Getting quality sleep is the first step to healthy living. However, lack of good sleep can be detrimental to your health and lack of a good night’s sleep is affecting more and more people. Here I will take you through the reasons why you’re unable to sleep comfortably and furthermore, we will also look at the possible ways of fixing this issue.
So let’s gets down to business and claim back some much needed sleep!
In order to understand this topic better, let’s break down the common factors into four categories;
Lifestyle Factors
These include everything from what you eat and drink to how often you exercise. The following things will affect your sleep requirements.
Exercising too close to bedtime
Exercising raises the metabolism and encourages the production of adrenaline, which increases your alertness. If you want a good night’s sleep make sure you exercise no less than 3 hours before going to bed.
Having caffeine, alcohol or tobacco too close to bedtime
All of these things are stimulants and only serve to accelerate your excitement. As a result, you will stay awake for a long time. To remedy this, simply avoid alcohol, tobacco, and foods with high caffeine levels in the evening.
Eating heavy or spicy meals before bed
This will cause rumblings in your stomach as it tries to digest the food, and the resultant discomfort is likely to deprive you of a good night’s rest. Equally, going to bed hungry will also cause you more problems especially when your blood sugar level is low. You can avoid this by eating a light meals in the evening and reducing the quantities of spices within your meals will also help matters.
Daytime napping
Taking daytime naps for more than 30 minutes reduces your need to sleep later on at night and this can mess with your sleep pattern. Although you’ll still need to sleep at night, the ability to get to sleep will come much later during the night.
Staring at bright lights before bed
If you watch TV or spend a lot of time on smartphones or tablets before going to bed, you are much more likely to be unable to sleep as well. This is because light from these devices can stop the production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates the body’s natural sleep cycle. If you want a good night’s rest, avoid this ‘blue’ light before bedtime.
Poor sleeping position
If you go to bed in an uncomfortable position you’ll be placing stress upon your body and this results in poor sleep. To remedy this you need to assume a position that you feel most comfortable in and avoid changing it until you fall asleep.
Lack of schedule
Our bodies require a certain amount of time to fully rest, so going to sleep at irregular times will affect how you sleep. However, you can enhance the quality of your sleep by coming up with a schedule, such as going to bed at the same time every night.
Psychological Factors
Stress or depression is a good example of psychological conditions that cause many people to lie awake at night. Recent medical research has shown that our mental state is intrinsic to our sleep problems. If you go to bed with stress, chances are high you’ll have difficulties trying to sleep. You can avoid this by doing things that will soak up your stress and keep you happy before bedtime. Such things may include, watching movies and funny clips, reading a good book, or perhaps doing some mindful colouring.
Environmental Factors
These are factors related to your sleeping environment. For instance, if you change your bedroom environment, you’re more likely to suffer from insomnia. The good thing about environmental factors is that they are easy to resolve, for example if noise is robbing you of good sleep, there are many types of earplugs that can help mask the noises. Another reason may be a low-quality mattress that lacks firmness. You can read how to choose the right one here
Medical Factors
If you are on medication, the medicines you are taking can also have a negative effect on your sleep. Some can keep you awake when you’d rather be asleep. Some medications can act as stimulants to our bodies and therefore interfere with your regular sleep patterns.
You should avoid taking stimulants too close to bedtime. Besides, chronic medical conditions like fibromyalgia can greatly affect your ability to sleep well. If you suffer from fibromyalgia, you can buy yourself a good mattress designed to ease the issue.
Bottom line
As I’ve shown you above, lifestyle is a major cause of poor sleep. Nevertheless, you already know the consequences of not being able to sleep well. Therefore, the solutions suggested for each cause can help you start sleeping better.
Sleep tight!
*Collaborative post
