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How to Sleep Better Every Night

How to Sleep Better Every Night
by
February 08, 2018
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For busy adults with jobs, kids, friends, worries, woes and many other things to keep us awake at night, a good night’s sleep can be a very hard thing to come by. During teenage years, it can seem like sleep is the easiest thing in the world, in fact, it can be easy to sleep too much during those years of change and growth. But once we hit adulthood and life gets in the way, it all changes, and we long to be that sleepy, carefree person again!

If you have been having trouble falling asleep, or you’ve found that you wake during the night, resulting in tired and fuzzy mornings, then it’s important that you get to the bottom of this issue and find some solutions to help. Quality sleep is important for many reasons, so let’s take a look into why you might not be getting as much as you need.

 

There’s always something to keep you awake! But getting enough sleep is vital

Why you’re not sleeping as well as you could be

Your lack of sleep could be due to a myriad of different factors, whether emotional, physical or environmental. However, there are some key factors which commonly effect sleep. Take a look through the following list to see if you can identify with any of these sleep-depriving factors.

Stress 

Mind racing, a million things to think about, mental checklists, catastrophizing about future events! Stress can be enough to rob you of sleep for days on end. In fact, stress can affect sleep quality, and vice versa. If you haven’t been getting enough sleep, your stress levels can rise, even if stress isn’t necessarily the reasons behind your sleep issues. Chances are, stress is contributing to your lack of sleep, as modern lives have given us many things to worry about. Sometimes, it’s easy to think that going to bed early and waking up a little later is lazy when you’ve got lots to do and lots to think about. However, resist that mindset, because you actually need to get enough sleep, in order to deal with all of those stressful factors properly.

Technological stimulants 

Such a large portion of our communication with the world is done via technology. Emailing colleagues, keeping up with friends on social media, studying or researching online; whether social or professional, there’s always a bright little screen somewhere nearby. The issues come when we stare at these screens before bedtime. A little episode of a show in bed before turning out the light, scrolling social media while you wait to become sleepy, sound familiar? While it may feel like these habits are helping you nestle into your slumber, they could actually be really damaging your sleep quality. The bright blue light emitted from device screens has been proven to mess with our circadian rhythm and the secretion of melatonin (sleep hormone). What’s more, multiple images, words, ideas and information pushing its way into our brain spurs our imaginations and gets the mind buzzing with new ideas when we should be putting our thoughts to bed until the morning.

Medication

Certain medications can disrupt sleep, which is unfortunate because you need to take your medication if it has been prescribed. Medications such as antidepressants (fluoxetine especially) can cause sleepiness in the day time, and alertness or very light sleep at night. The best option is to talk to your doctor about how to combat these annoying side-effects and try to get your sleep pattern back on track. Exercise, meditation, and a very regular sleep schedule can sometimes really help.

Environmental issues  

A noisy and hot bedroom with too much light spilling through is a recipe for disrupted sleep, as is an unsuitable mattress and pillow. A snoring partner or party-animal housemates can be the bane of a light-sleeper’s life as there is constant aural stimulation to keep the brain from easing into a REM state. Hot weather and insufficient curtains to block the light also keep the body alert and awake. Aim for a cold, dark and quiet bedroom (more on this to come!).

 

Why it’s important to get a quality night’s sleep

Sleep is as vital as eating food and drinking water. Apart from being relaxing (hopefully!), it is also crucial for many biological reasons:

Cell reparation and regeneration

When we sleep, our bodies take this time to get lots of “housekeeping” done, in the form of repairing and replacing cells, regulating hormones and organizing our memories. When we don’t get sufficient sleep, our bodies don’t get enough quality time to heal, strengthen and fight against environmental and biological wear and tear.

Supports mental health

Has anyone ever said to you “I think you just need a good night’s sleep” when you’ve been anxious or upset? Well, there’s a good chance they were right! Lack of sleep can make us feel hopeless, irritable, confused and generally down. Even if stress isn’t behind your sleep issues, emotional side-effects will be sure to follow your pattern of low-quality sleep. Lack of sleep brings all of your defenses down, leaving your body and mind struggling to keep up with daily life when it hasn’t had the chance to fully repair and restore. Give yourself a break next time you are down or feeling anxious and give yourself the gift of an early night and a sleep-in. As trivial as it sounds, it might really be the remedy you need. 

Regulates hormones

The increased and decreased secretion of hormones is closely linked to sleep quality. The secretion of cortisol, the stress hormone, is decreased during sleep; this is important to remember, as high levels of cortisol can affect weight and mood in a pretty major way. By getting sufficient sleep, your hormones can level-out to where they need to be and prevent you from suffering highs and lows of mood-adjusting hormones. The growth hormone which helps our muscles and bones to grow and strengthen is also secreted during sleep, which is paramount when you are working out a lot and trying to gain muscle mass. Another reason to get yourself to bed early!

Weight regulation

As we have previously explored, cortisol is secreted in higher quantities when we are sleep deprived. Cortisol is an unfortunate little hormone as it likes to tell our bodies to keep fat around our abdomen. Insulin also comes into play when you don’t get enough sleep; your body’s ability to process insulin is compromised and the disposal of fat cells slows down, and they get stored away instead, resulting in weight gain or halted weight loss. What’s more, being tired and grumpy increases the desire to munch on comfort foods and skip the daily workout!

 

How much sleep do we really need?

The general “8 hours a night” is still relevant for adults, but it does change according to the needs of each individual. Experts recommend anywhere between 7 and 9 hours a night. Some people need more sleep than others and require about 9 hours, and others can function perfectly well on a minimum of 7. Listen to your body; are you tired during the day? Do you feel exhausted after waking? Are you struggling with weight maintenance? If so, see your doctor and discuss how your sleep could be affecting your health. The thing is, a regular pattern of quality sleep is important. You can’t stockpile hours of sleep so you can have a week of all-nighters unfortunately! Aim to get at least 7 hours every night and then evaluate how you feel.

Never feel guilty about an early night or a late sleep-in, you NEED it.

 

How to get a quality sleep from now on

Turn off the technology

Try your hardest to get all of your online correspondence out of the way at least an hour before bedtime. Don’t be tempted to turn on Netflix and snuggle into bed with your laptop! Watch your shows in your lounge and switch-off an hour before you plan to get into bed. A good way to ensure this is to have a shower or bath before bed, which gives you at least a good half an hour of “you time”. By the time you shower, moisturize and get ready, your mind has already let go of the phone, TV and computer. Get into the habit of reading a good book (a real book, not an Ebook!) when you go to bed. Not only does reading do wonders for the creative mind, it also has a sedative effect for many people (no matter how riveting the plot). If you have a partner, make a rule with them: the bedroom is a no-tech zone! Make your bedroom a zone for talking, resting, sleeping and quality one-on-one time.

Make a routine and stick to it

Being an adult means there’s no one telling you to “go to bed!”, but sometimes it would be better if there was! Make yourself that person, and give yourself a routine. In bed by 10, light out by 10:30, wake up at 6:30 – for example. Once your body gets used to this, you might just find it succumbs to sleep much more easily. Of course, life comes up and sometimes you have to stay up late, but try your best to get everything done in time so you can enjoy that relaxing moment when you sink into the covers knowing you’ve got many hours or repairing slumber ahead of you.

Write lists and talk-it-out to shed the stress

Writing out a list of things to do can be a good way to get the checklist out of your head. If you can’t stop mentally going over your to-do list, or worrying about a certain woe, a good remedy can be writing it down or verbalizing it. If you have a partner or a trusted friend at home (or on the phone), have a chat with them about whatever is worrying you. They can offer practical advice and put things into perspective, and you might even end up having a stress-relieving laugh! Bottling things up never helps, so write it down or say it out loud so you can get some well-deserved mental rest once you hit the pillow.

 Wear yourself out with a good workout

Exercise is a great way to improve sleep quality. Whatever your fitness level, get moving at some point every day. Studies have proven that exercise can improve the sleep-quality of people with sleep-related issues, so set some time aside every day and dedicate it to moving. Not only will your body be tired (in a good way), your mood and stress levels will likely decrease, leaving you happy and ready for a good slumber. 

Consider temperature, light and noise

If your bedroom is too hot, install a ceiling fan, air conditioning system or simply an upright fan to cool you down. Too light? Get some thicker curtains with light-excluding backing to make your room as dark as can be. Snoring partner and noisy kids or housemates? Get some good-quality earplugs and get your partner to the ear, nose and throat specialist to get rid of the dreaded snore.

Try a natural remedy  

There are many natural products on the market designed to help with more restful and restorative sleep. Sometimes, even the ritual of taking a natural, herbal-infused drop to help you sleep can put your mind in a sleepy state, almost like a placebo effect.

 

Conclusion

Underestimating the importance of sleep is easy, especially as adults when we often prioritize everything else above sleep. But just remember, your body is doing very valuable work while you sleep, work which heavily effects your health, mood, weight and mental function. Assess your sleeping environment and watch-out for any factors which might be reducing the quality of your nightly sleep.

 

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