10 Sleeping Mistakes You Never Want to Repeat

Sleep is crucial for your body to run correctly. Unfortunately, most people do not have enough of it and the few that do sleep for the correct number of hours tend to have a low-quality sleep that does not benefit the body. Whereas some individuals have underlying medical and mental issues that might be preventing them from sleeping well for most others, it is all because of some common mistakes. Everyday stresses may prevent you from sleeping, but if you are making one or more of the following ten mistakes, you will only make things worse.

#1 Refined Sugar Snacking

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It is hard for most people to go to bed without snacking on something and this is regardless of the kind of dinner that they take. Whereas snacking is not wrong what you choose to eat is important. Most people like having snacks with refined sugar because they are tasty but this is a big mistake. The refined sugars will stress the organs that are in charge of hormone production, and this will make you wake up at night as the hormone levels fluctuate.

#2 Using Sleeping Pills

It appears like a good idea to take sleeping pills if you are having trouble getting some rest but it is not. Abusing this kind of medications will make your body get addicted to it, and so you will even have more trouble sleeping if you do not take a couple of pills. Different studies also show that they can have other severe side effects in the long run and so you should avoid them and this is regardless of whether they are over-the-counter or prescription.

#3 Watching TV to Fall Asleep

You probably have no trouble sleeping when watching TV in the living room and so it might seem like an excellent idea to have it in the bedroom. Watching TV so as to fall asleep is one of the greatest sleep-related mistakes that most people make because it might help you fall asleep fast but the chances are that you will leave it on. Unless you have a sleep mask and earplugs for sleeping, it is almost certain that the noise and light from the TV will make you wake up and hence distorting your sleep cycle. 

#4 Failing to Keep a consistent Routine

There is a general misconception that you can always compensate for any lost sleep by going to bed early the following night or sleeping through the weekend. However, the body does not work this way because the body’s internal clock that regulates sleep relies on consistency. And so failing to keep a consistent sleep routine is a mistake that you cannot make up for by sleeping for several hours in during the weekend.

#5 Taking Long Naps During the Day

Naps are good for the body and sleep experts will even recommend them as they help improve productivity. However, a good one should be short (not more than 30 minutes) because the long ones have more adverse effects than good ones. If you sleep for a couple of hours during the day to compensate for the lack of enough sleep at night, you are only making the situation worse. Long naps mean that you will have a hard time sleeping at night which is the time that the body needs the rest most.

#6 Sleeping with a Pet

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Pets are charming and if you have one, the connection and love that you feel are one of the most important things in your life. However, no matter how much you love your pet it is a mistake to sleep with it in the same bed or room as it will interfere with your sleep in many ways. The pet may want to go out late in the night, and this means that you have to interrupt your sleep. It may also make some funny noises that may distract you at night or keep moving around the room or on the bed. In fact, some research findings show that more than 60% of people who sleep with pets have poor quality sleep.

#7 Snoozing your Alarm

The alarm is probably the most annoying thing in your bedroom, and the sound of it will make you want to crash it. And because you will still need it the following day the snooze button is what you will use to stop the “noise” but this is a mistake. Snoozing leads to the fragmentation of sleep meaning that you will have a low-quality rest. To avoid this, you should keep the alarm far away from the bed in a place where you will still hear it.

#8 Inadequate Sleep Preparations

It is unfair to expect your body to go from an active state to a standstill in a few minutes. And so it is a mistake to jump straight to bed and hope to sleep within a few seconds. Preparing for sleep is important if you want to get restorative and energizing rest. Take a warm shower or even meditate for a few minutes before bed so that you can relax and slow down your body before sleep.

#9 Sleeping in Hot and Noisy Rooms

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If your bedroom is uncomfortable, you will not fall asleep quickly. Temperature is one of the things that make it hard for people to sleep and this is more so when it is hot. Contrary to popular belief the bedroom should not be sweltering for you to sleep. Hot rooms will raise your body temperature, and this will disrupt your sleep cycle. Noise is also bad for sleep and so leaving some loud music on is a big mistake as it will cause distractions.

#10 Worrying and Obsessing about Sleep

Between 20 and 40 percent of all adults experience some form of insomnia at some point. While the lack of sleep is annoying and frustrating, it is a big mistake to stress yourself about it. You should focus your effort on finding solutions to your sleep issues. But, in most cases, people spend more time worrying about it than looking for treatment. Obsessing about your sleep issues is also a mistake as it only makes the situation worse.

Sleeping well is vital for the body and also for your productivity in life, and so you should spend time and resources to ensure that you always get a good night’s sleep. A good place to begin will be by avoiding the ten sleeping mistakes above.

Author Bio:

Jane Collins is a Founder of G9SleepTight, a blog dedicated to providing many useful tips and guides to help you have a good night’s sleep. Follow Jane on Twitter: @g9sleeptight