0 8 Ways to Go to Bed Earlier

So I've recently been writing on the topic of sleep for the last couple of posts, so now after writing those posts I thought it would be a good idea to give a few handy tips to get to bed earlier as it's something I haven't specifically gone into. 

I realise for some getting to bed early wont be possible because of commitments they have. For example work. For me when I work later I know that I'm going to be unable to go to bed early. I would like to say that my blog is my full-time job but it's not. I also have another job that is my first source of income. So when I work a late shift which for example the last two nights 21:00 (which isn't that late), but by the time I've got home (22:30), had something to eat (23:00), and completed other minor things and got ready for bed, it's normally after midnight.

For those of you who do have a chance to go to bed earlier but are failing in doing so, hopefully some of these tips will be of help to you.

1. Decide what Time

The first thing to do when wanting to get to bed earlier would be to decide what time you would like to try and be in bed for. For example; lets say that you go to bed at midnight at the moment or maybe even later and you decide that you would like to be in bed for 10:30. 

Try not to make vague times as this will only make you push the boundaries. For example; "I want to go to bed between 10 and 11". Although this sounds reasonable and it will be easy to stick to some days, there are going to be days where you tell yourself "It's only 10 now, I don't have to be in bed until 11", and what will happen is that you'll stop what you're doing just before 11 and not give yourself enough time to get to bed and so you'll run over your limit - thus breaking the newly forming habit.

2. Cut-off time

So after you've decided what time you'd like to go to bed the next thing to do would be to set yourself a preliminary deadline or cut-off time where you stop what your doing so that you can get ready for bed and get into bed on time.

For example: say that you've decided to go to bed at 11:00. So you're cut-off time is 10:30 lets say. That gives you 30 minutes to stop what you're doing and get into bed. If you are someone who likes to read before going to bed then maybe your cut-off time will be 10:00 - it's up to you as long as you're able to make it to bed on time.

A sub-tip for this tip is to set an alarm. Set an alarm to ring when it hits your cut-off time just so that you wont forget. 

3. Avoid T.V

If you're wanting to go to bed earlier, don't watch a t.v program that runs right up until your bed-time as you'll just end up not getting to bed on time. So if for example you're wanting to get to bed for 11:00, don't decide to watch an hour long t.v program that starts at 10:00.

In fact if you're someone who likes watching t.v a lot, it would probably be best to try and avoid it altogether within an hour or two of your bedtime as it will be easy for you to get sucked-in to watching a lot more than you originally intended.

If you are wanting to reduce the amount of t.v you're watching or stop altogether then here's a previous post of mine: 8 Steps to Reduce T.V Watching.

4. Acknowledge the Time

For many people who do stay up late they don't really have a concept of what late is - not any more. They may look at the time and see it's 24:00 but yet think that they still have hours left, well, they don't. Because before you know it with that mindset it's 02:00-03:00 in the morning and you're just turning-in.

I remember when I used to go to bed all the time on the other side of midnight in the early hours of the next day, and I realised how my perception of what late was had changed. I can remember when I used to think 10:00 was late, then when  I started to stay up until 11:00 that became the new standard of what late was. Every time I stayed up later, my concept of what late was just got shifted further and further back until I wasn't getting nearly as much sleep as I should.

Basically just be honest about the time and admit to yourself it's late when it's 12:00.

There's nothing wrong with staying up until late but it's key that you acknowledge it's late because otherwise how can you go to bed earlier if what you perceive as early is actually late?

5. Finish Text Conversations (Mainly for students)

I know what it's like to have text conversations and I realise how much time they can consume. So if you are trying to get to bed early it would be sensible to try and round off any text conversations you have with friends before you go to bed. Don't fall into the trap of texting whilst you're in bed because what's the point of going to bed at all if you're effectively staying-up anyway? You might as well not go to bed at all.

If they don't get the hint that you're trying to round-off the conversation then you could always be blunt and say "I'm going to bed now, speak to you tomorrow/soon". If they text back then you could just ignore the text, I mean you did just text them that you were going to bed. :)

6. Why do You Want to Go to Bed Earlier?

There has got to be a reason or reasons to why you want to go to bed earlier, so try to keep them in mind when you are dragging yourself off to bed - they will serve as motivation. 

If you would like to read about what can happen if you don't get enough sleep, then here's a previous post of mine: 9 Effects of Sleep Deprivation.

7. Consistency

I don't know how many times I've stressed this in other posts but "consistency breeds momentum". Whenever you're trying to form a new habit the main thing to do is to remain consistent. This is the best way to get your body into the rhythm of your new habit (in this case bed-time) and before you know it it will feel like normal. 

I've written a previous post about a motivational technique that is based upon consistency: Don't Break the Chain.

8. Reward

A popular motivational trick a lot of people use for when wanting to start and stick to something is to reward themselves after completing a mini-goal. For example: So you do decide to go to bed earlier and so for every two weeks of completing doing so you treat yourself to a film at the cinemas or something of similar nature etc.

Conclusion

If you do start going to bed earlier and you are able to stick at doing so for an extended period of time (something like 3-4 weeks or more) you'll already be able to feel the difference; the amount of energy you have, your personality and behaviour, your confidence, and your health.

Detail: 8 Ways to Go to Bed Earlier

0 9 Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Most of you who are reading this post will know what sleep deprivation feels like. To wake-up and still feel tired and then for that feeling to remain with you for most of the day, if not all of it. It's not just this feeling of tiredness that is of consequence of sleep deprivation but also many other things. Here's some of the effects that a lack of sleep can bring.

1. Behaviour

Sleep has a direct effect on behaviour. Often when you have a young child and they're crying or playing-up they're normally just tired and so their behaviour becomes worse. It's not only young children who can suffer from bad behaviour as sleep deprivation can effect people of all ages.

When your body stays awake for extended periods of time, regeneration and maintenance of certain parts of the body, such as the brain, begins to falter. It is this incomplete-regeneration/re-charge of the brain through sleeping that has the impact on behaviour and will worsen a persons behaviour.

2. Concentration

Concentration is another thing that is substituted for tiredness.When you can feel your tiredness hanging over you throughout the day you know that you wont be able to concentrate properly because all you want to do is go to sleep. Your body is having to use more energy than usual (when you're not sleep deprived) to keep you going and so other functions like concentration for instance, will see a decline. 

Here's another post of mine: 6 Benefits of Concentration.

3. Head Aches

If you don't like headaches then don't skip sleep as it has been shown that having a lack of sleep can actually bring them on. If you're someone that suffers from chronic headaches/migraines then make sure that you get enough sleep.

4. Weakened Immune System 

Hate colds, coughs, the flu, and other infections and illnesses? I thought so. Well not getting the sleep that your body needs will actually have a negative effect on the immune system, and immune functions that help to fight against illness and infection will start to diminish making you a lot more susceptible to them.  

5. Increased Blood Pressure

Another negativity of sleep deprivation is an increased blood pressure which in itself can bring on many unwanted illnesses and problems.

If you want to read more on high blood pressure then here's the link: Reduce High Blood Pressure.

6. Depression

Another thing about sleep deprivation is that it can lead to depression. This is as regular tiredness will bring your mood down and behaviour (as discussed in point #1), and then when you've reached this level, not getting enough sleep can lower your state even further until it reaches the lower levels of depression, and this is another thing that can bring about some more individual problems. You'd be surprised how much better you can feel when you're getting enough sleep.

7. Memory Loss

This may sound like a bit on the extreme side but tiredness really can have an effect upon memory. Sleep is very necessary for the cognitive functions of the brain and making sure that they are healthy, and it is something that helps us with remembering and recalling information. However, when we don't get enough sleep then the cognitive functions of the brain don't function as-well and will cause our ability to remember and learn new things a lot harder than it should be. 

8. Weight Gain

Many sleep deprived nights may also be contributing to your waistline. Your bodies natural calorie burner comes in the form of your metabolism and it is this that burns the vast majority of your calories. Your body needs sleep so that it can process hormones that aid in the maintenance of your metabolic rate and your appetite. When you don't get enough sleep your body will find it more and more difficult to use these hormones to mange metabolism and appetite which will only add to the waist. 

If you're are struggling with weight and are wanting to lose some pounds, then here's a previous post of mine: How to Lose Weight.

9. Type-2 Diabetes

As discussed in point #7, when your body doesn't get the sleep that it needs it will find it harder to process the hormones needed to regulate bodily functions such as metabolic rate. Well another bodily function that will see a cutback in regulation is sugar processing. And it's this, your body not being able to properly process sugar, that can lead to type-2 diabetes.

Conclusion

It's also interesting to note that if we live by a sleep-deprived life, even though we may feel okay because our bodies have gotten used to sleep deprivation, our bodies will require more and more sleep. So in a sense we're getting into debt with our bodies every time we don't get enough sleep. I do hope that this post has highlighted some key points to keep in mind when it comes to sleep.

Detail: 9 Effects of Sleep Deprivation

0 How to Get a Good Nights Sleep

It's horrible when you can't get a good nights sleep and however much you try, it just seems to become harder and harder to slip into that state of unconsciousness. Then when the next day comes around and it's time to get up you can definitely feel the lack of sleep. The good thing to note is that you're not alone when it comes to sleep deprivation, and the good thing is that normally it has something to do with your daily routine. 

You'll be surprised how much daily and evening habits can have an affect on sleep, and can either help you with sleeping or hinder you from sleeping. 

After saying this I'm hoping these tips provided will help you to get a better nights sleep.

1. Consistency

The body naturally likes consistency as its internal body clock relies on it. Making sure that you get in tune with your bodies natural sleep and wake-up times is one of the first essential things for you to do. If you go to bed and wake-up at varying times over the week then that means that your body is out of sync with its internal body clock, but there is a way to reset it.

To get your internal body clock back into sync with your body all you need to do is keep to a sleeping schedule - go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time, simple. Set an alarm clock as-well to make sure that you get up at the right time, I've written a previous post about the amount of sleep people should get: How Much Sleep do we Need?

It may take your body a couple of weeks or more to adjust to the new sleeping schedule and once it has will make going to sleep easier.

2. Relax

I've already written a post about this so I wont go into too much detail here. Basically, relaxing before bed will cause your body to become more susceptible to sleep and is great for unwinding from what has felt like a long day. One example of what you could do to relax before bed would be to read.

If you are interested in reading about this in more detail I'll refer you to the main article: How to Relax Before Bed.  

3. Amount of Light-Exposure

Our bodies need light-exposure to properly function, when it gets dark a hormone called melatonin that is regulated by your body will start to kick-in and make you tired. This is as the production of this hormone is based upon light-exposure. The more light-exposure your body has - the less melatonin is produced, and vice-versa the darker it gets the more melatonin is produced.

Now you may be saying, "okay, well that's fine as its light when it's day and dark when it's night, so why are you telling me this". That's a good question. Well there are things that can mess with the production of melatonin during the day and night, and can make it difficult for you to get to sleep.

Things like having a day job where you aren't exposed to as much daylight (an office for example) or wearing sunglasses all the time can cause a increase in the amount of melatonin that is produced making you feel sleepy during the day. Similarly watching t.v, being at a computer or around some other source of artificial light at night can cause a deduction in melatonin levels making you more awake and making it harder for you to relax and fall to sleep.

4. Watch what You Eat and Drink

Food is another thing that will affect the body during sleep and depending when and what you eat can also depend how good a nights sleep you could get. 

Fatty foods and other 'heavy' foods will take a lot of energy for your stomach to digest and so should try to be avoided within a couple of hours leading up to bed. Also try to eat your meals earlier in the evening as this will give your stomach more time to digest the food. I know for some people this isn't possible but if it is then give it a try. 

Avoid alcohol  before bed and avoid caffeine altogether (for example in coffee) if possible. Alcohol can send a person to sleep quicker, which you may be thinking that's a good thing, however it reduces the quality of sleep and your body will find it harder to go through all of the stages of sleep.  

Caffeine whilst okay in smaller doses can actually provide a restless nights sleep even after as much as 10 hours after consumption.  

Another thing, drinking too much water before you go to bed can also mean a midnight walk to the bathroom, so if you're going to drink lots of water I would suggest 1-2 hours before you go to bed. 

5. Exercise More

Daily exercise is another thing that you can do during the day to help yourself get a better nights sleep. Something like only 30 minutes a day can make a big difference. As I've said in other posts, daily exercise doesn't have to be in one go and can be split into smaller chunks (10 minutes for a section lets say) spread across the course of the day. 

If you're wanting to get into exercise more, then here's a previous post of mine: How to Create an Exercise Plan.

6. Avoid Smoking

As-well as being bad for your health in numerous ways, it can also be detrimental to sleep quality and can have you awake for much of the night in some cases. This is as nicotine is a stimulant which will disrupt sleep. As-well as this, depending on how much you smoke a day, you may find yourself getting up during the night to smoke as the withdrawal is too strong. 

Here's another previous post of mine: How to Stop Smoking.

7. Avoid Stress

Another thing that's detrimental to sleeping and health in general is stress and anxiety. Being stressed and anxious can make it very difficult for you to sleep, I know from where I've been stressed in the past and as a result have experienced sleepless nights and then long drawn-out mornings. Try to reduce stress levels as best you can. When first starting this blog I wrote an article about stress which I will direct you to if you want to read about it in more detail: The common causes of stress and how to deal with it. 

Conclusion

Whether you only need to change one aspect of your life or many aspects, I hope that doing so will help you to get a better nights sleep. Remember, if you're trying to get back into a regular sleep pattern then you may not see results for a couple of weeks or so as your body is adjusting to the change you've made.Good luck.

Detail: How to Get a Good Nights Sleep

0 How to Stay Alert Throughout the Day

I'm sure we've all had those magical days when we feel like we're on top of the world. We seem alert, active, awake, energetic, chatty, throughout the course of the day we seem to have it all.

Then there is the opposite sort of day. The one where things seem dull, you're tired and are not really feeling up to doing anything. In fact, you couldn't be further from alert if you tried.

So why is this? Well, there can be some contributing factors that can effect how alert you may be throughout the day.

Now the most common answer to the question: "how can I stay alert throughout the day", would "drink coffee". Coffee may give you that rush you think your body needs, but it's not natural, and will end with a energy-low. Drinking too much coffee can have negative effects on your body. If you're a coffee addict and you're considering stopping drinking coffee altogether, then you can read this post; How to Give up Coffee.

Here's now my list of things you can do to do to stay alert throughout the day, without the use of caffeine.

1. Eat a Healthy Diet

Your diet is a huge factor to how your body functions, and treating it nice now, will enable it to have a better chance of staying healthy through to old age.

Fruit takes a relatively quick amount of time to digest (around 30 minutes), compared with that of denser foods. This makes them great for your diet, and there consistent energy boost is also great. 

If you want to read in more detail about the benefits of a healthy diet, then click the link.

2. Change your meals from 2-3, to 4-5 a day

Blood glucose levels plays an important role in bodily alertness, as it is directly linked to your energy levels. Digestion of food takes a lot of energy, and so by eating two or three meals a day, will cause your body to have large rises and falls of energy levels. 

This is why splitting up your meals into 4-5 smaller portions will make the process smoother. Eating smaller meals like these are also good for your metabolic rate.

3. Get Enough Sleep

Make sure your body is getting enough sleep. Your body needs this time to recharge and regroup. If you want to read in more detail about sleep, then I'll refer you to these posts: The functions of sleep and how much sleep do we need?

4. Exercise

Exercise is believed to be a good way of getting a steady energy boost and is something you should do if you're wanting to stay more alert. Even just a brisk 10 minute walk will do the trick. The reason why exercising will help keep you alert, is because it pumps oxygen through your veins, brain, and muscles. 

It's this that gives you that refreshed feeling after a nice walk or some hard exercise, and gives your energy levels a rise for a good couple of hours or more.

5. Drink Plenty of Water

Drinking lots of water is essential for your body to function properly and to help maintain it as it ages. Our bodies need at least 2 litres of water a day, but many of us don't consume nearly this amount, mostly due to the fact that we're not really that thirsty. However, whether we're thirsty or not, our bodies still need the fluid. 

A good guideline to go by is the colour of your urine. The darker and stronger smelling it is, the more dehydrated you are. The same is true for the opposite; the clearer your urine is, the more hydrated your body is. Just because your urine is clear though, doesn't mean you can stop drinking for a few hours, your body will need to keep consuming water to keep your urine clear. In the mornings, your urine will be typically darker as your body has been sleeping, not having anything to drink all through the night. 

If you find it difficult to have 2 litres a day, or are wondering what some of the benefits of drinking lots of water are, then here are two posts you may like: 11 tips to drinking more water, and 10 reasons for drinking water.

6. Avoid Afternoon Sugary Snacking

Snacking is a very easy thing to do and can be one key factor to why you may not be very alert. Roughly, by about 15:00, our bodies are low on blood sugar and so, is craving for some energy. This period of time is when a lot of people will snack on sugary treats and the like. While snacking will help make your body feel energetic, it won't last and you'll soon feel the rush fade. Instead, have a healthy snack of fruit or veg. 

If you have a hard time with snacking, then you can read a previous post of mine: How to Stop Snacking.

Detail: How to Stay Alert Throughout the Day