4 Tips for Dealing with Insomnia

Insomnia is when you struggle to sleep at night. If you lie tossing and turning in bed for hours, unable to settle down, or tend to wake up a lot throughout the night when you do manage to fall asleep, you might be suffering from insomnia. Not getting enough sleep at night isn’t just annoying; it can also have an effect on every other aspect of your life. 

When your body and mind isn’t able to rest as it should, you find yourself struggling to deal with stress and worry, unable to focus throughout the day, and you might be more irritable than usual. When you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to put on weight and you have a higher risk of suffering from certain diseases, including serious ones like heart disease and stroke. The good news is that there are some things that you can do to combat insomnia.

Update Your Bedroom:

Are your bed and mattress getting old and tired? Do you spend every night tossing and turning with back pain, or unable to get comfortable because there’s a spring poking into you? Maybe when you do sleep, you tend to wake up stiff and sore. If this is the case, then it sounds like you could benefit from updating your bedroom and sleeping arrangements. 

A new mattress can do the world of good. If you’ve had your mattress for quite a while, then it’s probably due replacing. Mattresses tend to be good for about ten years if you have a quality one. Getting the best mattress for you will make a huge difference to your sleep quality.

Have a Relaxing Routine:

If you’re doing too much to stimulate your brain at night, this could be wreaking havoc with your ability to sleep. Using technology like your smartphone, tablet or phone before going to bed can mess with your body’s production of melatonin and leave you struggling to wind down and fall asleep, so try to avoid this. 

Ideally, you should spend an hour or so before going to bed doing something that relaxes you, like having a bath, listening to some soft music, or reading a book - if you’re going to read, a paper book is better than using an eReader or other device.

Keep a Sleep-Wake Pattern:

If you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, your body will become used to this and you’ll find yourself doing it automatically. This is because your body has a built-in ‘clock’ known as a circadian rhythm, which regulates your sleep-wake cycle. 

Sleeping and waking at the same times daily, even on the weekends, means that you’ll get yourself into this habit and find it much easier to sleep compared to sleeping and waking at different times every day.

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene:

Good sleep hygiene isn’t about keeping your bedroom clean and tidy - although decluttering your space, keeping it clean and having some nice scents in the room can certainly make it easier for you to drift off. Instead, good sleep hygiene means doing all of the above, and avoiding using your bedroom for anything that it isn’t intended for. 

It might be tempting to sit in bed catching up with work emails, but after a while, your brain will start to subconsciously associate being in bed with working, which can make it harder for you to naturally start to wind down and feel sleepy when you get in it at night. If you work from home, a dedicated room, or a desk in a quiet room is a much better idea than working from your bedroom.

Struggling to sleep at night can have a negative effect on every other aspect of your life. Keep these tips in mind to start getting a better night’s sleep once again.