Sleep is an essential component of life. In a lifetime, a man spends more than one-third of his time sleeping. This allows him to rest and recharge his body and mind after a long and busy day, and prepare for the challenges of the next day. If he fails to get enough sleep, he may feel disoriented, and manifest a number of pains and discomforts, such as headaches and feeling irritable, which may negatively impact his ability to carry out his usual tasks.
For the good of your health, you should make sure to always get around 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. This should give your cells, tissues, muscles, and organs sufficient time to grow, develop, and repair so that they can do their jobs well.
If you often find yourself tossing and turning in bed and staring at the ceiling for hours at night, you may be doing something that is affecting your sleep cycle. You have to figure out what that is so that you can correct it right away and not suffer from more severe health problems and complications down the road.
The following are examples of habits and practices that you should avoid if you want to enjoy deep and uninterrupted sleep every night:
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Do not drink coffee a couple of hours before your bedtime
Coffee contains caffeine, which is a compound that causes an energy-boosting effecting. So, after drinking even just a cup, you will feel energized and revitalized, making you feel like going out for a jog and your mind running ideas at a speed of one hundred miles per hour.
Because this is what coffee can do to your body, you should not drink it late in the day. It will take hours for the effects to wear out, making it impossible to fall asleep at your usual bedtime.
If you like to drink coffee, do it in the morning or early afternoon. This leaves enough time for the effects to disappear, allowing you to go to bed early and get enough sleep.
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Do not go to bed and wake up at varying times
Your body has an internal clock that likes to keep a consistent sleep schedule. So, to keep it working right, you have to strive to establish a set sleeping time and waking time.
If you typically go to bed at 10 pm every weekday, for example, you should try to stick to that schedule on the weekends too. Also, if you wake up at 6 am every morning for work, you should avoid waking up so late in the afternoon on days when you do not have to work.
Having regular and constant sleeping and waking times helps regulate your body clock and lowers the risk of sleep problems and disorders.
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Do not take naps late in the afternoon
Napping has been found by many research studies to offer plenty of health benefits. It can clear your mind and give you that energy boost that can help keep you going through the day. However, if done late in the afternoon, it can be a detriment to a healthy sleep cycle.
If you nap at around 2 pm or 3 pm for even just 20 to 30 minutes, it might make it hard to fall asleep at night. It might keep you up so late, leaving you with only a few hours of slumber. So, once you hear your alarm clock going off in the morning, you will feel tired, groggy, exhausted, and irritable.
If you need to nap, make sure to take them no later than lunchtime. Also, it is important that you keep them short, just around 10 to 30 minutes, so as not to negatively impact the quality of your nighttime sleep.
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Do not sleep in a noisy and bright room
The sound and light levels in your room play a critical role in the quality of your sleep. To sleep soundly, your room should be quiet and devoid of other disturbances. It should be dim too, as lights can interfere with your sleep cycle as well.
The zooming sounds of the cars on the street and the glaring glow of the lampposts outside can keep you up at night, so you should do something about it. Before going to bed, close your windows to shut out the noise and hang blackout curtains to keep your room dark.
With a quiet and comfortable sleeping environment, you should be able to sleep much more easily and feel well-rested and revitalized when you wake up the next day.
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Do not skimp on pillows, mattresses, and bedding
The quality of your pillows, linens, blankets, mattress, and other bedding is also integral to getting sufficient sleep every night. It should be good enough to provide the necessary support and comfort for your neck, shoulders, back, legs, and the rest of your body, while you are asleep.
If you use things that are of poor quality, you will become prone to neck and back pains, soreness, and other discomforts that can prevent you from performing at your best physically and mentally.
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Do not go to bed dirty
After a long and tiring day, the temptation to just jump straight into bed can be really strong. However, you should avoid doing this if you want to enhance your sleep quality.
To sleep long and well, you should take a quick shower or a hot bath before bedtime. This should help relax your mind and your tensed and tired muscles. In addition, it gets rid of the dirt, oil, grease, sweat, and other particles that have accumulated on your skin and body, leaving you all refreshed and tidy for bed.
Do not forget to brush your teeth and change your clothes too. Get the traces of food that you consumed during the day out of your mouth and smell the nice fragrance of clean pajamas as you prepare for your sleep.
