One of the major ways that benchmark adulthood is a lopsided sleep schedule, you’re either sleeping through the weekends or not sleeping at all. We’re sure you often miss the golden period of your childhood when the internet was a limited luxury and when napping through the afternoon wouldn’t make you feel unsure about getting sleep at night.
In this digital age, a good night’s sleep becomes more and more precious thanks to the constant wrath of stress, tasks and omnipresent information. If this feels relatable, we’re here to help rebound your relationship with sleep and give you a way forward.
1. Cease the Scrolling
Ah, the endless habit of your thumb swiping through your phone screen. Scrolling post-bedtime is a famous bad habit. While we understand that memes are perhaps the only thing keeping you sane, and watching reels is almost your coping mechanism, too much consumption of blue light will not only make your eyes tired but also activate your brain and induce cortisol production (the steroid hormone that keeps your brain awake). You can always change the setting of your phone to night mode to control any blue light emission but we highly recommend you keep that phone off limit once you’re in your bed.
2. Eat judiciously
Of course, food is life and sufficing your taste buds is vital, but eating snacks loaded with sugar, caffeine or nicotine right before bedtime might be the reason for your disrupted sleep. As per a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (USA) substances like sugar or nicotine are stimulants and often spike up your brain’s alertness and energy levels. However, if you do feel like snacking reach out to dry fruits, kiwis and yogurt.
3. Don’t exercise before you sleep
If you’ve overeaten and now suddenly feel like bursting into a midnight exercise spree, hold on. While staying active through the day until the evening is great for your body and sleep cycle, a workout too close to your bedtime might cause mayhem in your sleeping pattern. Exercising often increases your body temperature, and heart rate and amplifies your adrenaline which takes time to cool down, this will give you a boost of energy in contrast to what you aim to achieve, aka rest.
4. Negotiate a nap
If you have a disbalanced sleep schedule, due to that one Monday late-night binge, don’t freak out. You may be tempted to nap in between the day resulting in being wide awake until the wee hours of the morning while continuing the nexus of tiredness and sleeplessness. Avoid napping in such cases as it will interfere with your good night’s sleep, instead try indulging in some activity or a workout that will chase away the sleepiness, that will save you up the drive to sleep for later.