Online dating and working out… the ‘harmless’ habits RUINING your sleep
74 per cent of us don't get enough sleep and it's probably because we're usurping ourselves during the day
NO matter how hard you try, sometimes it's just impossible to get to sleep.
You're dressed in your most snug jimjams and ready for an early night but you just can't nod off.
So what's going on? Well, it might be down to what you do after work.
It's not just stress that has us tossing and turning - sometimes it can be seemingly harmless habits that keep our systems running at ten to the dozen.
We reveal the activities that could be keeping you up at night and the sleep tricks you need to know:
1. Online dating
Your phone, iPad, laptop all produce buckets of blue light - and that halts your body from producing melatonin because it starts to think that it's actually daytime.
Blue is an energetic colour; the sky's blue. While you need it during the day to get moving, exposing yourself to blue light into the evening stops you from switching off.
To combat that, you need to surround yourself with red, yellow and orange light.
Try to ban all technology from the bedroom and set yourself a clear period of time before bed when you stop using it.
If you do need to use your phone or laptop before bed, you can download apps like f.lux which changes the colour of the light that your computer emits to amber in the night - or use the nighttime setting on your iPhone.
And that not only stops you from feeling more alert when looking at it but actually makes you feel increasingly sleepy.
2. Not wearing socks in bed
You can sleep as nude as you like but the one piece of clothing you really should keep on is your socks.
Having freezing tootsies is one of the reasons we can find ourselves waking up at night.
As you sleep, your circulation changes and that can leave many of us waking up in the middle of the night with cold toes.
When we're in the land of nod, our body has a chance to grow and repair and when that's happening, our blood is focused more centrally - meaning that our extremities become colder.
3. Having takeaways for dinner
We all love a hot curry on cold winter nights but having a load of spice just before bed isn't going to help you get to sleep.
But meals rich in capsaicin - the compound that makes chilli peppers so hot - can cause things like heartburn and ingestion, which when you lie down, can be even more uncomfortable.
And eating something hot can also make you hot, meaning that you're more likely to overheat in bed.
Takeaways are also very rich in saturated fats, and they've been linked to non-restorative sleep.
That means that after a particularly greasy dinner, you might wake up feeling groggy.
If you do want to have a takeaway, try to eat it earlier in the evening and on the whole, keep your evening meal heavy on the veg and light on the grease and spice.
4. Eating in the bedroom
Treating your bedroom as a dining room or study can affect how relaxing you find it.
You need to treat your bedroom as a place to sleep and nothing else.
"The bedroom should be reserved for sleep only," sleep expert Christabel Majendie told The Sun.
"Working, eating, talking on the phone and using the computer or mobile phones are daytime activities, which will weaken your association with the bedroom and sleep and cause you to have a more disturbed night."
5. Boozing before bed...
Sure, you might feel drowsy after a few glasses of vino but don't let that fool you into thinking you'll get a decent night's sleep.
Boozy sleeps aren't very restorative.
REM or rapid eye movement sleep, is the kind of kip that tends to kick in around 90 minutes after you fall asleep.
It's really important because it stimulates the parts of the brain used for learning. If you don't get enough of it, you'll find your cognitive function start to take a dive.
That means that even if you don't wake up with a sore head, you'll probably be more tired and less alert than usual.
6...And not drinking enough water
Drinking more water before hitting the sack could help you sleep better.
That's according to by Penn State University, which suggests those who suffer a night of poor sleep should consider dehydration as a cause, and drink more water.
Scientists suggest that simply being hydrated could solve a night of tossing and turning.
Scientists reached this conclusion after finding those who sleep just six hours a night, as opposed to eight, have a higher chance of being dehydrated.
"If you are only getting six hours of sleep a night, it can affect your hydration status," said Penn State's professor of biobehavioral health, Asher Rosinger.
"This study suggests that if you're not getting enough sleep, and you feel bad or tired the next day, drink extra water."
7. Relying on sleep medications
More and more of us struggle to sleep, with 74 per cent of Brits getting less than seven hours a night.
Addiction expert Dr Robert Lefever told us that: “Insomnia is awful, but sleeping pills are also awful.
“They are habit-forming and very difficult to come off. They can alter your mood and suppress feelings.
“If you want to get off mood-altering medications, do so gradually and under medical supervision over a period of around six weeks. Otherwise, you’ll rebound back to start.”
So if you want to be able to sleep naturally, you might want to avoid taking sleeping draughts altogether.
We previously reported on the women who became hopelessly hooked on sleeping pills which had a devastating effect on their health and happiness.
8. Tuning into Netflix
Binge watching your favourite TV shows can stop you from sleeping because it leaves us feeling anxious.
Of the 2,000 people surveyed by Patient.info, those aged 18-24 were fives times more likely to feel lonely, three times more likely to feel depressed and twice as likely to feel anxious, sleepless and empty.
Dr. Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical director of , said: "These findings highlight some very worrying consequences of binge-watching TV, particularly within the younger generation.
"We have long been aware of the physical effects that come along with being a couch potato, but we should also be conscious that if we don’t moderate our TV-watching habits it can also be highly detrimental to our, and particularly our children’s, mental wellbeing."
9. Not getting outside enough during the day
If you work from home or in an office, you probably don't spend much time outside - especially when it's cold and miserable.
But staying inside for hours may be hampering your ability to drift off.
Being exposed to natural light also boosts your production of serotonin and melatonin - so an after-dinner stroll not only will help you to digest your supper but get you naturally ready for bed.
10. Doing an intense workout after work
Several studies have shown that people's sleep quality is significantly improved with exercise, and that over time, insomniacs can also see a reduction in the number of hours spent tossing and turning.
According to scientists from Appalachian State University, those who hit the weights room at 7pm sleep better than those who don't work out at all or those who hit the gym during the day.
Their study found that people who lifted weights first thing in the morning are best at falling asleep, but those who did it in the evening found it easier to stay asleep.
But weight training isn't the same as doing a frantic HIIT session.
You're best off avoiding really rigorous workouts that get your adrenalin pumping three hours before you're due to go to bed.
Save your heart racing workouts for the morning and your slow and heavy sessions for after work.
MORE ON SLEEP
Try to give yourself time to properly unwind before you plan to drift off.
Turn off your tech, get comfy and make sure that you've digested your dinner before you lie down.
Sweet dreams!
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