There have been so many nights in the past when I would have trouble sleeping. I would end up staying up too late and then waking up cranky because I didn’t get enough sleep. Today I wanted to share with you guys some things you can do when you can’t sleep. So let’s jump into some sleep techniques that you can use so you can learn how to sleep better and wake up well-rested.
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12 Things To Do When You Can’t Sleep
How To Sleep Better
Drink some tea.
A lot of people I know would live by the fact that drinking tea before bed can help you become much calmer. One tea that I would recommend you to drink is chamomile tea. In the peer review article “Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with a bright future,” chamomile has been proven to relax the nerves, decrease anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, and other sleep issues. I also recommend drinking some lavender tea which can be beneficial with making you feel relaxed as well.
Buy a different pillow.
Sometimes the pillow that you are sleeping on can be the issue. Studies have shown that the shape of a pillow can affect whether you sleep well. Experiment with soft or medium pillows to see if it affects your sleep. You can also try out this well-recommended pillow to see if it works for you too!
Or don’t use a pillow at all.
Sleeping with a pillow in general could be causing you discomfort or even cause you to wake up with back pain. Try sleeping without a pillow to evaluate whether that is what is keeping you from having a good night’s rest.
It could even be your mattress causing you issues.
If you’ve had your mattress for a long time, it might be time to buy a new one. Mattresses have a lifespan as well. So it might be time to purchase a new one. If you do buy one, make sure to sit down on it or lay on it for 15 minutes to test out the comfort of it.
Sleep in a cool room.
When a room feels cool, it is much easier for me to fall asleep in comparison to if the room is hot. You could even try running a fan to help you out.
Have you ever heard of ASMR videos?
ASMR videos are becoming a big thing on the internet right now. It involves listening to certain sounds and feeling relaxed after hearing them. For example, listening to waves, fire crackling, hearing a fan running, or the rain could be a form of ASMR. Watching and listening to Bob Ross as he explains what he is doing as he paints is one of my favorite ways to relax and fall asleep.
You can also invest in a sleep sound machine.
RELATED: 6 Sounds to Help You Sleep
Play some smooth jazz or some soft classical music.
When I was younger, I used to always fall asleep whenever I would hear a saxophone play within a smooth jazz song. It always relaxed me. I would suggest playing some smooth jazz or play a classical music song on repeat. Check out these jazz and classical songs for sleep.
Turn off the lights.
Make sure that the lights in your bedroom are off. Light just makes it harder for you to fall asleep because it stimulates your eyes even if they are closed.
Unplug from your phone and your tv.
So I mentioned technology as a method for helping you get to sleep, but there’s also the factor that too much technology so close to bedtime can keep your brain awake and wired. For example, a lot of people will start surfing through social media which can cause them to not be as sleepy as they once were. Try to remove technology from your reach 20-30 minutes before you are about to go to sleep. It’ll help your brain calm down to be distance from that stimulation.
Create a sleeping schedule.
It would be good to have a set time to go to bed. A lot of times we end up confusing our bodies if we try going to bed one day at 8 pm and then another day at 3 am. If possible, choose the best time to go to sleep where you feel like you will wake up well-rested and attempt to stick to this set time.
Try aromatherapy.
I’ve never personally tried aromatherapy myself, but this study suggests that it can be beneficial with sleep in combination with plants like lavender and chamomile. If you’re interested you can try it and buy this Aroma essential oil diffuser air humidifier along with the essential oils.
Count backwards or count sheep.
I know you guys have seen people count backwards or count sheep on television shows and movies when the character was having trouble falling asleep. Try it and see if it works.
Now I want to share with you guys some of the things you shouldn’t do before going to sleep and if you are doing these things… Try to stop doing them. Your rest is important.
Things You Shouldn’t Do Before Going To Sleep
Don’t drink anything with caffeine in it.
Don’t make the mistakes I have made in the past like drinking pop with caffeine in it right before bed. It will throw your entire body off track. Also be careful with drinking these energy drinks that could keep you up for a long time or knock your sleeping schedule off track.
Don’t workout too close to when you’re about to go to sleep.
Working out can give your body a gigantic boost of energy that can keep your body alert for an extended period of time. Try to workout in the afternoon or first thing in the morning.
Don’t take a nap.
Every now and then I’ll end up falling asleep and taking a nap. Then it’ll take even longer for me to fall asleep when it is time for bed. Try not to take naps so close to bedtime.
Don’t overthink everything about your current life situation.
So many nights I would end up lying awake and thinking about everything going on in my life or thinking about what different things I would do next. Those thoughts would sometimes become overwhelming and keep me up much later than I wanted to be awake.
Sleep Tip: 2-3 hours before bed, if you are feeling stressed.. Try to write out your thoughts in a journal and leave the thoughts in the journal until the next day. It can be good to write things down on paper to evaluate them, but sleep on it and evaluate the next day or even evaluate on the weekend if these are things that you can’t change straight away.
Don’t get into an argument.
The last thing that you want to do is get into it with someone just before you are about to get ready to go to sleep. I know for me when I become upset I go through this 3 part phase;
1. Is this really happening right now?
2. I feel tired and I don’t want to deal with this.
3. Okay this is happening and I’m increasing in negative energy because I am upset.
The negative energy you feel causes you to wake up and your mind starts racing about everything that you are feeling negative about. So I would recommend to distance yourself if you feel like someone is about to start an argument with you during a time when you should be relaxing as you prepare yourself mentally for the next day. You can tell the person that you’re about to get ready for the next day and get ready for bed, but that you will handle the issues or talk to them about whatever issues the next day. At the very least you’ll have time to prepare yourself for the discussion or the person may get over whatever it is that is bothering them by the next time you speak to them.
Related: Taking Naps are Ideal for Self Care
So this concludes my Things To Do When You Can’t Sleep. I hope these sleep tricks and methods assist within helping you to have a better night’s sleep. Sleep is important and you need to get your rest so that you will be able to tackle things more effectively in your day to day life. So I hope this helps you guys out!
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