Getting a good night’s sleep seems to be more difficult to come by as the years pass. Work, relationships, and even social media keep us up late at night, consequently messing with our sleep cycle and causing us to become tired, sluggish, and moody.

Though it can be easy to ignore our everyday lifestyle, it’s important to notice when sleep habits turn into bad habits. In taking care of our bodies and promoting good rest, we’ve listed down a couple bad habits that you should leave behind.

Put the phone down 

Admit it, we all take a couple minutes (some take hours) to scroll through our feeds, watch videos, or read e-books before we go to bed. This is a pretty bad habit because it encourages you to spend more time than you already do online, and, chemically, it keeps you more awake. Melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep, is affected by the presence of light. Exposing ourselves to the blue light from screens right before we rest inhibits melatonin production and affects our ability to sleep.

We know it’s hard, but it’s time to put the phone down. Schedule a time before your bedtime to mindlessly scroll and enjoy social media, and then after that, keep your phone away from arm’s reach. You’d be surprised how much your sleep cycle would improve.

You don’t need that midnight snack

Raiding the fridge in the middle of the night while everyone’s asleep is pretty fun. Yet, it’s a bad sleep habit simply because digestion takes a while. When you eat at a time close to your bedtime, your stomach is still in the process of digestion; lying down can cause symptoms like heartburn and indigestion, making it pretty hard to relax off into dreamland.

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Photo from LA Times

The tip? Eat your meal 2-3 hours before bed. This will give your stomach enough time to go through the food you just ate, making for a happier, more comfortable body.

Iced coffee is a luxury, not a necessity

Yes, we get it, everyone’s addicted to iced coffee. It’s a lifestyle. But too much of one thing can never be good, especially when it’s taken before bedtime. Coffee, soda, and other caffeinated beverages are obviously things that will keep you up at night. Drinking them a couple hours before bed will undoubtedly do you no good.

ice cream in clear drinking glass
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It’s recommended not to drink these beverages late in the afternoon so as to not keep you up later at night. Stick to coffee in the morning for a more productive day.

It’s okay to skip the late-night workout

Yes, you can skip this one. Contrary to what “the grind” demands, working out late at night can set you back when you’re in bed. This is because exercising releases endorphins, or hormones that keep your brain active and your body pumped up. These hormones would feel nicer if you worked out earlier in the day, but at night, it could potentially keep you from a much needed rest.

benefits of working out at night
Photo from Average2Alpha

Have your coffee and workout in the early morning to get your day going.

Sorry, but you’ve gotta fix that body clock

Night owls, procrastinators, K-drama enthusiasts, we’re looking at you. We know sleeping at random hours in the night or taking refreshing naps throughout the day is addicting. But the reality is, this really messes with our body’s natural clock (also called the circadian rhythm). Not providing a consistent routine for our body to rest can actually lead to serious issues like insomnia or anxiety.

person covered with gray blanket
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

The only way to combat this is to keep up a sleep schedule that works for you. Adjust your hours depending on when you feel the most productive or awake and try to sleep around the same time every night.

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