Struggling With Sleep? Try These 5 Steps To Drive Away Sleep Difficulty

Suffering from insomnia, or simply struggling with sleep. Do you have sleep difficulty? or the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep or get enough restful slumber can be very worrisome. It is a situation that calls for concern, understandably so.

Although there are individuals today that try to encourage people to deprive themselves of the required sleep in pursuit of wealth and other achievements.

It is professionally advisable to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per day; our focus is not on those that choose not to have enough sleep, but those who want to, who wish to, but struggle to.

Lack of sleep is associated with health issues like diabetes, hypertension, weight gain, stress, aches amongst others. Sleeplessness can also affect the mind, and its ability to function properly.

Sleep difficulty is caused by so many factors, but below are just 3 of such;

Stress Induced Sleep Difficulty

Sometimes, you are struggling with sleep because you are stressed. A stressed mind and body may find it difficult to rest and sleep. When you are stressed, it is almost impossible to put your body and mind; which in turn makes peaceful sleep wishful thinking.

Irregular sleep schedule:

When you disrupt your sleeping schedule, you are then toying with sleeplessness. You should have your schedule in check to ensure you do everything at the stipulated time and retire to bed as early as possible- especially if you have to wake up early the following day for your activities.

Disrupting your sleep schedule, therefore, sends a wrong, and confusing message to the brain on when it needs to hibernate for the day, causing sleep difficulty.

Sleep Problem caused by Anxiety & Depression:​

Anxiety and depression are mental health disorders that threaten your ability to sleep properly. Sleep difficulty is one of the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Now that we know some of the factors responsible for sleeplessness, what then is the way out?

The following 5 steps will help drive away sleep difficulty;

1. Avoid large meals before bed if you do not wish to have sleep difficulty

One of the best things to do to stop struggling with sleep is to stay away from large meals and beverages moments before going to bed.

Eating a large portion of carbs and other heavy food before bed is a sure way to court sleeplessness. This is because there isn’t time for the food to digest properly and you are probably heavy with the food. 

You then become restless when you try to sleep.

This reason explains why people are advised to stay away from late-night food. When it is late, do yourself a favor by eating fruits and drinking water.

2. Avoid or limit naps

Your struggle to sleep at night is probably because of the numerous naps you’ve had during the day. When you have multiple naps during the day, and probably the most recent one was close to the evening, there is a tendency that you’d struggle the whole night, staying alert.

But when you are active throughout the day, with little or no naps in between, sleeping at night becomes easier, faster, and more sound.

3. Avoid or limit caffeine use if you do not wish to have sleep difficulty

Caffeine has always been known to be an enemy of sleep. Although we cannot ask you to entirely stay away from coffee and beverages high in caffeine, you need to equally watch out for its excessive use.

People usually consume coffee to help them stay alert and focus. But it becomes a problem if it affects their ability to sleep soundly at night. Whenever you are struggling with sleep, you may want to check your caffeine intake.

4. Exercise regularly if you do not wish to have sleep difficulty

Regular Exercise is a sure way to overcome inactivity and by extension, tackle sleep difficulty. Whenever you are inactive during the day, you’d probably spend it sleeping around, and by night, having a sound sleep becomes difficult.

But with regular exercise, all your body systems are worked up, and probably tired, and would seize any opportunity to have a befitting sleep for the day. Regular exercises sure help in having a peaceful night's sleep.

5. Make your sleeping environment comfortable

The saying “as you lay your bed, so you lie on it” is no truer than this situation. Your ability to overcome sleep difficulty may depend on the environment of the sleep.

A comfortable sleep environment guarantees a comfortable sleep. So also, an uncomfortable sleep environment will deliver an uncomfortable sleep experience.

When you are about to sleep, your bed should be properly laid with clean sheets, clean pillowcases, and have enough pillows for your comfort, but not too much to make you uncomfortable. Do as much as possible to strike a balance and attain comfort.

The underlying factor in all the options above is comfort. You cannot conquer sleep difficulty if you are not comfortable. 

An individual struggling with sleep should not ignore any of the Dos and Don’ts for maximum results. This is because your productivity may be dependent on how much comfortable sleep you get.