5 Habits Affecting Your Sleep and How To Break Them

Struggling to get some shut-eye at night? Some of your habits might be the culprit to what’s causing you grief.

“Sleep is very important for our body’s overall functioning,” shares Abbey Dunn, MD, with ProMedica Physicians Pulmonary/Sleep Medicine.

Getting an adequate amount of sleep helps us perform at our best by removing waste products from the brain, improving our memory-making ability, allowing our body to recover from the day, and helping our metabolism function at its best.

“When we’re sleep-deprived, we function poorly. It’s hard for us to stay focused on tasks and we might be very irritable,” Dr. Dunn shares.

Stages of Sleep

There are two stages of sleep: non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Throughout the night, your body cycles between these two stages, with the average person cycling through REM sleep about four times a night.

Non-REM sleep is what your body goes into when you first fall asleep.

“Oftentimes people think of this sleep as light sleep; however, there are actually some stages of non-REM sleep that are deep sleep. This sleep is very restorative, and helps our bodies feel our best the next day,” Dr. Dunn explains.

REM sleep is the phase of sleep that happens when you dream, and rapid eye movement occurs. During REM sleep, your body is generally paralyzed, and breathing becomes more rapid and irregular. “Usually, towards morning is when we have most of our REM sleep. So, sometimes people will know that they’re dreaming closer to the time that they wake up,” Dr. Dunn shares.

Habits Affecting Your Sleep

If you’re finding yourself tossing and turning in the night or not being able to fall asleep when you lay down for the night, Dr. Dunn recommends looking at your sleep habits.

Busyness or Stress: Are you giving yourself enough time to wind down each evening? “It’s hard for us to go from go, go, go, doing all sorts of activities and then trying to immediately go to sleep,” Dr. Dunn shares. Give yourself an hour to relax and wind down before bedtime, and avoid screen time and artificial light during this time.

Alcohol: Alcohol can make it easy to fall asleep, but it actually has a fragmenting effect on sleep. “It’s very common for people to have a drink, fall asleep easily, but then wake up several times overnight or just notice that their sleep is poor quality,” Dr. Dunn shares. To avoid this issue, Dr. Dunn recommends avoiding alcohol within a few hours of bedtime.

Caffeine: Because of its negative effect on sleep, Dr. Dunn recommends limiting caffeine to one or two cups in the morning and avoiding it in the afternoon.

Routine: A lack of consistent routine can get our sleep schedule out of whack. “Our bodies like to stay regular,” Dr. Dunn explains. “I usually advise people to avoid sleeping in more than 30 minutes on weekends compared to weekdays. Sleeping in can set you up for difficulty sleeping as you go back into the work week.”

Amount of sleep: The average adult needs seven and a half to eight hours of sleep to function at their best. It’s important to set aside the right amount of time to wind down and get the sleep that you need.