For those who struggle with sleep

13:02:00

I’ve struggled with sleep for years. I go through fazes of waking up constantly throughout the night or not sleeping at all, to sleeping soundly. I’ve been going through a phase of not sleeping again so I thought I’d write up a post on a few things I do to help when I’m not sleeping so well.

Get in a routine | Try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time everyday, even on weekends if you can. Doing this will train your brain so it knows when it should be resting and when it should be awake. 

Relax | It’s impossible to sleep or get to sleep if you’re stressed, even if you don’t realise that you’re stressed. Before bed light your favourite candle and just chill, don’t do anything strenuous and don’t start over-thinking - easier said than done, I know. If you wake up during the night don’t sit and look at the clock, if you’re aware how long you’ve been awake you’ll become anxious which will make your body tense and make it harder to go back to sleep. If you’re awake for a while get up and do something that isn’t very active, read or take a bath for example and then try to go back to sleep.

Light/dark | Make sure you’re subject to enough sunlight during the day and avoid using artificial light during the evenings. A chemical in your body called melatonin regulates your sleeping pattern and is triggered by light. If you don’t get enough light during the day then you’ll feel sleepy and will want to nap but if you’re exposed to too much light at night you’ll be wide awake when you should be going to sleep. 

Avoid caffeine/alcohol | Avoid drinking caffeine before bed, if you really want a coffee or tea make sure its caffeine free. Also, cut down on caffeine during the day, it may have more of an effect on your body than you think it does. Avoid alcohol during the evening too. Although it does make you sleepy it affects the quality of your sleep so you won’t benefit from the sleep you do get.

Don’t take naps | If you have had a bad nights sleep avoid having an afternoon nap as much as possible as it will just throw your sleep schedule. If you must take a nap try to limit it to 30 minutes before mid afternoon, that way it won’t affect your brains sleep schedule.

Avoid backlit devices | Don’t use your phone, laptop, iPad even your e-reader if it’s backlit up to two hours before bed - this one is what I struggle with most. The light emitted from backlit devices stimulates your brain, in turn making you more awake instead of sleepy.

Environment | Make sure your room is dark, comfortable and the right temperature. You can’t sleep in a bright room or in an uncomfortable bed, and if you're room is too hot or too cold you won’t relax.

How do you avoid a bad nights sleep?


~ Jade xx

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Canon 600D with 18-55mm lens, Canon 24mm lens or Sigma 70-300mm lens. Canon EOS M with 18-55mm lens or Canon 24mm lens. Any edited photos are edited using Photoshop CS6. Picture source is given for any photo used that is not directly ours.