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Sleep is essential for optimal health, yet millions of people struggle with sleep issues. If you have trouble falling asleep or you wake frequently throughout the night, there’s no doubt that it’s taking a toll on your physical and emotional well-being.
By identifying the causes of your sleep disturbances, you can implement effective strategies to improve your sleep quality. To find out what’s causing the issue, take a look at these five possible reasons you aren’t getting a good night’s sleep:
Too Much Stress
Although stress is a normal part of life, excess stress can be damaging. As well as having an impact on your physical health, too much stress can disrupt your sleeping habits too.
If you lie in bed worrying about things or you can’t get back to sleep when you stir in the night, for example, it could be a sign that stress is having an impact on the quality of your sleep.
Ideally, you want to reduce the amount of stress in your life so that you’re able to sleep easily once again. To manage day-to-day stress, you can also include stress management techniques into your routine.
Yoga and meditation are easy yet highly effective ways to reduce stress, for example, and, in turn, they can have a positive impact on your ability to sleep.
Faulty Sleep Devices
If you rely on sleep devices to get a good night’s rest, it’s important to make sure that they’re functioning properly. Not only can faulty sleep devices be ineffective, but they could potentially harm your health too.
If you’ve been harmed by a faulty product, like a CPAP machine, you may even be able to file a claim and obtain compensation. Of course, switching your device for one that’s safe and fully functional should also be a top priority.
Providing they’re working effectively; sleep devices can be a viable way to enhance your well-being and improve sleep quality. From prescribed CPAP machines to white noise machines and wearable sleep trackers, there are plenty of ways that technology can help you to get a decent night’s sleep.
Working Too Late
If your alertness levels are high just before you go to bed, it’s going to be tough for you to fall into a restful sleep. Now that many people are working from home, the temptation to work late into the night only increases.
Of course, this often means staring at screens throughout the evening too, which only exacerbates the problem for the vast majority of people.
Try to give yourself some rest and relaxation time before you begin your bedtime routine. Switching screens off or using blue light filters can help your body to adjust and get ready to sleep.
Following this, you’ll find it much easier to fall asleep when you go to bed and be less likely to wake up during the night.
Your Bedroom Is the Wrong Temperature
If you’ve always assumed that a warm and cosy bedroom promotes sleep, think again. The body naturally cools down while you’re asleep and lower room temperatures can signal that it’s time to go to sleep.
By keeping the temperature too high, can actually tell your body that it’s daytime, which will make it harder to get to sleep.
Try lowering the temperature in your bedroom and assessing what impact it has on your sleep quality.
Similarly, adequate ventilation can help to prevent the room from becoming overheated or stuffy and enhance your ability to sleep.
Too Much External Light
If your bedroom isn’t dark enough, too much external light could be affecting your sleep in the most negative way possible. Light pollution from external sources, such as streetlamps or flashing lights whizzing past, can be a primary cause of disrupted sleep. Fortunately, this issue is relatively easy to fix.
Installing decent blackout blinds or adding a layer of blackout fabric to your curtains can help to create a restful environment for sleep and, when you can give your body the right surroundings, you’ll find that your sleep quality naturally improves.
Resolving Sleep Issues
The first step to resolving sleep issues is identifying what’s causing them. By examining your lifestyle and sleep routine, you may be able to pinpoint potential disruptors and take steps to minimize them.
However, there’s plenty of help available too. Your doctor may be able to help you identify the cause of sleep issues, for example, or refer you for suitable treatment if an underlying health issue is affecting the quality of your sleep.
