When we can’t sleep at night we try to fix our nighttime routine, to promote tiredness and relaxation in order to sleep. For example, we stay away from caffeine before bed, we make sure all the lights are off, and we may also avoid eating prior to sleep. If you’ve tried all these common tips for promoting sleep and still haven’t managed to improve the issue, you may be targeting the wrong problem.
Many people have trouble falling asleep, but it may have more to do with your daytime busyness than your ability to actually fall asleep. We’re all busy; we take care of our children, we have appointments to attend, and we have our own personal needs that need taking care of as well. With all that going on, sometimes 24 hours just doesn’t seem like enough time to get everything done. And all that running around could be keeping you from getting a good night’s rest.
Daytime busyness affects sleep quality
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There are many reasons why we are so busy during the day – from taking care of the family to running a business. When we’re busy we add more and more to our agendas, clogging our minds until it starts to prevent us from sleeping.
Warning signs of daytime busyness affecting your sleep include:
- Episodes of insomnia
- Waking up earlier than usual
- Sleeping less
- Feeling tired throughout the day
- Having to work harder
- Running on adrenaline
If those signs are ignored, your sleep cycle can become worsened, and the longer it goes on for, the harder it can be to get back on track. On top of that, poor sleep can negatively impact your health and increase your risk of many health conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Good sleep is a lifestyle, and not just about sleep
In order to get a proper night’s rest, you need to look at your lifestyle as a whole and not simply focus on your bedtime routine. Although it would be easy to drop all adult responsibilities in order to improve sleep quality, unfortunately, that’s not an option. Instead of trying to run away from your busy life, you need to find ways to improve it until you find a balance that will allow you to get proper sleep.
There are a few factors that play a role in sleep: good physical and mental health, a healthy diet, and being active. All of these factors affect our energy levels, which can determine if we sleep or not. In order to achieve proper sleep, it’s important to examine these factors and work on them. Here are some questions to ask yourself, to find the gaps in your lifestyle that could be impeding on your sleep.
Do you eat well?
Are you physically active? For how long and at what time of the day?
Are you stressed? Depressed? Anxious?
By targeting these main areas of your lifestyle you can work on improving your sleep. A healthy lifestyle is a more effective way to improve sleep, much more than simply modifying your sleep behaviors.
Related Reading:
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Sleep deprivation linked to stress and depression
Sleep deprivation has been linked to higher levels of stress and depression. Today, life stress and the general hubbub of modern society can keep us up at night. And for caffeine-fueled North Americans – with smartphones and tablets at their bedsides – sleeping may seem like a waste of time, to the extent that sleep deprivation has become the norm, rather than the exception. Continue reading…
Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-cunnington/good-sleep-its-not-just-about-the-night
