A Comprehensive List of Habits to Avoid
It’s 10:30pm on a Tuesday and you can’t stop tossing and turning in your bed. The day’s events of running after your toddler, scrambling to make dinner before your husband came home, and trying to squeeze in a little time to do the laundry left you completely exhausted, and the last thing you want to deal with is insomnia.
With a busy schedule as a mom, quality sleep is a must.
Did you know that sometimes your small nighttime habits could sabotage your sleep?
Don’t worry, after reading this blog, you’ll be able to identify and replace these unhealthy habits with healthier habits to develop a better bedtime routine. Check out these five compelling habits that you might be engaging in that could be hindering the quality of your sleep.
1. Scrolling on Your Phone Before Bed
With little time in the day to doom scroll, most people find that once they’re cozily snuggled under their covers at night, it’s the perfect environment to do a little scrolling on social media.
However, consider these three negative effects of scrolling on your phone before bed:
- Blue light overstimulates the brain.
- Endless scrolling increases anxiety and mental noise.
- Keeps your brain alert and engaged when it should be slowing down.
The next time you get the urge to scroll, simply do yourself a favor and leave your phone outside your bedroom to decrease the temptation of scrolling. Once you’re warm beneath your blankets, you won’t have the energy or desire to jump out into the cold to retrieve your phone.
2. Eating Heavy Meals Late at Night
Craving salty popcorn or dreamily smooth ice cream before bed is normal, but harmful if indulged in.
Eating larger meals before bed can cause discomfort and disrupt your sleep cycle.
Instead of chowing down on a large meal or a heavy snack before bed, consider saving your larger meals for earlier in the day, and the smaller ones later in the evening.
3. Drinking Caffeine Too Late in the Day
Did you know that the effects of caffeine linger in your system for around 6-8 hours? Yes, you heard that right! Now, depending on your body type and tolerance to caffeine, this number can fluctuate, but as a general rule, remember that it can last longer in your system than you might think.
A few hidden sources of caffeine that should be avoided before bed are:
- Tea
- Chocolate
- Soda
Simply avoid consuming any form of caffeine a few hours before bed to make sure your sleep isn’t negatively affected.
4. Inconsistent Bedtime Routines
With life being unpredictable, and schedules being hectic, it’s not always practical to get to bed at the same time each night.
However, it should be noted that irregular sleep schedules can confuse your body’s internal clock. Therefore, try to be as consistent as possible when it comes to going to bed at the same time each night. Remember that perfection is not the answer, but rather, dedicated progress.
5. Bringing Stressful Tasks into Bed
Your bed is meant to be your peaceful sleep sanctuary, not a stressful work environment.
While it makes sense that you might want to work from home in your comfy bed, tasks like these can cause worry or increased stress, which is not conducive for relaxing before going to bed.
Remember to keep your bed only for sleeping and perform any work-related tasks outside your bedroom.
Avoiding Unhealthy Sleep Habits to Achieve High-Quality Sleep
Now that you know unhealthy habits to avoid before bedtime you can start your journey of improving your sleep habits today, one step at a time. Before long you won’t even think twice about leaving your phone outside your bedroom or working in an office instead of your bedroom. Good luck improving your sleep!
