Are bad sleeping habits hurting your health and other aspects of your life?
You may not even be aware of the things you’re doing to hurt yourself. Many times we do things without thinking, and those are the very things that are causing the most problem.
In this article, we are going to talk to you about sleep hygiene and how to stop bad sleep habits in their tracks.
1. Using Screens Before Bed Time
If you use screens before bed, this can delay your body’s internal clock. Your body wants to go to sleep, but you’re sending signals and telling it that it’s still time to be awake.
Giving your family a digital curfew can help everyone fall asleep faster and enjoy a better night’s sleep.
2. Tossing and Turning
Tossing and turning make it challenging to sleep. If you wake up in the morning and you feel like you’ve had a workout, this may be because of too much tossing and turning.
Not only can tossing and turning make you tired, but it can give you a major head of frizz by damaging your hair. You can read more about it in this article by Turbie Twist.
Invest in good bedding and a good mattress to avoid tossing and turning.
3. Eating Late at Night
Do you get the munchies and want to eat right before bed? Whether you’re going out to eat and grabbing food or if you’re grabbing a snack from the kitchen, any amount of food is too much to eat late at night.
Your body has a lot of work to do during digestion. Give it some time to get its job done before bedtime and stop eating so late at night.
4. Staying Up Late
If you stay up later than you’re used to, it can throw your sleep schedule off — yes, even once.
When you get off your sleep schedule, you’re going to find that you’re not able to get up in the morning like you had trained yourself to do. Retraining your body to do what you need it to do can be frustrating and is an unnecessary added stress.
Stay on your sleep schedule, no matter how tempting it is to watch that extra episode on Netflix.
5. Working Until Bed Time
If you work up until bedtime, this hurts your sleep because your brain is running full force. When you try to put the breaks on your brain when it is trying to solve problems and help you get work done, it’s not always easy.
Schedule enough time before bed to allow your brain to relax. Take some time and read a book or do something that is relaxing and doesn’t make you have to use your brain to solve any problems.
6. Drinking Alcohol Before Bed Time
If you’re used to drinking an alcoholic drink or two before bed, you probably didn’t think that could be the culprit, but it could be.
While alcohol might help you fall asleep faster, there are some things you need to think about with this strategy.
If you drink too much alcohol, you might fall asleep before you’re used to going to sleep and mess up your sleep schedule. You might also wake up once the alcohol wakes up, which will leave you lying awake in the middle of the night wondering what you should do to get yourself back to sleep.
7. Caffeine and Nicotine Before Bed Time
A cup of coffee or a smoke before bed — a big no-no.
Caffeine and nicotine are both stimulants. If you take these in within three hours of trying to go to sleep, you may find it difficult to go to sleep or stay asleep.
While you might not be drinking a cup of coffee before going to bed, you could be taking in caffeine by drinking tea or eating a seemingly harmless chocolate bar.
Look at what you’ve consumed before bed in the last week and see if there might have been something in your diet that you weren’t noticing.
8. Hitting the Snooze Button
Another habit that might not seem like it should cause major problems for your ability to sleep is hitting the snooze button. There are many people that not only hit the snooze button once, but they hit the snooze button three or four times until they finally roll out of bed.
One of the ways you can stop yourself from hitting the snooze button is by setting your alarm and putting it on the other side of the room.
You might be using your phone as your alarm, as most people do. Do yourself a favor and get an old fashioned alarm clock so you aren’t tempted to check phone calls and texts.
When your phone or other alarm is on the other side of the room, it’s less likely you’ll hit snooze. By the time you get up and walk to turn off the alarm, your blood will be flowing, and you’ll be more likely to stay awake.
Leave Bad Sleeping Habits In the Past
Now you know more about bad sleeping habits and how to get rid of them. You’ve learned some tips and tricks for better sleep hygiene, and you are well on your way to getting a good night’s rest.
Do you want to learn more about how to set yourself up for good habits and a happy, healthy lifestyle? Our site is full of articles that are health-related as well as articles about how to live a better life.
Browse our site, find your favorite section, drop a bookmark, and come back soon for more great reads.
