There’s nobody in this world that will deny a good night’s rest; it’s what repairs the body after a long day of hard work, rejuvenates the mind after the numerous mental challenges, and calms the soul after all the stress it had to endure. In fact, some people even go the extra mile, such as naturopathic acupuncture therapy after a gruelling workout session, not just for the boost in muscle recovery but also for the benefit of getting the best sleep ever.
Sadly, more and more people are losing sleep more often, and while a couple of nights crunching extra deadlines never hurt anybody, frequent sessions do take a toll and indicate some bad sleeping habits. So, today we want to break down this sleeplessness problem and get the root of the issue, and while we may not be able to pinpoint the exact cause, we might point you in the right direction to correct anything you’ve been doing wrong.
#1 A Troubled Mind Won’t Get Any Rest
We know how tempting it may be to try and sleep all your problems away, but try as you like, a troubled mind won’t get any rest, and you’ll find yourself waking up in the dead of night still bothered by that one thing you can’t seem to get out of your head. Sure, in cases where the problems are too big to solve, they naturally get a pass because it’s impossible to resolve them in a few minutes. But for the majority of issues that don’t fall under that level of seriousness, it’s always better to address them before heading off to bed.
- Try to Ease Your Worries: Of course, we don’t expect you to hit the ground running and be capable of solving all your worries in an instant. So try to ease your worries with baby steps like planning before the day starts or getting some parts done to get you that mental feedback of making progress. Over time, you’ll start getting better, and soon enough, you’ll be capable of crunching when the need arises.
- Indulge in Leisure: People often beat themselves up too much after just watching one episode of that Netflix series they’ve been waiting for so long, and we’d like to be the first to tell you that indulging in some leisure is perfectly fine. And whether that’s following Elon Musk’s latest tweets about Dogecoin or skimming through a few pages of that novel, offsetting your troubled mind with a bit of fun always works. Just don’t overdo it because you might end up losing sleep for having too much fun as well.
#2 You’re Still Physically Awake
If it’s not the mind that’s bothering you, then it’s most likely that your body is still physically awake and can’t seem to flip the switch yet. Now, there are many reasons for this to happen, such as working out a bit too late in the night or maybe you did something that just jolted you back to alert mode, but the fact of the matter is that your body is saying otherwise.
- Building a Night-time Routine: For some reason, it seems that the minute the global pandemic happened, a large majority of people just somehow threw their night-time routines out the window and replaced them with mismatched work schedules. Of course, we’re not trying to blame you for adjusting to the new normal, we all had to do it, and change hasn’t been as forgiving. But we think there’s no better opportunity to build back your routine once more and get into the habit of activities that can switch your brain to sleep mode.
- Cut the Super Stimulating Activities: If you’re the type that’s easily stimulated by a single pop-up notification from your phone or that one simple flash of blue light from the TV, it’s probably your best bet to cut all the super stimulating activities hours before going to bed. It might be difficult to stay put at first if you’ve grown accustomed to having your phone right beside you before bedtime, but give it a couple of days, and things will get easier.
#3 Eating a Bit Too Much
If it’s neither the mind nor the body that’s making you lose precious sleep, then the last culprit might be your tummy asking for trouble. Many of us are pretty guilty for less-optimal night-time eating habits, and dinner is usually the fanciest meal of them all. So you might want to double-check on what you’re having later because the deliciousness factor can never make up for the sleeplessness the next day.
- Keep Your Meals Light to Moderate: As a good rule of thumb, we always recommend everyone to keep their meals light and lean, especially for dinner. And if dinner wasn’t satiating enough, you can always try a bit of snacking but don’t relish the opportunity. In doing so, you reduce the risk of having an upset stomach or having to take frequent trips to the bathroom when you’re supposed to be in bed.
Laying the Groundwork for Excellent Sleep
Getting good sleep is no laughing matter, and it’s about time we start laying the groundwork for good sleeping habits to prosper. So, take the advice we gave to heart and see what areas of your sleeping routine need a bit of fixing up.
