Numerous things may keep you awake in the night, including your favorite entertainment, travel, job, celebration, worry, and stress. However, it is essential to note that you shouldn’t be worried if you can’t sleep. If you can’t sleep, consider seeking health services from a medical expert or make some changes in your daily operations.
Here are the things to do when you find it difficult to sleep at night.
What to do if you can’t Sleep at Night
1. Maintain A Regular Bed-Time
Maintaining a regular bedtime each night assists your body to anticipate sleep. Having a specific bedtime routine enhances the relaxation effect. Therefore, consider unwinding each night by playing sudoku, writing journals, playing with a pet, listening to music, reading, or other relaxation techniques. Support your biological clock by maintaining regular bedtimes, weekends being no exception. Maintain the discipline of getting out of bed at the right time, even if you feel worn out. It will assist you in getting the standard sleep patterns.
2. Switch Off Electronics
Your bedroom is only for sleep. Consider making the environment tech-free. With most of us currently working from home, it may be hard to avoid.
Do not use your TVs or computers in the bedroom. If unable to achieve that, consider shutting down all the electronics a few hours before switching off the lights and getting on the bed.
Quiet environments do not mean complete silence. Soothing music could be beneficial. Avoid loud and abrasive sounds. The aim is to relate your bedroom to sleep only so that the general body and brain get explicitly nodding off the signal when you get to bed.
3. Set Temperatures to the Appropriate Limits
Set the bedroom temperatures within the expected range for sleeping. The most suitable temperatures for sleep ranges from 60 to 67 Fahrenheit as per the National Sleep Foundation.
4. Exercise
I’m sure you often notice how much children play, run around, and how they sleep soundly. Observe the kids and set at least 60 minutes of your daytime exercising. Physical activities will assist you to relax and reduce your stress levels. The exercise should be within the day and not when nearing bedtime because exercises are known to keep you up before slowing you down.
If you can’t get asleep within the first 30 minutes of getting to bed, get out of the bed and stretch. Don’t force sleep on yourself since turning and tossing on bed, amplifies your anxiety. Consider doing some tedious or low-key activities. Probably reading the classifieds, organizing your junk drawers, or folding laundry. You may also consider engaging in relaxing activities, including taking a bath, meditating, or reading.
5. Relaxation Techniques that Will Assist You Sleep
Mindfulness Meditation
Lie quietly or sit. Concentrate on how you feel at that moment and your normal breathing. Let emotions and thoughts in and out without making any judgment. Return the focus on your natural breathing and general body. The meditations will assist you. The procedures vary depending on the type of situation. One of the easiest methods to use is the body scan style, which involves:
- At a comfortable pace, focus on slow inhalation and exhalation.
- Note the position of the body while on the bed.
- Take note of any sensation, whether bad or good, in your feet and legs. Allow your legs to relax and soften. Leg massages are an incredible way to unwind after a hectic day.
Proceed with the method
Observe your legs way up to the head, taking note of the sensation in each region of the body. After scanning is complete, reflect on your general body and give it time to relax.
Anybody can meditate. However, it requires numerous practices to get used to it and do it right. Hence, it is the most suitable if you can devote less than five minutes each day to improve comfort.
Progressive Relaxation
Get comfortable. Beginning with your foot, tightly tense your muscles. Practice counts of 10 before relaxing. Consider doing it for every muscle group in the body, starting from the feet to the head.
Abdominal Breathing
Breathe fully and deeply. Incorporate not only your chest but also your rib-cage, lower back, and belly. These body parts are vital in assisting you to relax. While closing your eyes, take slow and deeper breaths, allowing the subsequent breaths to be deeper than the last breaths. Use your nose to breathe in and the mouth to exhale.
Controlled Breathing
Slow and deep breathes induce calmness. The method is also called Pranayama breathing. It will prepare you to sleep by reducing the brain’s excitatory stimulus and reducing stress levels in your nervous system.
Option 1 involves:
- Slow and gentle inhalation through the nose.
- Quiet and soft exhalation through the mouth.
- Note every cycle of exhalation and inhalation or breaths, whichever is natural for you.
The second option involves:
- Placing your tongue’s tip behind the two teeth at the front and holding it in that position throughout the exercise.
- Slowly use your mouth to inhale as you count to four and with your mouth shut.
- While holding your breath, count to seven.
- Through the mouth, exhale, and count to eight. There should be a whooshing sound because of your tongue’s location.
- Repeat the 4-7-8 method three times.
If you have challenges using mantras, imagery, or beginning to learn relaxation techniques, controlled breathing is the most suitable.
6. Be Positive
Be positive in your thinking, and try to avoid the worries and stresses as it worsens insomnia. Avoid arguments with your families and spouses around bedtime. Avoid social media messages that may also trigger stress as you go to bed. Postpone all these activities till morning to meditate, reflect, and process the thoughts.
Try focusing on something positive. Remember, it is common to be in bed for about 20 minutes before falling asleep. Therefore, don’t feel discouraged when you can’t sleep within the first 10 minutes of closing the eyes.
7. Remove the Bedroom Clocks
Watching the seconds tick by when you are unable to sleep and bearing in mind that you will be tired when the alarm goes off is a risk factor for insomnia. There is no harm in having a clock but consider placing it in a place where you can’t observe the time when in bed.
8. Make Your Bedroom Cool, Dark, and Quiet
Having a cold or hot room with too much light and noise will interfere with your sleep quality. Consider using earplugs or sound machines to prevent noise originating from outside. You can also use a fan or an open window to make the bedroom cool. Eye masks and blackout curtains are also crucial in blocking excess lights. You can also practice with differing mattress firmness, pillows, and foam toppers that avail the required comfort for quality sleep.
9. Avoid Daytime Naps
Daytime naps may make it difficult for you to sleep during the night. If you need a rest, regulate it to the foremost half an hour, mainly before 3 p.m. Apart from the daytime naps, it would help if you also kept off the following before getting to bed:
10. Caffeine
It is advisable to avoid caffeinated drinks at least six hours before going to bed if you need proper sleep. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, stop much earlier.
11. Avoid Heavy Meals for Dinner
Take early dinner and preferably lighter meals. In the case of a more massive dinner, consider having it at least two hours before bedtime. Acidic or spicy meals tend to trouble the stomach and stimulating heartburn, which may interfere with your sleep while in bed.
12. Seek Assistance from a Sleep Specialist
Changes to your lifestyle may not be sufficient to improve the quality of sleep you experience. As per the American Academy of Sleep, 30% of individuals aged over 18 years have insomnia symptoms. Hence, the need to seek professional advice when you can’t sleep at night or unable to get quality sleep.
Conclusion
Don’t worry too much about not falling asleep, eventually, it will happen. Many people do have sleep problems, meaning you are not alone. Take some deep breath and in the blink of an eye, you will open your eyes in the morning after your best sleep ever. Good night!