A lot of people don’t get enough sleep, or what they get isn’t good enough. Whether you struggle to fall asleep or can’t seem to stay that way, there’s a reason why the sleep you need is so elusive. Such as:
1. You check your phone before bed.
The other issue with phone time before bedtime? Your brain thinks the artificial light from the screen is daylight. So, your body doesn’t make as much of something called melatonin. That’s a chemical that helps you sleep. If you don’t have enough of it, you may get insomnia -- the inability to fall or stay asleep.
The fix: Shut off all digital devices -- including your cellphone, computer, and television -- at least an hour before you end your day.
Aparajitha Verma, MD, a sleep neurologist at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, says you shouldn’t keep your phone near your bed, either, “especially if you’re tempted to check it before you turn out the lights, or worse, in the middle of the night.”
2. You go to bed at different times all week long.
Hitting the hay at 9:30 on Wednesday and midnight on Saturday can throw off your body’s internal clock. That can make it harder for you to fall and stay asleep. It can also make you groggy when you wake up, Verma says.
The fix: You may not be able to go to bed at the same time every day, “but try not to vary by more than 30 to 45 minutes, even on the weekend,” Verma says.
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