Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.

- Thomas Dekker

A lot of people seem to have trouble sleeping these days. However, most people I know who suffer from insomnia are young or mid-age people who have grown up in ricer countries. It seems almost as if lack of sleep is a problem that could be associated with our modern western lifestyle.

Personally I never wake up in the middle of the night, but occasionally I find it difficult to fall asleep in the first place. Since I have to get up at the same time every morning, an additional hour awake in bed equals an hour less of sleep, making me drowsy during the days. However, I’ve been reading some on the subject and eventually I’ve created a few habits that have helped me cure my insomnia.

1. Avoid caffeine. This one is obvious – caffeine restores alertness and fights sleepiness, making it a bad thing to consume in evenings and nights. In average caffeine has a half-life of 4,9 hours, and it can have effects on your wakefulness up to 8 hours after consumption. It may therefore be a good idea to stop consuming beverages containing caffeine 8 hours before going to sleep. I go to sleep about 11 PM and therefore I avoid caffeine after 3 PM. Beverages containing high amounts of caffeine includes coffee (duh), black tea, soft drinks and energy drinks. Green tea contains caffeine too, but not as much. Herbal tea is free from caffeine.
2. Exercise. Exercising may affect your sleep in a good way. People who regularly exercise have a higher sleep quality and find it easier to fall asleep. It might however be a good idea to avoid exercising late at night, since your body may need some time to relax and cool down. Lift some weights, go running, play with your kids or do some yard-work – how you exercise doesn’t really matter, as long as you do it.
3. Avoid late-night snacks. Eating big mounts of food jumpstarts your digesting system, making it harder for your body to relax. I avoid eating 30 minutes before going to bed, or 60 minutes if it’s a bigger meal.
4. Get up at the same time every morning. One important key to good sleep is to have routines. If you go to bed late and get up late at the weekends you’ll mess up your current sleeping pattern. The key to solve this may be to get up the same time every day, and to let your body control the rest – if you’ve slept very little one night your body will respond by making you tired the next night. Simply got to bed when you’re tired.
5. Get out in the sunshine. Exposure to sunshine during the day makes your body produce more melatonin at night, a hormone that controls your sleep. Many modern sleeping pills contain melatonin due to its soporific effects. If you work indoors, try to sit as close to a window as possible. Use your breaks to go outside for a few minutes.
6. Turn off that screen. Exposure to light during the day may make it easier to fall asleep when it’s dark at night, but during the exposure of light you become more alert and wakeful. If you stay up watching TV or spend time in front of your computer you will be exposed to a lot of light and your body’s production of melatonin therefore decreases, making it more difficult to fall asleep. Stay away from your computer and TV for 30 minutes or more before going to sleep. If you have to use your computer, lower your screen’s brightness.
7. Don’t read in bed. This may not apply to everybody, but it does make a difference for some people. Reading in bed will make your brain associate the bed with brain activity and wakefulness, making it harder to fall asleep. It’s usually better to read somewhere else – e.g. in a comfy chair or a couch. The same concept applies to lying awake too long in bed, as your body will associate lying in bed with being wakeful. If you don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up and do something else (e.g. find a comfy chair and read) until you’re tired again.

If you can’t follow all of these tips, then at least follow number 1, 5 and 6. These are the ones that have helped me the most, as well as the ones that are backed up by the most scientific research.

Do you have any other tips that have helped you improve your sleep?

Photo: dotbenjamin

Further reading on insomnia

• How to solve 9 sleep problems (CNN)
• Six Simple Steps to Successful Sleep (Dumb Little Man)
• Conquer Restless Nights With This Simple Sleep Cure (Mark’s Daily Apple)

No related posts.