Sleep is essential but most often neglected by many of us. Many people spend a lot of time at their job and, sometimes, work deep into the night. Inasmuch as the current economic situation forces you to work harder, doing so at the expense of sleep can be detrimental to your health and overall productivity.

What are the benefits of having a good night’s sleep?

For one, It is vital to our overall well-being and health. When we are sleeping, our body is doing its repair for all the day’s work that we had. So, we will have our energy renewed, and vigor restored when we wake up the next day.

Health-wise, getting enough sleep prevents us from gaining extra weight and the risks from heart diseases. We recuperate faster when we get adequate sleep. However, there will always be times that it seems like no matter how many stars or sheep we count, we fail and can’t sleep.

What should I do if I can’t fall asleep?

Today, we listed down some of the things that you can do when you can’t fall asleep, and so, you can stop turning yourself around on your bed.

  1. Cut off coffee time

As much as you love coffee, you should cut off your coffee time when you are consistently not getting enough sleep. There’s a significant scientific reason for that. Health experts revealed that it takes quite some time for the caffeine to fizzle out or fade. So, save yourself some sleep by cutting your coffee intake.

Why won’t my body let me fall asleep?

Based on research, it is advisable to take your last cup of cappuccino or latte at one in the afternoon or eight hours before you go to bed because otherwise, you’ll be rolling all over your bed.

  1. Eat less at dinner

Do not consume large portions of food before going to bed. When you eat a lot at dinner, your stomach will get stuffed as metabolism slows down during the evening. Carbs food like pizza and pasta are not best to eat before bed. They may taste delicious, but it will make you feel full the entire time, thus, keeping you wide awake at night.

What does it mean if I can’t fall asleep?

When you are full and laying horizontally, it can cause a burning sensation or acid reflux. Thus, giving you difficulty sleeping. So, you must train your body when it comes to food consumption. Eat more during the day, as your digestive system has more time to break down and dissolve the food.

  1. Get into the sun

Go out, have some fresh air, and get into the sun. You can exercise while you are outside. Walking or running through the neighborhood will not only cut some fats but can also help in getting the sleep that you need. The morning sun is the best light to get because it aids in our sleep.

Why I Cannot sleep at night?

When you get the full spectrum of light in the morning, you are increasing your serotonin production, which is a neurotransmitter that helps in the regulation of our mood and sleep, among many others. From serotonin comes off melatonin, the essential substance that helps in restoring deep sleep.

  1. Clean up the mess

It is unavoidable that there are times that we tend to leave things scattered everywhere in our room when we are in a hurry to leave. A little mess is bearable. Yet, clutter is not. It is disturbing. Recent cognitive, health, and stress studies found out that the effect of a disorganized room can affect us negatively mentally.

Having a room filled with an untidy mass of things is not only an issue on housekeeping but of one’s well-being. According to the latest study by a group of neuroscientists, physical clutter creates stress and impacts our ability to relax.

Why do I always wake up at 3 am?

That explains why you can’t sleep and keep tossing around your bed at night when your room is messy. Therefore, make your room tidy.

  1. Keep your bed tidy

Your bed is your sanctuary, so keeping it tidy is essential. People who regularly wash their beddings have a better sleep at night compared to those who don’t, according to the study conducted by the “National Sleep Foundation.” It always feels nice to crawl and relax into a good-smelling, soft, and clean bed after a long day at work.

Besides keeping your bed tidy, it would also be best to make your bed enticing. You can play with the color and design of your bed covers or blankets and pillowcases to suit your mood and style. Adding an air freshener to make your room smell good would also help in your sleep.

  1. Spend well on your pillows and mattress

The best beds are where we lay down to take a rest and have a good sleep to renew our body’s physical strength and health after a full day at work. So, it would be hard to get that good rest when you have an uncomfortable mattress and pillows. When you feel unease, you can’t sleep.

Getting a cozy mattress and pillows will significantly help in giving you a good sleep. There are a lot of types of fabrics used in mattresses and pillows that you can choose. For instance, pillows filled with Buckwheat Hulls are somewhat affordable, and they provide a comfortable resting place for your head. Additionally, if you’re looking to purchase a mattress, you can also take advantage of the Nectar mattress coupon available online. 

As a rule of thumb, you need to invest in something that’s quite soft, tough, and very durable. With a lot of low-quality items filling the market, it’s important to get your bedding from a reputable dealer to avoid frustrations in the future.

How to Fall Asleep Fast in 10, 60, or 120 Seconds

  1. Wear the comfiest sleepwear

What we wear when we sleep is also vital. Everything is about comfort when it comes to taking that drift off. Hence, it is necessary to wear the comfiest sleepwear to get a sound sleep. Whether it’s just a shirt, a nightie, or a cute pair of shorts and a not-so-tight-fit sleeveless top, as long as it’s the most comfortable to wear when you sleep, then it’s perfect.

The key is something comfortable. Studies showed that wearing the wrong clothes to bed links to poor sleep. Thus, wearing the cleanest, comfiest, and nice-smelling sleepwear is the first step to a healthy sleep routine.

  1. Pamper yourself with a hot bath

Naturally, our body temperature will drop during the evening that signals the production of our sleeping hormone called melatonin. That is why we feel sleepy at night.

By soaking in a hot tub or getting a warm shower, our body’s temperature will elevate, and after a while, will quickly cool down in due course. Thus, initiating sleeping hormone, resulting in better sleep.

Pampering yourself with a hot bath is also a way to eliminate germs from your body that could have stayed with you during the day when you were busy with your work.

  1. Read a book

Although you can see quite a few sites or articles telling you to read a book on your kindle or through your phone when you can’t fall asleep, our advice would be to turn off all electronic screens that have radiation and get a physical book and read.

Technology is a great source to get all the information that you like, but it would be harmful to your eyes. You are already on your laptop’s monitor for hours during the day. Love your eyes, and give them a rest from the exposure to radiation. Besides, nothing beats the good old book.

  1. Take a warm drink

Except for coffee, taking a hot drink can help you fall asleep. You can either have a hot chamomile tea or warm milk.  

Generally, milk contains a substance called tryptophan that helps increase our sleeping hormones. So, our sleepy head kicks in after having a glass of warm milk.

That is why our moms love to give us milk before going to sleep when we were children, which is also the same reason why babies fall fast asleep when they get breastfed by their mother’s milk.

  1. Make your room cozy

Apart from your bedding and nightclothes, the environment within which you sleep can also have a huge impact on your sleeping habits. It’s imperative that you make your room as cozy as possible to ensure that you enjoy a calm and relaxing night.

Having a cozy room includes temperature and lighting. Even if you did everything above, but your room is hot, you will still have a hard time sleeping. The room’s coolness is also relevant to having a good sleep.

Making your bedroom darker and more refreshing, which will depend on your preference, also aids in stimulating restful sleep. You can always adjust your room’s temperature, according to what suits you best. You can also use heavy and dark curtains to add to the coziness of your room’s entire settings.

  1. Refrain from checking your social media

When you keep on checking your social media, your mind will get busy. Therefore, keeping you from falling asleep. Avoid going online when you are already on your bed. Our brain immediately reacts whenever we see something online.

Why do teenagers stay up late?

We tend to get distracted when we see a post or a tweet from someone that doesn’t agree with our views.

Human, as we are, we tend to be emotional and sensitive. Often, our attention gets easily persuaded by anything that can catch our attention. Therefore, disrupting our sleeping hormone.

What to Do if You Can't Sleep (for Kids)

  1. Completely turn off your phone

If your phone is keeping you awake, turn it off before you go to bed. Set it aside as far as possible, away from your range. However, you can just place it in silent mode.

With that said, don’t forget to disconnect your WiFi or mobile data, so you will not get constant notifications from your social media accounts or emails, keeping your phone LED to light.

The random blink of your phone’s light and sound from the notifications can keep you awake. Making your room darker for you to sleep also means turning off all kinds of screens, including your phone.

How do I wake up my teenager in the morning?

It is by nature that our brain will instantly respond to anything that gets its attention, such as a ring or ping from our phone. Our cognitive senses will think that it might be something important or someone you want to hear.

  1. Put an eye mask

Technological innovations ushered the inventions of the modern 3D eye mask that aids in sleeping, designed to help us get the restful sleep that we need. With its unique style, high quality, soft, comfortable, smooth, breathable, and adjustable material that covers the eyes and part of the nose, it helps block the light.

A pair of eye masks will do you a favor, giving you a satisfying snooze time that you desperately need.

  1. Listen to mellow music

One of the best techniques to fall asleep is through listening to mellow music or relaxing sound. A relaxing music track has a magical effect on the human body. For one, it introduces a calming effect to your autonomic nervous system. As a result, you’ll have a lower heart rate, slower breathing, and reduced blood pressure. All these are important factors that can greatly improve your sleep.

There are a lot of available music recordings intended to help you sleep. You can also download a meditation or white noise app to soothe your mind and body.

After all, a good lullaby works wonders when we were still babies. Hence, listening to soft, mellow music while you’re lying on your comfortable mattress and hugging your cozy pillow under your blanket in a nice-smell dark, and the refreshingly cool room will surely bring you to your dreamland.

Categories: Health

Nicolas Desjardins

Hello everyone, I am the main writer for SIND Canada. I've been writing articles for more than 12 years and I like sharing my knowledge. I'm currently writing for many websites and newspapers. I always keep myself very informed to give you the best information. All my years as a computer scientist made me become an incredible researcher. You can contact me on our forum or by email at [email protected].