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Sleep deprivation is not a third-world problem, in fact, the so-called elite countries have the most number of sleep-deprived citizens. Nighttime insomnia is a reality and let’s see ways to overcome it.
No caffeine after noon
Adenosine is the hormone that gets us to sleep. And what does caffeine do? It suppresses the effect of adenosine. See the problem doesn’t lie with that, when the caffeine kicks it doesn’t take out adenosine. The hormone gets accumulated in our body. Now when the caffeine stops its work, you guess it. The whole adenosine kicks in. So what do we do? Drink more coffee!
And repeat.
Another disturbing fact is that even hours after having a cup of coffee the caffeine may still influence your brain. That ultimately affects the sleep cycle.
Do not compromise regular sleep time on weekends
This is a huge task. We probably wait the whole week for that Saturday night party. But experts suggest that this can harm the sleep cycle. After a Saturday night, you may get an adequate amount of sleep but the alcohol from the night before keeps your brain functioning. That’s definitely not good news.
Do not use high-intensity lights
Use a comforting and soothing light setup, especially for your bedroom. This is very important to give you a gradual transition to sleep rather than having a high-intensity light to stress out your eyes. Blue and violet lights from any screen is a big no. It is said that the invention of handheld screen devices (yes the mobile) has single handly reduced the average human sleeping time by 40 min.
The blue lights trick your brain into thinking it’s daytime, and that’s not healthy.
Do not override your napping schedule
Most of us take a quick nap during the daytime, and I am pretty much sure that later at night you feel uncomfortable getting sleep. This is the work of our old friend adenosine. When we do this we alleviate adenosine build-up, which tampers the sleep cycle.
Share your new sleep goals with one’s staying with you
This is very important. It’s very easy to be drawn into watching Mirzapur or Little Things late at night especially when you have company. But you should convince people around you that you are on this tight regime and can’t afford to lose it for a binge-watch.
