It's Time to Ditch These 5 Sleeping Habits
Did you know that roughly 50 to 70 million U.S. adults don't get enough sleep or have chronic sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia? [3] We’ve all struggled with getting enough quality sleep at some point or another.
But, if you’re trying to constantly grapple with sleep, you might unknowingly be doing these five sleeping habits that could be hindering your ability to sleep deeply. What are they and how can you fix them? Keep reading to find out.
Habit To Break: Having an irregular sleep schedule.
This one is a doozy. If your sleep schedule is all over the place, you’re not only misaligning your natural body clock, studies show you could also be setting yourself up for sleep disorders and chronic health problems down the line. For example, one study found that an irregular sleep schedule might lead to obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. [2]
What’s The Fix?
Consistency is the answer!
Adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night, so make sure you are setting aside ample time for enough sleep. [4] Go to bed at the same time every night to align your body clock and circadian rhythm for optimum rest.
Habit To Break: Skipping the pre-bedtime routine.
There is a ton of value in a bedtime routine. If you’ve ever sat in bed whilst having a hard time falling asleep, hoping that closing your eyes for long enough will help, your bedtime routine might need some sprucing. As creatures of habit, the human body and mind need time to detox from the day, separate the day from the night, and associate certain activities and times as precursors for sleep. [5]
What’s The Fix?
To prep for sleep, we recommend finding a personal routine that helps your nervous system, body, and mind calm down the most. Here are a few ways to get started perfecting your pre-sleep ritual [5]:
- Try easy meditation, such as deep breathing or personal reflections.
- Write your thoughts in a journal.
- Go on a short, slow, and quiet walk.
- Do some light stretching or gentle yoga.
- Experts suggest a cool and dark environment for the best snoozes, so just as it’s important to prep yourself, you should be preparing your bedroom, too. Adjust your thermostat to the mid-60s Fahrenheit range. Surround yourself with low lighting during your routine, and before you hop in bed, make sure to use black-out curtains if you have them. Enjoy a soothing scent with Cosy Lavender Linen Spray on your linens to experience ultimate relaxation.
- Set your bed up for success. Fluff your pillows and blankets. Make sure you have bedding that is soft and airy for optimum comfort—We recommend starting with our Luxury Down Alternative Comforter and our Luxury Weighted Blanket.
- Decide on a set bedtime for yourself. You can begin your routine about 30 minutes or 2 hours before bed, but make sure you are consistently hitting the hay at the same time.
- Ditch the electronics once your pre bedtime routine begins.
- Listen to soothing music, ambient noise, or white noise.
Habit To Break: Eating before bed.
That midnight snack might be doing you more harm than good. Sleep experts say that eating before bed can cause the body’s metabolism to slow down, affect your body’s insulin sensitivity, and even lead to weight gain. Plus, going to sleep right after eating can cause heartburn and indigestion, plus an onslaught of other digestive ouchies like acid reflux that can wake you during sleep and ruin your sleeping patterns, sleep latency, sleep quality, and more. [6,7]
What’s The Fix?
To allow your body time to digest, wait at least three hours after you’ve eaten before going to sleep.
Habit To Break: Sleeping in on the weekends.
Despite what you’ve heard, you can’t “catch up” on your missed sleep from the busy week on Saturday or Sunday. In fact, trying to pay off your sleep debt on the weekends can lead to things like a lower sleep drive and lower sleep quality, a disruption in your circadian rhythm over time, and social jet lag. [9,10,11]
One study by the American Heart Association even found that those who spend their weekend catching up on sleep for two or more hours are more likely to have poor cardiovascular health than those who don’t try catching up on sleep. [8]
What’s The Fix?
No matter if you are struggling to get enough sleep during the week or grappling with oversleeping on the weekends, there are a lot of ways to combat both of these issues. Let’s check some of them out:
- Get into a pre-bedtime routine that calms your nervous system. Don’t lie in bed awake! If you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, do something calming until you feel sleepy, like reading or listening to soft music.
- Make sure your sleep environment is cozy, cool, and dark.
- Go to sleep at the same time each night, and get up at the same time each morning, even on the weekends.
- Don't take naps after 3 PM, and don't nap longer than 20 minutes.
- Stay away from caffeine and alcohol late in the day.
- Get regular exercise, but not within 2-3 hours of bedtime.
Talk with a doctor if you continue to have trouble sleeping.
Habit To Break: Going weeks without cleaning your bedding.
Good sleep hygiene is crucial for the best night’s rest each and every day. Your dirty sheets can be a breeding ground for lots of unwelcome guests, and most of it you can’t see—thousands of dead skin cells, bodily secretions, sweat, animal dander, and dust, among other bacteria. [1]
What’s The Fix?
You should be cleaning your bedding once every week or every two weeks. We suggest using cold or warm water when washing your sheets to preserve color and prevent the sheet fibers from shrinking. [12]
You should be washing your sheets even more frequently if you:
- Have allergies or asthma and are sensitive to dust
- Have an infection or lesion that makes contact with your sheets or pillows
- Sweat excessively
- Let your pet sleep in your bed
- Eat in bed
- Go to bed without showering
- Sleep naked
You’ll also need our Luxury Bed Sheets. Our fabric is a unique bamboo viscose blend that is naturally hypoallergenic, meaning it stays looking, feeling, and smelling fresh all while warding off common household non-living allergens (we’re even talking to the night sweaters and overheaters out there).
Enjoy less laundry and more sleeping with our other premium bed sheet options, our Luxury Pillows, Pillow Protectors, and optimal sleep hygiene bedding necessities like our Luxury Mattress Protector.
Looking for more ways to boost your nighttime routine? Click here to treat yourself to quality essentials without breaking your budget.
What are some habits you need to break? What are some ways you make sure you’re getting the best sleep? Let us know in the comments below. The Cosy community loves hearing from each one of you!
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Resources:
- Santos-Longhurst, A. (2019, June 24). How often should you change your sheets? plus, why it matters. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/how-often-should-you-change-your-sheets#how-often
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019, June). Irregular sleep patterns linked to higher risk of metabolic disorders. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2019/irregular-sleep-patterns-linked-higher-risk-metabolic-disorders.
