Sleep Talk Blog, Health & Wellbeing
6 Daily Habits That Cause Sleep Problems
Dec
Sleep Problems
Falling asleep when your head hits the pillow might sound like a pipe dream, but if you banish bad daily habits from your life, you could fall asleep faster than you can count sheep.
This article reveals the 6 daily habits that cause sleep problems by making it harder to nod off and stay asleep.
Let's jump in!
Letting daily stresses get to you
High-stress levels impair sleep by triggering the release of stress hormones that make it harder to fall and stay asleep.
Cortisol is the main culprit. Cortisol helps coordinate your sleep-wake cycles alongside melatonin, but elevated levels impair sleep and releases adrenaline and noradrenaline, which impact hormone production.
We all experience stress during the day – how you deal with it defines whether it impacts your sleep. We recommend reading up on coping strategies to find a solution for dealing with your emotions.
Consuming caffeine late in the day
A morning coffee or energy drink won’t impact your sleep, but caffeine consumed up to six hours before bedtime will.
Caffeine is bad for sleep because it binds with sleep-promoting adenosine receptors in the brain, fooling it into thinking rest is a way off. It lasts for around six hours in the body, so it is crucial to curb your caffeine consumption early.
Watch out for chocolate products, fizzy drinks, and painkillers containing caffeine, and if you must have a hot drink, choose a decaf option.
Lack of exercise
Exercising has antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects, with both depression and anxiety being triggers for insomnia. Depression and anxiety often co-occur with insomnia, and more physical activity can help break the cycle.
Research indicates that being more active can help you sleep better, and all you need to do is walk more or work out at home.
When you exercise, cortisol (stress hormone) production reduces, helping you relax, and dopamine and serotonin (happy hormones) increase. This potion can help induce sleep, improving sleep quality over time.
Exposure to blue light
It is scientifically proven that blue light from screens interrupts melatonin.
Harvard researchers studying blue light found it suppresses melatonin for twice as long as a green light and shifts circadian rhythms by precisely twice as much (3 hours vs 1.5 hours), knocking the body's sleep pattern off cycle.
Smartphones, tablets, laptops, televisions, and monitors are the primary sources of blue light, with smartphones being the worst.
We recommend turning off your devices an hour before bedtime or, at the very least, activating a blue light filter on your devices. You can also wear blue light filter glasses if you are particularly sensitive to blue light.
Staying up too late
Staying up too late might make your eyes tired, but depending on what you are up to, it could keep you awake after closing your eyes.
Additionally, it will undoubtedly reduce your sleep duration, and you might not feel refreshed in the morning even if you fall asleep quickly.
It is best to switch the lights off at the same time every night and minimise distractions by turning off your TV at the wall and switching your phone off.
Not settling down for the night
One of the biggest mistakes is following an energetic daily routine, jumping into bed, and expecting to fall asleep.
Unfortunately, this only works if you are absolutely shattered. Most people must wind down for bed so that the body's circadian rhythms kick in, triggering the release of the sleep hormone melatonin to induce sleepiness.
We recommend dimming the lights and reading a book for an hour before bedtime to give your body the time it needs to wind down. You should also create a sleep schedule so that you have set sleep and wake-up times.
If you enjoyed this article, read these 10 sleep tips.