How To Overcome Sleep Difficulties

What Are Sleep Concerns?

Sleep concerns are any problems that affect your sleep or cause your sleep to be lower quality. If your normal sleep patterns are regularly being disrupted, you may have sleep concerns that need to be addressed. Here are some of the most common sleep concerns that people may experience:

Can’t Fall Asleep

One of the most common sleep concerns people have is when they can’t fall asleep. For many, this may be a case of short-term insomnia. Short-term insomnia can make it hard for you to fall asleep and make it difficult to fall back asleep after waking. Unlike chronic insomnia, these symptoms can usually subside within a few days. Sometimes it may take longer, up to a couple of weeks.

Keep in mind, difficulty falling asleep doesn’t automatically mean you have temporary insomnia. It’s just as likely that improvements in your sleep habits, also known as sleep hygiene, could help you address your sleep problems. Here are a few reasons you may have trouble falling asleep at night:

• Noisy or bright sleep environment 
• Stress
• Certain medication side effects
• Inconsistent sleep schedule
• Habits that reduce sleep quality

If you can’t fall asleep on a regular basis, you may need to make lifestyle changes to remedy your issues.

Can’t Stay Asleep

You may have no trouble falling asleep, but sleep quality can really dip if you can’t stay asleep. Constant waking throughout the night doesn’t allow you to get a full, refreshing night of sleep. There are a number of reasons you may be waking throughout the night. Insomnia once again pops up here, since it’s such a common condition. But there are other sleep disorders that can cause you to wake often. Here are some reasons you may have trouble staying asleep:

• Stress
• Getting too much sleep during the day
• Sleep disorders like sleep apnea, night terrors, and restless leg syndrome
• Medication side effects
• Eating or drinking immediately before bed
  

If you’re unable to sleep and you can’t pin it to a specific reason, it’s likely behavioral and lifestyle modifications are needed. If you have a condition like sleep apnea, you may need to see a doctor and get a CPAP to help you sleep.

Always Tired

Poor sleep quality can make you extremely fatigued  or drowsy during the day. Everyone has an off day every now and then, but if you’re feeling tired on a regular basis, you likely need to address your sleep problems. If these feelings are negatively impacting your daily life you may need to implement better sleep hygiene. Here are some reasons you might be crashing during the day:

• Not getting enough sleep at night
• Waking up too early
• Falling asleep too late
• Having an inconsistent sleep schedule
• Sleep disorders like narcolepsy
• Napping too late in the day
  

Trying to get a full night of sleep is the first step to take if you’re always tired. For most people, 7 to 8 hours is a good amount of sleep, but some people are fine with 6 hours while others feel better after 9 hours. Determine what amount of sleep time is best for you and try to stick to a schedule. If you’re consistently getting a full night of sleep and you’re still feeling tired, you may have a sleep disorder or other medical condition that’s causing you to feel that way.

Wake Up Not Feeling Rested

What if you have no problems falling asleep and staying asleep, but when you wake up you don’t feel rested or refreshed? It’s good that you’re able to sleep, but your sleep quality is probably suffering. In order to wake up feeling rested, you need to get deep sleep.

Deep sleep, as you might be able to guess, is your deepest stage of sleep. When you’re sleeping, your body goes through five stages of sleep called the sleep cycle. Deep sleep occurs during the third and fourth stage, right before you reach REM sleep. When you’re in deep sleep, your brain waves, heartbeat, and breathing all reach their slowest state. These important stages of sleep allow you to repair your body, rest your mind, and wake up feeling as refreshed as possible.

Here are some reasons your sleep might not be as deep as it needs to be:

• You don’t have an optimal sleep environment
• Stress
• Sleep disorders like night terrors
• Not getting enough activity during the day
• Not getting enough daylight or natural light
• Not giving yourself enough time to sleep
  

Waking up feeling groggy can be frustrating, but taking the right steps to get better sleep can help you start waking up refreshed and ready for the day.

What Are the Causes?

We touched on some of the possible causes for sleep concerns in each section above, but generally, there are a wide range of reasons you may be experiencing sleeplessness and low quality sleep. These reasons can be fixed with lifestyle changes or they may occasionally need medical intervention to treat. Here are some of the main causes of sleep troubles:

• Bad sleep habits or sleep hygiene
• Lifestyle choices that hinder sleep quality
• Medical conditions or medication side effects
• Sleep disorders
• Aging
• Too much stimulation before bed
• Too much caffeine past the afternoon
• Diet
• Lack of sunlight
• Lack of exercise
• Stress
• Bad sleep environment
• Napping too often
• Inconsistent sleep schedule
  

Trying to treat or manage these triggers is a good way to start overcoming these issues and improving sleep.

What Are the Symptoms?

Increasing your awareness around your sleep challenges is a terrific first step towards fixing them. You may be experiencing sleep troubles if you notice the following:

• Unable to fall asleep when you want to
• Trouble waking up when you want to
• Waking up frequently throughout the night
• Difficult falling back asleep after waking
• You don’t feel refreshed after sleeping
• You fall asleep too early or too late
• You wake up too early
• You feel fatigued or drowsy during the day
• Your mood is worse
• Your legs feel tingly or restless
• You fall asleep at random intervals
• You have difficulty completing everyday tasks
  

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s time to learn how to sleep deeper and wake up refreshed. Sleep Reset can help.

How To Sleep Deeper

If you want to sleep deeper, there are a few steps you can try. Changes to your lifestyle and your routine is usually the most effective path. Here are some good habits to form:

• Stick to a sleep schedule -  Decide when you’re going to go to bed and when you’re going to wake up. Try to do that every night, even on the weekends.
• Watch when you consume caffeine: Having caffeine too late in the day can definitely disrupt your sleep, depending on your metabolism. In general, you should stop having caffeine after the morning hours. Of course, you can vary this based on your personal tolerance.
• Try relaxation techniques - There are various relaxation techniques to try that could help your body and mind calm down and get ready for bed. You could try meditation, breathing exercises, light stretching, and anything else that relaxes you and makes you feel a little better before bed.
• Create an ideal sleep environment - Your bedroom should be reserved for sleep and sex. You should also make sure it’s comfortable and somewhere you won’t be disturbed when you’re trying to sleep. That means making the room dark, quiet, and a cool, comfortable temperature. You should also improve your bedding and mattress if possible.
• Don’t lie awake in bed -  If it’s taking you more than 10 minutes to fall asleep, it’s a good idea to get up and go to another room. Try again when you’re more tired. This will help you avoid sleep anxiety.
  

Getting better sleep is difficult when you don’t know where to start. With Sleep Reset, you can learn why you’re not sleeping well, and stop walking up exhausted. Sleep Reset provides you with a personalized plan designed to address your sleep concerns at the source, helping you improve sleep and fall asleep in minutes. You also get a dedicated sleep coach who is there to keep you on track, analyze your sleep, and make adjustments to your plan as needed.

And the best part is, Sleep Reset is a natural answer to your sleep problems. There are no pills or melatonin or supplements involved. You just sleep better and live better by changing your sleep routine and using the tools we provide you. Ready to learn more about the Sleep Reset program?

Start Sleeping Better With Sleep Reset Today!

Sleep Reset can help you start sleeping better whenever you’re ready. Sticking to good sleep habits and knowing how to address your specific concerns is simple when Sleep Reset is in your corner. 

It all starts with our easy and short Sleep Quiz. Our quiz will assess your sleep problems and help us get an idea of your sleep needs. From there you can start with our program, get your custom solution, and get assigned a sleep coach. If you’re ready to improve your sleep and improve your life, take our sleep assessment today!