It’s very important to get high-quality sleep every night. Most of us don’t focus on it because we’re too busy navigating through our daily lives, but getting poor sleep and developing bad sleeping habits has a huge effect on our health both in the short and in the long-term.
You may not know it, but you might have a couple of bad sleeping habits that you’ve developed over time. Don’t worry - almost everyone has them, so it’s important to acknowledge and work on them as soon as possible.
So, in this article, we’re looking at a few bad sleeping habits that you may have that you need to stop immediately. We’ll also highlight a couple of ways you can start correcting these habits and start sleeping much better.
Read on to learn more.
Breaking Your Circadian Rhythm
Everyone has a natural circadian rhythm, which is our body’s natural schedule that’s in line with the time the sun sets and rises. This is a cycle that signals our body when to stay awake and when we should fall asleep. Naturally, our circadian rhythm forces us to fall asleep and feel tired in the evening and stay awake during the day and it’s very important to follow this rhythm.
Our body feels sleepy due to a sleep hormone known as melatonin, which is triggered by light. When light is present during the daytime, our bodies produce less melatonin which is why we feel active. But when the sun sets and we have less exposure to light, we produce more melatonin, which causes us to feel sleepy.
Not following the circadian rhythm can cause a hormonal imbalance, making it even harder for us to fall asleep at the right time. This is why we recommend maintaining a sleep schedule where you always get 7-8 hours of sleep at night. For example, if you want to consistently wake up at 7 AM, then you need to make sure that you go to bed before 11 PM most of the time.
Eating Right Before Bed
If your body is busy trying to digest a large meal, you will have a much harder time falling asleep. Towards the end of the day, our metabolism naturally slows down, which means that it takes longer to digest food. This is why eating a large meal before sleeping makes it hard for people to fall asleep.
For example, when you lie down right after eating, some stomach acid can climb up the esophagus which gives off the burning sensation known as heartburn. If you’ve experienced it before, then you’ll know that heartburn can get so uncomfortable that you might find it hard to sleep.
This is why we recommend eating dinner at least 2-3 hours before bed. That way, your body has all the time it needs to properly digest all the food before you go to sleep. This will make you feel much more comfortable when relaxing at the end of the day, resulting in much better sleep.
With that in mind, we also recommend avoiding midnight snacks, as these can really keep you up at night and get in the way of sleeping. But if you must have a midnight snack, you can try out sleep-promoting options like bananas, cherries, and almonds.
Having a Poor Sleeping Environment
The environment where you sleep is very important. This can mean everything from the room’s air quality, lighting, temperature, noise condition, and even your bed frame. If you want to get the best night’s sleep possible, it’s important to fix your sleeping environment.
This might mean switching your bed frame for an adjustable bed or electric bed which you can tweak to your needs. That way, you can ensure that you’re always in the best position for sleeping that is comfortable and good for your body.
Some of the other ways you can improve your sleeping environment aside from changing your bedframe could be eliminating noise, making sure you get proper darkness when you sleep and getting an air purifier to improve the air quality when you sleep.
Exercising Too Close to Bedtime
When we exercise, we release a hormone called cortisol, which keeps us up and makes us active. This is why exercising in the morning or the afternoon is a great way to give your body the boost it needs to push through. However, when you exercise too close to bedtime, your cortisol levels may be too high, causing you not to get proper sleep.
So, if you want to incorporate exercise into your regular schedule, we recommend doing so in the daytime. If you move your schedule to the evening before you sleep, you risk ruining your sleep schedule.
Using Your Phone in Bed
Another common mistake that we all make before sleeping is using our phones in bed. While it’s nice to go on social media while in bed and relax before the end of the day, this is really not good for our sleeping habits. Our phones emit bright multi-coloured lights which stimulate the eyes and keep us awake.
If you notice that you’ve been sleeping later than usual or if you find it harder to fall asleep at night, we recommend reducing your screen time. While this sounds like a little thing, it makes a huge difference. When you keep your phone away when you sleep, not only will you have a calmer mind before bed, but you’ll find it much easier to get that much-needed shut-eye!
Conclusion
Sleep is very important for us. If you want to remain healthy, stay active throughout the day, and feel better overall, then it’s crucial that you get proper sleep. However, there are many of us that have developed bad sleeping habits that we don’t even notice like not paying attention to our sleeping environment, using our phones in bed, or having an inconsistent sleep schedule.
And while these things get in the way of our rest, they are also easily corrected. So, if you find that you practice one or two of these bad sleeping habits, don’t worry. With a little bit of time and effort, you’ll correct them and start sleeping much better in no time!
