Why The F*ck Am I Always Tired?
What are some of the things you’d do to get more than 6 hours of sleep tonight?
Actually, keep that list to yourself. I’m sure it’s full of inhumane and disgusting actions that your mom wouldn’t be too proud of.
Sleep, the thing in our lives that might be more craving than money, sex, and coffee. No matter how many hours you get, you always seem to never get enough. Always wanting more. What if getting more zzz’s wasn’t the solution to your constant struggle of keeping your eyes open? That hitting snooze on your alarm doesn’t do jack shit for staying cognizant. Well, what the hell does?
According to none other than SleepFoundation.org, “A person can’t just accumulate sleep deprivation and then log many hours of sleep to make up for it.” You know that’s just an urban legend, a myth. 4-hours of sleep with constant tossing and turning like a damn ship in the sea can’t be made up the next night with 10-hours of beauty sleep. You’re still going to be ugly regardless of how long you dream to be cured of your flaws and blemishes. More importantly, you’re still going to be exhausted.
Sleep debt is higher than the United State’s debt ceiling. And as we all know it, time is money. So how can you start feeling like a million bucks in the shortest amount of time? It’s simpler than you’d think.
Going to Sleep At An Appropriate Time
That title is misleading, it’s always an appropriate time to fall asleep. But how often do you catch yourself kinda tired, yet not tired enough to fall asleep? So you get back on your phone and finish the last couple of episodes of your show. We are all guilty of it. Some nights we have no ambition to fall asleep and more often than not, we allow our addictive side to defeat our healthy side.
That’s your first problem. You’re laying in bed when you’re not tired enough to pass out. Find something that you need to do in the house or room. Whether it be putting clothes away (there’s always clothes to be put in drawers or hung up) miscellaneous chores that won’t be too loud or annoying, or simply reading a book or writing down your thoughts/to-do list. If none of those examples appealed to you, then STRETCH. We underestimate the importance of stretching and I guarantee if you did it for even 15 minutes, you’d feel rejuvenated.
Those aren’t the most entertaining things in the world, but it’s better to be productive than wasting valuable minutes, feeling like a toddler after having a cookie, and being told it’s nuh night time.
Whether you’re getting up at six or noon, don’t be in bed an hour before you tend to fall asleep. Most of us have a terrible schedule, one night it’s 10:21 PM and the next it’s 1:47 AM, regardless, don’t lay in bed an hour before you know you’ll be tired enough to really snooze. That’s an hour less of sleep, an hour less of getting shit done, and hours more of being tired the next day.
Get. Off. Your. Phone.
The list of mental side effects that being on your phone before going to sleep has is longer than the reasons why you can’t fall asleep. Let’s take a look at a few that are worth mentioning.
3. Constantly feeling the urge to be up to date with the latest news, responding immediately, and having exposure to any sort of entertaining content will keep your mind racing, counterproductive your need to steer clear from filling your conscience with reiterating thoughts. — The Author
From the mind tricks that occur from the light produced on your phone to the information being revealed while reading or watching videos, your mind is working harder and faster than it does when you’re trying to stay awake. You’re fighting the senses of your inner self. While one side is telling you to get some rest, the other is pushing and pulling you around to feel and think certain things that will prevent you from doing what you need to do, sleep!
Soothing Sounds to Relieve Your Senses
If you’re the type of person that doesn’t sleep with a fan or some sort of white noise to break the shrills of the night, no wonder you always wake up. Sleeping in dead silence is guaranteed to have you wake up at least once, regardless of how drained you are.
Think about where you live and who you’re living with.
Whether you’re a rural or urban person, there will be sounds that can easily wake you right up. Sirens, animals, people, cars, the noises go on and they have not the slightest care in the world what your plans are in the morning. They will wake you.
How you prevent this is quite simple. Make sure that you keep all your windows closed, keep some sort of continuous and repetitive sound that you will make no acknowledgment of(background music per se) and turn off your notifications on your phone. There are also cool ear muffs you can buy on Amazon for a reasonable price that have amazing reviews. Here you are.
Your Eating Habits
There’s nothing like having a bowl of Ben & Jerry's before hitting the hay when you’ve had a long ass day. You’re fed up with everyone’s shit and the satisfaction that comes with shoving spoonful after spoonful of chocolate or whatever flavor of goodness in your mouth is practically priceless.
Wrong.
The price you pay from eating that ice cream is extremely high. It’s an even worse feeling to go to bed on an empty stomach, but filling your hunger and anxiety with sugar and lactose is not the solution, obviously. It’s not that your digestion system is working any less than usual when you’re asleep, that’s not the issue. The problem is the type of foods that people tend to eat before going to bed are the ones that tend to keep you awake longer.
Try to solve this problem by drinking water. “If I drink too much water, I always have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.” Well, don’t drink a gallon of water before you try falling asleep. Instead, ensure that you are hydrated by drinking it throughout the day and have a glass before and after dinner. If you are feeling hungry, don’t be afraid to have another glass. Having more water won’t kill you.
“A lack of water can negatively impact your mood and disrupt your sleep cycle in-turn.”
So eat that ice cream after dinner. Don’t wait until midnight, you’ll never be able to get the sleep that you NEED if you can’t change your habits.
Exercise. Exercise. Exercise.
You don’t need to be the next Mo Farah to sustain a healthy amount of physical activity. Nor do you need to work out like the Rock. But you can’t sit around like a rock expecting to get energy from staring at your screen.
Exercise comes in so many forms. Whether you’re walking down the street, through the woods, going up and down your stairs, or even curling your dog, (I don’t suggest that) you can burn off the calories and change your mood in a matter of minutes. This quote from Harvard Health should be helpful.
If your reason for not getting sleep at night is because your mind is full of depressing thoughts, exercise is your new drug. The number of stories on Medium, biographies, and articles to read on this very fact is endless.
Find something that you enjoy doing to keep you active. Happiness, along with a better sleep schedule, will follow.
We have the internet people, our creativity and imagination are through the roof. Finding something to do every day or something new to try every other day is not hard whatsoever.
Caffeine Crazes Are Not The Solution
Having a morning coffee is as essential as eating an apple these days. And maybe a cup a day is better than one of those red fruits.
There are plenty of health benefits to drinking coffee, those are just to name a few. However, we must not abuse this drug, because that’s exactly what it is. A drug.
Becoming dependent on coffee or whatever caffeinated drink you prefer, all throughout the morning, day and night is not only unhealthy, it is expensive as hell.
Think about how much the average coffee costs at Starbucks or Dunkin. It’s insane how much these places can charge because they know they can get away with any price for the cost of joe. Not only coffee, but energy drinks are practically the same as paying for a damn sandwich.
As for the side effects of becoming addicted to caffeine, most of you reading this have probably suffered from. If you’ve forgotten or are new to this drug, here’s a list of the effects that come from depending on that sugary concoction of caffeinated goodness.
Restlessness
Nervousness
Excitement
Difficulty sleeping
Agitation
Muscle twitching
As you can see, especially with the ones that are bolded, what being caffeine crazed consists of. Sleep and exercise need to become your new drugs. The best part of all, they are FREE. Aside from when you want to spend money on being in the best shape possible, which can be free regardless.
Don’t spend tens of hundreds if not thousands of dollars annually on drinks. Use your brain, not your appetite.
Fall in Love With Sleeping, But Not Too Hard
If you are a weirdo and don’t enjoy a nice night of rest, change your demeanor because it will come back to haunt you sooner or later.
Think about all the nights you stayed out for one more drink. The hours of sleep you lost because you were volunteeringly working late on something that you knew you had time for the next day or weekend. This isn’t always true for everything, but more often than not you continued to stay awake so much longer than you had to.
Remember that there is a pillow with your name on it, waiting for you to come home and lay your head-on. That tomorrow is near and you will feel the urgency to get that done when you wake up rather than staying up and being unproductive for the majority of the next day.
So many times we think if we stay up late and get whatever it is done then and there rather than having to work on it the next day, we will be satisfied. Now, sometimes it’s true. That there’s a sigh of relief that comes when you are finished and stayed up a little later than normal to avoid having any thoughts on it tomorrow. But, the entirety of the next day is practically a waste because you are sleep deprived and have no motivation to do anything at all.
Sometimes, it’s better to just sleep it off and have an entire productive day than a productive night. If it doesn’t need to be done then and there, then don’t act like it does. You will regret it in the morning.
Falling in love with the act of sleeping is like finding your soulmate. You will be appreciative of the benefits that come from having a solid night of sleep. You will recall the feeling that you get when you wake up in the morning and don’t have a pounding headache or can barely keep your eyes from fluttering back down for a few more minutes of shuteye.
Best part of all, this partner doesn’t leave.
As great as sleep is for a companion, don’t abuse it. Having too much sleep can become just as addictive as your need for it. If you consistently get 10 hours of sleep night after night (how fucking crazy would that be) then you will feel miserable if you get anything less which is no way to live.
Find a comfortable amount. Stay with it. It’s not the same for everyone, we all need a different amount to properly function.
Don’t have a love-hate relationship with your “sleeping” partner. They will give you an earful about it if you do.
