In a world full of work culture, deadlines, meetings, responsibilities to fulfil and passions to follow, we all are struggling in one way or the another. All of this causes stress which directly affects the sleep of millions of people all over the world. In between our hectic schedules and more than enough screen time, many people are struggling to get the sleep quality they need.
In this article, we will discuss about the negative impact of sleep deprivation on our physical and mental health. Also, we are going to discuss 10 practical strategies with steps that you need to follow in order to get restorative sleep, improve your sleep quality and overall health.
1. Understanding How Sleep Deprivation Affects Us: Sleep deprivation does not only makes you feel tired and dizzy all day, but it has more consequences than that. Sleep deprivation weakens your concentration, decreases your cognitive function and leads to increase in stress. Not only this, it makes you prone to chronic diseases such as heart problems, diabetes and obesity.
2. Following A Regular Sleep Schedule: Being consistent with our sleep schedule, helps in the development of sleep quality. Sometimes people sleep for 8 hours straight but they wake up tired. The reason behind this is poor quality of sleep. By creating a consistent sleep schedule, you can regulate your body’s internal clock and improve the quality of sleep that you are getting. Try to go to sleep at a fixed time every night. If you follow this routine for a few days regularly, you will notice that your sleep cycle has improved.
3. Build A Sleep Friendly Environment: The environment in which you sleep, has a very huge impact on the sleep quality that you will get. If your bed is not comfortable, you are more likely to face problems while getting to sleep. Make changes in your bedroom as per your requirements. Try to keep your bedroom calm with soothing lights and cool in temperature in order to get comfortable quality of sleep. Also, use soft pillows and make sure they are not too low and too high for your neck. Optimizing your bedroom for getting quality sleep will turn out to be one the best decisions that you will make.
4. Slow Down Before You Hit The Bed: As you cannot park a vehicle when it is in its full speed, the same way you cannot bring your body to rest immediately after the fast work that you have done all day. Slow down your body before sleeping gives signals to your body that now it is the time for rest. You can take a shower, do a little bit of stretching, read your favorite book, do a little bit of Yoga or meditation, before actually hitting the bed. While you are doing any of these activities, you are actually creating a pathway for your body towards relaxed sleep. These activities will help you in improving your sleep quality.
5. Watch What You Eat And Drink: Although taking care of your diet throughout the day is very necessary. But you should pay close attention to what your eating and drinking in the hours just before your bedtime. Do not eat or drink stuff that causes disruption in sleep patterns. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and heavy meals right before sleeping as they don’t let you sleep peacefully and keep you awake. Reducing the above mentioned food and drinks will help you in boosting your sleep quality.
6. Coping With Anxiety And Stress: These days no one is immune to stress and anxiety. Lifestyle has become such that it is almost impossible to avoid stress completely. No one can get rid of the stress and anxiety completely. But you can try some techniques to reduce them. Some techniques that help in reducing stress and anxiety are Yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, swimming, drawing/doodling and walks in the nature. These techniques allow our brain to relax which leads to quality bedtime.
7. No Long Naps In The Day: To be honest, no one will let go of the chance they get in the afternoon for a nap. But if you sleep during the afternoon for a long period, it is very likely that you will face problems while sleeping during the night. If you are taking a nap during the day, try to limit it for 30 to 60 minutes. Optimizing your afternoon nap will help you in getting a better quality of sleep during night.
8. Exercise: Easier said that done, it is really difficult to find even 30 minutes for an exercise in between our hectic and busy schedules. If you are engaging yourself in at least 30 minutes of physical exercise everyday, you will find that your quality of sleep has improved. If you are going to do exercise near to your bedtime, try to choose mild exercises and avoid rigorous or heavy workouts. This is because if your body is too much energized just before sleeping, you will not be able to fall sleep quickly.
9. No Screen Before Bed : Make this rule for yourself, that you will not use any type of screen one hour before your sleep time. Our body produces a hormone called melatonin which helps in regulating our sleep cycles. The blue light emitted by electronic devices with screens interfere with this hormone and disturb our sleep cycle. You can avoid the screen time before bed by engaging yourself into activities which don’t include any electronic gadgets such as reading or simply writing a journal. Staying away from screen at least one hour before bedtime helps in improving sleep quality.
10. What To Do If Nothing Works For You ? : If any of the above mentioned strategy is not working for you, then it is time that you seek professional help. If simple remedies are not working for you and still you are finding it very difficult to get a quality sleep, then you should take the help of doctors. There can be some hidden medical problem such as insomnia or sleep apnea which can only be treated with professional help and advice.
Millions of individuals are disturbed by the problem of sleep deprivation these days. Main contributing factors for this problem are hectic work culture, busy schedules, no time for exercise and no time for rewinding and reconnecting to ourselves. In between all this, if you are a serious about improving your sleep quality then you should try to follow the above mentioned 10 practical strategies to beat sleep deprivation. Always remember that nothing happens in one day but one day, you will be able to witness some changes in your overall health and most importantly, your sleep cycle. Keep creating habits that are good for your physical and mental health and keep engaging yourself in them. Good Luck !
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