which they may never have done before. So, you had to either make an office space or work in bed.
If you already have trouble staying focused and performing tasks in an office, your bed could be much worse. Looking around your room, what do you see, maybe a tv or your phone are all distractions. This can decrease your productivity and cause you to want to take a nap at the worst of times.
The bed is supposed to be for sleeping, completing other tasks in bed can cause your brain to associate other activities at night. Instead of sleeping at night, your brain may want to work because that is what you have been training it to do.
Do Not Eat Large Meals
We are all guilty of eating that midnight snack because we can not go to sleep. It is alright once in a while but continuous late-night snacks can cause sleep problems. That and large meals before bed could be the cause of your sleep deprivation.
Eating large meals before bedtime can disrupt sleep, but it also matters what you are eating. Is it fast food, or a homemade meal? Does the dessert contain caffeine in it or heavy sugars? These are the questions you need to ask yourself before indulging.
Eating these big meals can slow your metabolism, by eating those high carbs during sleep time. It puts a strain on the body to break down those meals, which can eventually cause you to gain weight.
Avoid Alcohol
You just had your meal and want to end the night off with a glass of wine. Or, maybe you want the big game with a couple of beers. Many people end their night with alcoholic beverages and it is what may be causing your sleeping problems.
Alcohol does make you drowsy and can disrupt your sleep pattern. The amount of alcohol you drink has the ability to suppress the amount of melatonin the body creates. Melatonin is a hormone in the body that helps us sleep at night.
When drinking alcohol you may not be able to control when you wake up. You can wake up in the middle of the night, or at noon the next day. The body breaks down alcohol better at certain times during the day. One effect you do not want is building a tolerance for alcohol consumption at night, which can cause you to drink more to get drowsy.
Should I Use My Phone?
Your bedtime routine is certainly different than another person’s, but you may have something in common. Do you browse through your phone a while before you go to sleep? Of course, you have to make sure you don’t miss anything. Well, this may be harmful to your sleep cycle.
For one, phones are a distraction; it takes the mind off sleeping onto whatever you are looking at on that phone. The melatonin the body is producing is being ignored by your screen. At night the body slows down, but watching tv and videos keeps the mind awake and active.
You may have heard this before but the blue light your phone emits is bad for your eyesight and your sleep. It has the ability to rearrange your sleep cycle and disrupt your circadian rhythm. This is the process the body goes through that regulates your sleep-wake cycle.
Conclusion
If you are not getting enough sleep at night, see if you are doing any of these things and try to limit them. It is going to be hard to upright quit, but trying one at a time will help you.
Remember to avoid taking long naps or working in bed. Natural sleep remedies can help you go to sleep if you are having trouble. Avoid eating large meals and drinking alcohol too late, so you won’t slow your metabolism. Lastly, stay off your phone and avoid that blue light, which can decrease your melatonin.
One of these factors may be interrupting your sleep, with practice and patience your bedtime will become an easy process.
