Sleeping so well you just can’t handle it? Yeah, we have that problem all the time. So we decided to provide some surefire ways to remedy it.
In all seriousness, we’ve learned from the School of Hard Knocks that you can take lots of steps to improve sleep but if you’re committing the following sleep sins you’ll probably still wake up feeling like you’ve been run over by the proverbial truck.
11 habits to avoid:
1. When your afternoon slump rolls around at work, guzzle a coffee. It takes the human body 8-10 hours to process caffeine, so if you’re a caffeine-sensitive person that 4pm boost will still be boosting at 11.
2. Eat a late dinner loaded with meat and beans. Yum. Your body will still be digesting when you hit the hay, and protein takes a lot to break down.
3. Start stressing about getting to sleep on time as you clean up dinner. Stress and worry are sure-fire sleep snuffers.
4. Pour a nightcap to relax. While alcohol can make falling asleep easier, it’ll likely make it harder to sleep through the night.
5. Go for some screentime in bed. Watch TV, browse with your iPad or watch Netflix. The glowing screen in your face may keep you from becoming sleepy. If you read before bed, using your iPad will probably impede drowsiness more than your Kindle because it produces blue light.
6. Turn up the heat. Colder temperatures (within reason, we don’t want you to wake up with frostbite) yield better sleep.
7. Sleep with your pooch. Doggie snoring and kicking while dreaming and, if you’re allergic, dander tend to be disruptive.
8. As you lie there getting drowsy, start thinking about your big presentation tomorrow, or the awkward interaction you just had with your neighbor, or the conflict with your best friend, or another equally anxiety-producing topic.
9. When you can’t fall asleep because you’re too anxious, just lie there trying to force it. This will build up more anxiety associated with being in bed, and will be more effective in warding off the zzzs than just getting up and doing something relaxing that doesn’t involve strenuous exercise or bright lights.
(Sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley tells us that more than 30 minutes spent directly trying to fall asleep = insomnia.)
10. Sleep on a typical mattress that’s been around for a decade. Or buy the cheapest mattress you can find made of artificial materials other than synthetic latex. That’ll ensure your rest is mediocre in comparison to what it could be, because the average mattress should be replaced after eight years and all mattresses are not created equal.
11. Hit snooze five times in the morning. Alarms disrupt the body’s sleep cycle and snoozing it means you’ll wake up feeling as rough and bleary-eyed as possible.
Having sleep trouble? Come and see us! We’ll help you get the best mattress for you within your budget, with no pressure and no slimy sales tactics.
(The inspiration for this list came from a recent article in the Huffington Post.)