Finding it hard to doze off every night? Than you may be guilty of committing these habits that are making you lose precious sleep!
Stay away from technology a few hours before bedtime.
Charles A. Czeisler, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated in his 2013 piece entitled "Casting Light On Sleep Deficiency" that artificial light can trick your brain into thinking that it’s time to stay awake instead of settling down. "Technology has effectively decoupled us from the natural 24-hour day to which our bodies evolved, driving us to go to bed later and we use caffeine in the morning to rise as early as we ever did, putting the squeeze on sleep."
Try to sleep and get up at the same time every day.
As difficult as it seems, do your best to stick to a consistent sleep-wake schedule since this helps set your internal body clock. Choose a realistic bedtime that’s ideal for your lifestyle, follow it, and before you know it, you would be waking up before your alarm clock rings. Lawrence Epstein, M.D. told HuffPost Healthy Living in 2012 that waking up on your own could mean that you’re well-rested and "if you're waking someone up from sleep, it means they haven't slept enough."
Avoid eating too much before bedtime.
Having a big meal a few minutes before bedtime can make you feel bloated and groggy the next morning. It can also keep you up at night because of digestive disruptions. According to Prevention, don’t eat sugary food since it can spike up your blood-sugar levels, fat-filled foods since it can make you sluggish in the morning, and spicy foods since they may upset your stomach and stimulate your senses making it harder to fall asleep.
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