If you’ve found yourself repeatedly staying late at night and waking up very early in the morning, tiredness is a normal feeling and you’re surely going to experience it sooner or later.
Sleep is essential to maintain your good health and the energy needed to keep going on with your life. According to researchers, getting between seven and nine hours of sleep every night is the best thing you can do for your mood, memory, metabolism, and immune system among many others. How do you manage to find time to sleep without giving up other things in your life?
How You Spend Your Day Makes A Difference
The things you do during the day have a direct influence on the quality of your night’s sleep. For instance, caffeine takes about eight hours to get eliminated from your body, so it’s best to drink your last coffee of the day be early afternoon the latest.
Exercise is another thing that raises your alertness and energy levels. If you want to enjoy a good night’s sleep, stop exercising at least three hours before your bedtime. This is the time your body needs to unwind after effort.
Also, try to spend less time on devices before going to sleep. Stop using your phone at least one hour before your intended bedtime. If this isn’t possible, set it onto the night mode.
The screens of electronic devices emit blue light that interferes with your natural melanin production. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that promotes sleep. If you want your body to keep its normal melatonin production levels, avoid overexposure to blue light, particularly before bedtime.
Do Everything In Your Power To Succeed
Restful sleep should be one of your top priorities. This means that you should make sure your bedroom is the perfect place for sleeping.
Invest in a new mattress, check out these Mattress Firm reviews. Use your bed solely for resting and sleeping purposes, keep the temperature a bit lower, and use a fan or a white noise app to counteract distracting sounds. Also, make sure that your bedroom is dark, in order for your internal clock to work as it should.
Having a bedtime routine could also help. Try to find a pleasurable and relaxing activity and do it every night before going to bed. This can be meditation, stretching, yoga, or simply taking a shower or a hot bath. If you want to try an app, take a closer look at Insight Timer, as it is one of our favorites.
If you find yourself laying in bed for 20-30 minutes and still failing to fall asleep, don’t worry. You may need to provide your body more cues that bedtime is here. Get up and try to do something that doesn’t involve physical activity. You can read a book, for instance. Do this for 20 minutes and try to go to sleep again. Don’t force yourself to spend hours in bed to induce sleep, as this may actually prevent you from falling asleep.
What To Do If Sleep Still Doesn’t Come
Many students who suffer from such sleep troubles take advantage of free apps such as CBT-i to track their sleep and to understand their sleep patterns. Such apps can help you develop healthy habits and improve your sleep environment. If nothing works, try to see a sleep specialist.
