Are You Impacting Your Own Sleep Without Knowing It?
Anyone who cares about self-care and managing their mental and physical wellbeing will no doubt understand the importance of sleep. But unlike deciding to go for a run or to eat better, getting perfect sleep is an art, and it takes more of an effort than you may realize.
For example, you can’t will yourself to have a great sleep. The more you do, the more you stay awake. So it’s important to make sure the conditions around your sleeping schedule is conducive to comfort and wellbeing more than anything else. That’s easier said than done, especially if you’ve had issues with it before.
Ensuring the environment is relaxing, that it’s not too cold or warm, that you have a clean set of sheets and enough bedding to support you, these things matter. Setting a solid bedtime and sticking to it will help more than almost anything else. But you may find that the following advice is well worth your attention also:
Blue Light Effects
Bright screens before bed aren’t the best idea, and you liely know this. Yet it’s not just the brightness itself that keeps you wired, it’s the blue light these screens give off, as the blue light spectrum can replicate the sun, and tricks your brain into thinking the sun is still out. That can delay how quickly you wind down and make falling asleep a longer process than it should be.
So if you find yourself doom scrolling or binging videos right before bed, you might be nudging your sleep schedule back without realising. Using tools like night mode on your devices helps, and so do blue light blocking glasses, especially if you’re using your screen for work late into the evening.
Caffeine Too Late
Almost every coffee or tea-drinker has lost track of how much caffeine they’ve had during the day, especially if working long hours or chasing a bit of energy. This does build up, and if you’re still sipping it into the afternoon or evening, that buzz doesn’t just fade away once you’re done with it. It hangs around and messes with your ability to relax because the half-life of caffeine will stick around for a while. Cutting it off after lunch might feel a bit strict at first, but you’ll notice the payoff when your sleep feels less broken and you don’t keep waking up at random times through the night.
Exercising/Eating Too Close To Bedtime
You might think that a late-night workout would burn off your energy and make it easier to sleep, but what it often does is ramp your body up just as you’re meant to be slowing down. Such a spike in adrenaline and body temperature can throw you out of sync with your routine.
The same applies to eating late in the evening, which don’t worry, we all do now and then (but it’s best to avoid if you’re trying to sleep well). A heavy meal just before bed can leave you feeling too full or uncomfortable to relax properly, especially if it’s rich or spicy, and your digestion requires work which means you rest less intensively.
With this advice, you’ll hopefully avoid imparting your own sleep without noticing it.
