Good Night: 5 Bad Sleeping Habits You Need to Avoid

Has a good night’s sleep become the holy grail of modern life?

A third of American adults now say they struggle to get enough sleep. When you consider how fundamental a good night’s sleep is to basically everything we do, that’s alarming.

So what can we do to fix it? Here are five bad sleeping habits you need to avoid.

1. The Distract-a-thon

This has been the numero uno cause of sleep problems since the rise of digital culture.

The bed is for two things: sleeping and…the other thing. It’s not for watching TV, endlessly browsing junk on the internet, or playing with apps.

Bringing distractions to the bed confuses our inner sense of routine, causing our brains to no longer associate the bed with sleep. Worse, the blue light emitted by these devices fools our brains into thinking we’re in daylight hours, destroying our ability to sleep.

2. The Dice Roll

The human body is a natural clock. The body’s circadian rhythms are its internal method of keeping time, which in turn govern biological processes—like the release of sleep hormones.

That means the human body has a set of internal routines. When we go to bed at random times, which has been common since the invention of electric lighting, we confuse that clock. Keep a regular bedtime and feel the benefit.

3. Mattress Matters

A good mattress doesn’t come cheap, and it’s not an item we think about often. So it’s no wonder they aren’t replaced often enough.

Yet a poor-quality or aging mattress could be at the root of your sleep problems. You should make sure to upgrade your mattress and shop around for the best option in your price bracket. Not sure what to look for? Check out this purple mattress review for some ideas.

4. Eat, Sleep, Wake, Repeat

With rushed modern schedules and an always-on work culture, many of us find ourselves eating later and later in the day.

Yet that could be causing us more trouble by interfering with our sleep. When we’re digesting, our bodies have to work, and the result of digestion is that our body gets a burst of new energy—not the best partner for a good night’s sleep.

So move your dinner time back and stick to it, so you can go to sleep without anything going on in your gut.

5. Life in a Box

We evolved to move and to do it in the open air.

Our sedentary lives give us fewer chances to do what our bodies were made to do. Though you still burn energy in a day, it’s often in the form of mental expenditure. The result is that we go to bed with pent up physical energy, despite feeling mentally exhausted.

On top of that, a dose of fresh air keeps sleep regular. With more us spending ninety percent of our time indoors, it’s no wonder we can’t sleep.

Bad Sleeping Habits to Ditch Today

The best thing about trying to change your bad sleeping habits is that you can start tonight. It can be tough to shake old habits, but the method is simple: start as soon as you can and do it every day.

On the hunt for more lifestyle advice? Be sure to check back often.