You did everything right. You went to bed at a decent time, woke up early, only had one cup of coffee, then sat down at your desk with all your goals in mind, feeling ready for the day — or so you thought. An hour goes by, two if you’re lucky, and a thick, slimy wave of brain fog sifts down over your head until you can’t think clearly. Your eyes feel heavy, as if you didn’t get a full night’s rest, and all of the motivation you had before had flickers out into nothing. Sound familiar? Your problem may be that you are not getting quality sleep at night.
Let’s be honest: sleep is underrated. It feels more worthwhile in the moment to stay up late and tackle any projects you want to get done, rather than getting enough rest and doing it tomorrow. This way of thinking is unhealthy. In fact, it could be the cause of your mental fatigue throughout the day, which can cause you to be more unproductive than if you had a good night’s rest.
“Practice does not make perfect. It is practice, followed by a night of sleep, that leads to perfection.”― Matthew Walker
I have always been a bad sleeper. Why have deep, satisfying sleep when I could stay up late getting a few extra things done and maybe have one last cup of coffee? Throughout the day, I would feel weighed down with stress — even when things were going perfectly well in my life— and would feel overwhelmed to the point of shutting down, blocking out all responsibilities for that day. It was heartbreaking. Here I was, an abundance of dreams and ideas, and all I wanted to do was forget them and sleep. My problem was this: I considered sleep a transition to the next thing, instead of an important part of a healthy lifestyle that should be nourished and protected.
Even if your life is pulling you in all directions, there is hope. Even if you haven’t had a good night of sleep in years — yes, years — there is still hope, but the want for change begins with you. Is this an aspect of your life you wish to fully commit to improving? Keep reading and figure out if bad sleep is affecting your lifestyle negatively and how to fix it.
Here are five more signs that you need better sleep:
1. Regularly lying awake for hours
2. Excessive sleepiness
3. Sleeping less than seven or eight hours a night
4. Impaired memory or concentration
5. Changes in mood, appetite, or health problems.
— Rally Health
Take a deep breath, you are almost there. Having bad sleeping habits has taken entire days from you — possibly years — and you deserve to take back control of your life. There is no need to fault past you for the choices you made. Instead, focus on how many good things can come from better sleeping habits in the future: how much better you will feel throughout the day, more productive, a large increase in creativity and mood. It’s all within your grasp.
Here are 7 ways to improve your sleep:
1. Schedule
I’m going to be honest, you need at least seven hours of sleep a night. Some people believe that they function better on less sleep — and, perhaps, there is the occasional outlier — but for the most part, seven to eight hours is the recommended amount of sleep for healthy adults. More than that is too much, fewer is too little. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, with very little exceptions during weekends, to build up your body’s sleeping habits. If you can’t fall asleep immediately, try the next step.
2. Environment
Perhaps there is light that comes through your bedroom window and wakes you up or an excess amount of noise if you live in the city, either way, your environment could be keeping you from fulfilling sleep. It is time to invest in blackout curtains and earplugs.
3. Ritual
Before you go to bed, what is the first thing you do? Do you reach for your phone and scroll until you fall asleep? If that’s the case, your nighttime ritual could be disrupting your sleep. Put your phone across the room and read a good book in warm, cozy lighting. If that isn’t enough, try taking a relaxing bath and washing away the stress from the day. Some essential oils — like lavender — are proven to calm the nervous system, thus promoting better sleep quality.
4. Meals
It’s your last snack before bedtime, an after-dinner snack, and you’re so full you feel almost bloated. One last bite, you tell yourself. I’ll stop after this. Turns out, going to bed extremely full is just as bad as going to bed hungry. Before bed, you should avoid heavy meals for at least a couple of hours and be sure to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Coffee alone is said to take up to ten hours to completely clear from your bloodstream, which could result in restless sleep — no matter how exhausted you feel.
Caffeine is my biggest weakness. When I was at my worst, I was drinking up to five cups a day. I knew it wasn’t good for me and didn’t care because I loved the taste, the energy, the calming sensation from the warm mug. Ever night, I would toss and turn until, eventually, I would give up on sleep and turn on Netflix. Then, one morning I woke up and had two cups of coffee back to back. Instead of feeling energized, I was exhausted and anxious. Nothing sounded better than a nap, but my heart was pounding so fast that all I wanted to do was scroll WebMD. It was then that I decided to cut out caffeine for a week. And boy, was it tough. There is nothing more awful than waking up in a cold sweat with a pounding headache from caffeine withdrawal. But, that following week when it was out of my system, every night was the most incredible sleep I have ever had. It was unreal.
5. Nap Less
Most of us love a good nap. When your eyes feel heavy and you feel tired, there is nothing better than snuggling up on the couch under a warm blanket and getting a few minutes of shut eye. While naps of thirty minutes or less can be beneficial, more than that can cause the opposite effects. Unless you work nights, you should not nap later in the day; it could disrupt your sleep.
6. Exercise
Many hate this one. I hate this one. But good exercise is fantastic for you and your sleep. If you have a busy morning, research says that you may sleep better because of it. It’s important to note that you should not exercise too close to bedtime as it might keep you awake, exercising during mornings or mid-day is an important part of sleep hygiene.
“These two threads that run through our life — one pulling us into the world to achieve and make things happen, the other pulling us back from the world to nourish and replenish ourselves — can seem at odds, but in fact they reinforce each other.”― Arianna Huffington
7. Get Help
If all of these combined are not improving your sleep quality, you may be suffering from a sleeping disorder. It’s not unusual to have a night or two of restless sleep but — if you have bad quality sleep often without improvement — it’s important to find the underlying cause. Sleep determines our day. It’s important that you are getting the good sleep you deserve.
It’s not easy to change your lifestyle when it is so engrained in you. Perhaps work or school has been especially hard on you lately and it feels as if you can’t keep up. No one is perfect. You don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay to try and improve while having a night or two along the way where you get a midnight snack and stay up late, or go out with friends and stay out until 3 in the morning. This is all a journey. And the most important part is remembering that you are doing this to benefit your lifestyle.
Sleep well. It is very necessary.
Kingsmith.
Note; if you have any other suggestions, please drop in the comments section.
Thank you.
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