Why It's So Hard to Sleep as an Adult
By Sara Butler
When you were a teenager, you may have been able to sleep for what felt like forever. Those days of an uninterrupted 10 hours of sleep are a thing of the past. As you get older, the cold, hard truth is that you often wake up earlier and find a full night's sleep to be elusive. Why is that? Here's what you need to know about sleep as an adult and what you can do to get more of it.
What Keeps You Up at Night?
There are several things that can stand between you and a good night's sleep as an adult. The biggest include:
- Technology - Your smartphone or your television may be what is keeping you from drifting off effortlessly into dreamland. These devices are distracting but it's the blue light these devices emit that keeps you up. Blue light can actually keep your brain from producing the hormones it needs to turn off and go to sleep.
- Stress - Adulthood is synonymous with stress. When you can't turn off your brain at night so you can relax and sleep, then you're letting stress and worry keep you up.
- Being too hot - Overheating while you sleep is a big sleep disrupter. The ideal temperature for sleep is a cool 67 degrees Fahrenheit according to the National Sleep Foundation. If you're overheating, then you're not sleeping well.
What You Can Do
If you want to get better quality sleep at night, then you need to take a few steps in the right direction. First and foremost, make sure your bedroom is comfortable. Make sure your room is cool and dark. It might be a good idea to invest in some cooling sleepwear or bedding if you wake up a lot during the night because you're overheated.
You should also turn off all electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Instead, dust off a real book and read it or meditate for a little bit before you go to sleep. Developing some kind of routine before bed will help your body recognize when it's time to go to sleep.
If you're worried about your sleep, then talk to the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic. They can offer you some more tips to help you get the sleep you need to keep on adulting.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Aurora, Colo.