Not getting enough sleep increases your chances of developing a mental health condition. It can quickly take a toll on your emotional balance, productivity, and, even more surprising, your weight. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention researched the effects of inadequate sleep on mental distress and found an association between the two.
Many factors can come between your sleep patterns. While you might not manage to control some of them, you can adopt some habits or methods to get a better night’s sleep.
Here are some of the tips, other then using Hostage Tape to keep your mouth shut we suggest you try.
1. Mind what you eat and drink
Both sleep and diet play a critical role in your health, but the relationship between the two is often overlooked. What you eat and drink can influence your quality of sleep. Some foods and drinks will make it harder to get quality sleep, while others get you asleep quickly.
However, even those that get you sleeping are not always great for a good night’s sleep. Nicotine and caffeine are known to wreak one's sleep but alcohol makes you feel sleepy. However, alcohol tends to disrupt your sleep later in the night.
Also, it’s essential to check on the quantities you consume. Heavy meals moments before bedtime can result in discomfort that keeps you awake.
2. Limit daytime sleep
An afternoon nap feels refreshing and stimulating, especially if you had a busy morning. Studies reveal that napping has beneficial effects on cognitive performance for people who experience sleep loss. However, it’s only effective based on the time of the day and the nap length.
Sleeping late in the day or falling into deep sleep can negatively affect the quality of your night’s sleep. The ideal nap should come mid-afternoon and should last between 10-20 minutes. Around this time, most people experience a decline in their energy and activity, and a nap is a great way to reenergize.
3. Adopt a sleeping schedule
If you have been observant about your sleeping habits, you may have realized a tendency to feel sleepy or wake up every day around the same time. Our bodies naturally adopt a consistent sleep pattern which can help improve sleep quality.
Sleep experts say that a regular sleeping schedule improves the quality of sleep and increases the amount of sleep you get. However, sleep patterns vary from one person to another, so it can be difficult for everyone to follow a particular schedule. It narrows down to individual factors like the environmental cues, the foods you eat, your busy times of the day, and the time you retire to bed, just to name a few.
4. Mind about your exposure to light
Your body secretes a hormone known as melatonin responsible for controlling sleep and wake-up cycles. When it is dark, your brain releases more melatonin, making you feel sleepy. During the day or when exposed to light, the brain secretes less melatonin, making you more alert.
Therefore, if you want to have a good night’s sleep, make sure you limit your exposure to light during the night or a few hours before bedtime. You can install dim lighting in your bedroom and bathroom and ban late-night television programs altogether. Avoid bright screens at night, whether it’s your phone or PC. Make sure it’s not with backlit devices if you have to read.
That way, you minimize your exposure to light at night, so your brain can release more melatonin and help you fall asleep faster.
5. Exercise right
Regular exercise helps you remain active during the day and sleep better at night. It is also proven beneficial for people experiencing sleep apnea or insomnia. It elevates temperature, speeds up body metabolism, and stimulates the release of hormones for optimum body functioning.
You may not realize the benefits of exercise immediately, so it’s good you adopt a culture of exercise and stick to it to experience the full benefits.
Your workouts don’t have to be very rigorous—it can be as simple as taking a 10-15 minutes’ walk. The workouts should, however, not come too soon before your bedtime. About three hours before you retire to bed can be a good time.
Final Word
Nearly everyone experiences disruptions in sleep at some point, and it’s not necessarily a cause of concern. Waking up in the middle of the night is normal. However, if you have been having problems with sleep for a considerable time now, it may help if you try out the above strategies. It is also important to note that sometimes it can be the effect of an underlying issue, in which case you may need to use medication or consult your doctor.
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