Consistent, quality sleep is essential for your well-being. Lack of sleep can cause symptoms ranging from daytime tiredness and irritability to more serious mental health concerns like anxiety and depression or physical health conditions including diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.
If you're having trouble getting a good night's sleep and trying to find the reason behind your lack of quality rest, chances are your morning routine is the last thing you suspect. Yet, many people engage in this morning habit that significantly impacts their sleep quality.
Lingering in Bed: Why It's a Problem
Lingering in bed in the morning can disrupt your sleep cycle. Firstly, your body needs light and movement in the morning. This is to keep your circadian rhythm intact and to stimulate your brain to wake up and engage with the day. Lying still for too long may make you feel more tired and groggy. Instead of staying in bed after you wake up, try drinking water, engaging in some light exercise, or going outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunlight. These activities are all excellent for signaling to your brain that the day has begun.
Also, using your bed for activating tasks like watching TV, scrolling through your phone, working, or eating can prevent you from associating your bed with sleep. Your brain may fail to connect your bed with sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep when it's bedtime.
Keep your bed and your bedroom a haven for sleep, so your body and mind learn to prepare for rest and fall asleep more easily. Using your bed only for sleep, intimacy, and sickness builds associations and routines that trigger your sleep cycle when you lie down, instead of enduring hours of tossing and turning.
Healthy Sleep Hygiene Practices to Improve Your Sleep Cycle
Good sleep hygiene establishes a healthy sleep cycle that leaves you feeling refreshed. Sleep Medicine Reviews states that good sleep hygiene practices can also help treat insomnia1. Recommended practices include:
- Sleep enough to feel refreshed, but don't linger in bed, as this can contribute to shallow or interrupted sleep.
- Stop electronic use 30 minutes before bedtime.
- Set a regular bedtime and wake-up time.
- Avoid napping for too long2 during the day.
- Engage in regular exercise.
- Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol in the evenings.
- Use the bedroom only for sleep and intimacy.
- Leave the bed if you wake up and can't return to sleep.
- Make a worry list before bed of things you need to think over or accomplish tomorrow so you can put them out of your mind to sleep.
According to Sleep Foundation.org, creating a peaceful bedroom environment is another key component of good sleep hygiene3. Get a comfortable mattress with cozy pillows and blankets. Keep your bedroom cool but comfortable. Block out light and eliminate noise. You can also try aromatherapy with a calming scent like lavender to promote calm.
If you begin to experience trouble sleeping, fail to get quality, restorative rest, or start to wonder what's causing your physical or mental health problems, take a closer look at your sleep habits. You could make a major change for the better simply by following good sleep hygiene practices4.
References:
- Sleep Medicine Reviews, Use of sleep hygiene in the treatment of insomnia
- SoClean Blog, Napping 101
- Sleepfoundation.org, Mastering Sleep Hygiene: Your Path to Quality Sleep
- SoClean Blog, Everything You Need to Know About Sleep Hygiene
