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This is the in-depth article explaining ‘why you can’t sleep better at night’.
Here, we will discuss the common causes that are responsible for preventing you from getting better sleep at night.
According to a survey, nearly 70 million Americans are affected by various sleep disorders every year. 25% of Americans suffer from the problem of insomnia every year.
There are also a large number of people that have 8-9 hours of sleep but still don’t get the satisfaction of sleep after waking up.
Here, we have two reasons to discuss the causes of poor quality sleep. The first is to aware you about the causes and prevent you from suffering from poor quality of sleep.
The second is to prevent the people who are already suffering from sleeping problems from practicing these causes.
Let’s start.
12 Reasons Why You Can’t Sleep Better at Night
Below are some common causes of poor sleep quality which are generally found in the person suffering from low quality sleep.
1) Sedentary Lifestyle
It is one of the major causes of poor quality sleep. In older days, people used to work hard to earn, get food, and get entertainment (such as outdoor games, dance, etc).
And due to everyday hard work, they used to get a sound sleep of the highest quality possible.
In today’s era, our lifestyle is changed. Most people sit in the office for hours and don’t get involved in any physical activities all day.
Then they complain about not being able to sleep better at night. If you are one of those people then change your lifestyle.
Here, I am not saying that you have to spend hours in the gym but at least you can spare 45-60 minutes for exercise.
2) Stress
The majority of people suffering from poor quality sleep will find stress as the number one factor for not getting better sleep at night.
This age is said to be the age of technology but we are still not able to find any technology that reduces our stress. Instead, the stress level of people in the modern era is increased.
I can understand that a little amount of stress is actually good. It keeps us alert, and active. It also encourages us to develop ourselves.
But when the amount of stress increases up to a certain level, it affects our sleep as well as overall health badly.
That’s why you should avoid living a stressful life.
The best ways to avoid stress are,
- Do meditation daily
- Laugh for at least 15-20 minutes a day
- Do exercise regularly
- Take a weekly break from work (No matter how much you love your work)
- Visit new places every year
- Read books that inspire you
- Avoid unnecessary quarrels
- Get a pet
- Spend quality time with your family and friends
- Share your problems with your true friends
- Move towards spirituality
- Get a mentor
- Have satisfaction with what you have and be happy internally
3) Light Exposure at Bedtime
Many people have the habit of keeping a night lamp on. There may be various reasons for doing so.
But this habit can put stress on your eyes that can disturb your sleep at night. There should be complete darkness in your room when you are sleeping.
When your room gets darker, the pineal gland present in our body produces melatonin which sends signals to the brain to create the perfect environment in the body to sleep.
If you turn the light on, then it can become one of the reasons for not getting quality sleep.
If it is necessary to keep the light on in the room then you should use the eye mask. It will protect your eyes from light stress due to the lamp.
Melatonin isn’t the “sleep hormone,” but it can
definitely be considered the “get good sleep hormone.”– Shawn Stevenson
4) Sleeping at Noon
Many times it happens that after having a heavy meal at noon, we get a strong urge to sleep. If you sleep for 2-3 hours then you find it difficult to be able to sleep better at night.
Well, we all might have experienced this at least once in life that you slept at noon and finding hard to sleep at night.
If it is your daily habit then you should avoid it.
A power nap of 15-20 minutes turning your body in left is considered good for health but avoid sleeping 2-3 hours at noon.
5) You Don’t Get Enough Sunlight
As mentioned above, melatonin is good for us to get quality sleep. The production and secretion of melatonin are heavily affected by light exposure.
Sunlight provides the natural spectrum of light that we need for melatonin production.
When you get more sunlight exposure during the day and less light exposure at night, you will surely get a high quality of sleep.
You should expose your body for at least 15-20 minutes daily in the morning and try to avoid sunlight in the evening.
6) Excess Consumption of Caffeine
Caffeine is a powerful substance that stimulates our nervous system. If we know how to use it then it can provide us benefits but if we consume it at the wrong time then it can harm us too.
Caffeine has 8 hours of half-life which means if we consume 100 mg of caffeine, 50 mg of caffeine will be there in our body even after 8 hours.
Few people consume caffeine three to four times daily which is wrong.
There are also people who have the habit of having coffee or tea right before going to bed. It can harm your sleep cycle very badly in long run.
If you are a daily consumer of caffeine then you should consume it before 2 pm and not after that.
Do you know about the caffeine trap…???
When you consume more caffeine, you don’t get quality sleep and become tired. Being tired you crave and consume more caffeine. It is called a caffeine trap.
7) Using Mobile Phones Before Sleeping
The artificial blue light emitted by electronic screens stimulates your body to produce more daytime hormones (like cortisol) and causes bad effects on your body’s natural preparation for sleep.
In the current era, our life is so dependent on mobile phones, laptops, and computers that we can’t even think to avoid them.
But for the sake of better sleep at night, we should avoid them at least 90 minutes before sleeping.
Rather than using mobile phones, you can do the following activities to improve your sleep.
- Practice meditation
- Read books
- Write a diary
- Make a plan for the next day
But avoid screens anyhow.
8) Excess Consumption of Alcohol
It is bad news for those who think that drinking alcohol in the evening makes them sleep faster.
Of course, they are right. Alcohol indeed makes them sleep faster but their sleep is significantly disturbed by the presence of alcohol in their body.
They won’t be able to get deep sleep, and their brain and body won’t be able to fully rejuvenate.
This is why people generally don’t feel that better after waking up.
As far as sleep is concerned, consuming alcohol after the evening is far more harmful to women.
There was conducted a study in which men and women were told to consume alcohol according to their weight so that they get drunk equally.
The results of the study showed that female participants woke up more often during the night, stayed awake longer, and slept for less time than the men.
It’s also true that alcohol affects women’s sleep more because women metabolize alcohol faster than men.
If the alcohol is consumed close to bedtime, women can fall asleep faster, but the proceeding stages of sleep will have a much greater chance of getting disturbed.
9) You Keep on Changing Sleeping Schedule
If you change your sleeping schedule often then there is a chance that you are not getting better sleep at night.
You should sleep and wake up at the same time daily. Occasional change is ok but in regular life, you have to maintain a schedule.
Waking up early in the morning is considered the best because it will also make you sleep early.
(Related: How to Wake Up Early in the Morning)
10) You are Extremely Tired
Tiredness generally helps us to get deep sleep but when you are extremely tired, it also prevents you from getting sleep.
I will advise you to have a bath adding Epsom salt in warm water before going to bed. A warm water bath relaxes the muscles and provides relief from tiredness.
You can also drink a glass of warm milk with added half a teaspoon of turmeric 15 minutes before going to sleep. It will also help you with extreme tiredness.
Never consume any pain killer as your body will get habituated to them and will cause you problems in long run.
11) You Eat Heavy Dinner
Consuming heavy meals at night can also be a good reason for not getting better sleep at night.
It happens many times that we eat heavily to satisfy the cravings for taste and suffer from disturbed sleep at night.
You should always have light meals at night and in case you eat heavily then you should go for walk after dinner.
If you know that you are going to eat heavy tonight then eat a small piece of ginger with a pinch of rock salt to it. It will increase your digestive strength.
(Click here to read)
12) You are Suffering From Sleep Disorders
If you have not been getting better sleep at night for a long time then the time has come to consult any sleep expert.
It is because you may be suffering from any sleeping problems such as insomnia, sleep apnea, etc.
The sleep expert or doctor will guide you properly and will help you get rid of your problem.
These are some common causes that are responsible for disturbing our precious sleep. If you overcome these causes, you will surely be able to sleep better at night.
Conclusion
Sleep is very precious for your body. It is your responsibility to give your body a wonderful sleep at night.
If you have any questions related to this article, you can ask me in the comment box.
If you like this article and found it helpful then don’t forget to share it with your friends.
Thanks for reading…!!!
