Health practitioners and general doctors are always insisting of the need for good sleep every day. There are a few people who are genetically able to function with lack of sleep. However, that is a few percentage of people.
You need a proactive approach to be able to get good sleep. Unfortunately, very few people have mastered the strategized approach to a good night’s sleep. Waking up exhausted affects your mood, your health, and your cognitive function. When you lack enough sleep, you can’t be at your best performance. The solution isn’t in coffee or any form of caffeine, but in the ability to change the patterns.
Signs of Sleep Deprivation
First things first, if you have a habit of snoozing your alarm whenever it yells then it means you are not getting enough sleep. Most of us set multiple alarms to make sure that even if they keep snoozing, they will wake up with a specific alarm.
If you wake up exhausted, then at the end of the day you will also be physically and mentally exhausted. Lack of sleep generally affects your personal life, your career, mental state, and physical state. When you have low sleep you will also notice wrinkles, dark eye circles, forgetting things, and lack of focus.
How Sleep Deprivation Affects Body Performance
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
There is so much happening in the world right now and we often find ourselves unable to stay on track and focus on our work. Most people have adopted the art of multi-tasking and its not really a good thing.
Your cognitive function decreases when you are tired as a result of the neurons in the brain having trouble communicating well. This causes the brain to relapse temporary which essentially affects the personal visual perception and your memory.
This makes you more forgetful. You will also be easily distracted and eventually lose focus. This is what we all brain fog because it blocks you from thinking straight. This can be attributed by just a single night of bad sleep.
Sleep deprivation affects your brain and also put you are a risk of affecting your overall health. Lack of sufficient sleep can put you at a risk of a heart disease or an elevated heart attack. You could also be a victim of high blood pressure.
When your brain is always fatigued, it may not be able to repair itself in one night which leaves you prone to stroke. Lack of sleep also puts you at a risk of getting Type II diabetes. You will also have lower sex drive because you will be groggy with no energy to actually accomplish the task.
If you don’t sleep well, you also put yourself at a risk of depression. This happens if you tend to get too little or too much sleep. This exposes you to mental health issues. You will also be more prone to weight gain because your metabolism will be affected.
Your immune system will also be affected if you are not getting a good night’s sleep. You may also find yourself at a higher risk of catching a cold.
Tips on How To Get Sufficient Sleep
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Have a night routine
Our brains love routines and habits. The bran tends to love it so much it becomes more of a bad thing than a good thing. However, the brain can’t differentiate what is a waste of time and productive, so you have to decide for the brain what is good and bad.
This is why it’s a good idea to create a nighttime routine, preferably short. The routine is meant to trick the brain by signaling that it is time to lay down. You just need to find a routine that is short.
Some of the routines you can indulge in include reading for 15-30 minutes, meditation for a few minutes, have a relaxing hobby, write or journal about the things you are grateful for, you can sit down and think about how your day went, and anything other thing that will relax you.
Once you establish a routine, you also have to make sure that you consistently follow it and your brain will know that the routine is associated with sleep. Make sure the routine doesn’t involve technology.
Avoid eating carbs before sleeping or going to bed hungry
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
When you eat right before bed, you will have trouble sleeping because your body will be trying to digest the meal. Staying away from heavy food right before bed is a smart choice. You should particularly avoid eating carbs.
Even though studies have shown that starchy carbs help you sleep faster, you should avoid eating them especially for your weight. You also need to avoid going to bed hungry because you will wake up until looking for food.
Reserve your bed for sleep and sex only
The bed should be used for sleep and sex for those who sleep with their partners. Anything other than those two should be kept out of the bedroom. If you try to read and study in your bed, you will be affecting your sleep cycle.
Your brain needs to know its time to sleep when it hits the pillow. So you should avoid going through your social media or studying and reading in bed. The bedtime routine will help you follow up with this.
The schedule has to be consistent
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Consistency is always the key to making a habit stick. Whenever you fall off a habit after doing it for some time, you go back to square one. It takes time to have a routine, but you also need to remain consistent of you want it to stick especially if your brain was used to a bad habit.
Repetition is what helps the brain cells to form connections. So whether your brain is used to a good or bad thing, it will stick like a habit. The good news is, you can be able to undo the bad habits and replace them with good ones if you are consistent.
For example, if you are drug addict or alcoholic, you know that for you to overcome that is by making sure you consistently visit WI drugs and alcohol treatment, otherwise you’ll keep relapsing.
The post Are You Sleep Deprived? Here is How You Can Turn That Around appeared first on Fitnistics.com.