The Internet: Home of the Insomniacs
by Sinéad
I’m surprised the phrase “Couldn’t sleep last night.” has yet to trend on Twitter, it’s certainly a common tweet I see in the mornings during my commute to work. Not only that, flicking back through the wee hours of my stream it’s also pretty common to see “Still can’t get to sleep.” appearing at 3am.
I would argue that if you’re tweeting, you’re certainly not trying to sleep or doing what’s good for your body in preparation for shutting down for a few hours. I myself have suffered some restless nights and made a real effort to combat the problem, rather than accepting it and suffering through more zombie like days in the office.
Turn Off Your Computer 30 Minutes Before Sleep
If you’re suffering from occasional difficulty getting to sleep at night you should consider the effects of using a computer late at night. Studies have shown that the brain remains stimulated after using a computer (or watching television), which in turn makes your sleep restless. The simple act of shutting down the computer 30 minutes before you’re planning on going to sleep can help relax you.
Research has also shown that the bright light of your computer monitor (let’s also not forget that mobile phone screens also produce a bright light) suppresses the production of our sleep hormone melatonin. If you are suffering from an especially bad case of insomnia then try shutting down the computer at least two hours before planning on going to bed.
Though you may enjoy the calming effects of using the computer, your brain on the other hand is thinking “light = daytime”. Staring at your computer screen means keeping yourself alert and wide-awake and returning online to complain about your inability to sleep is simply aggravating the problem.
If you are used to the routine of using the computer right up until bedtime, try to create a new routine for yourself. Use the last 30 minutes of your day to read a chapter out of that book you’ve been meaning to finish, to relax in the shower, to tidy up your apartment. Stick to the new routine and see if it helps improve your sleep.
Is checking if anyone has replied to your latest tweet or commented on your blog really worth loosing sleep over?
Avoid Caffeine Within 6 Hours of Bedtime
Coffee. Internet users are it’s biggest fan, but it does more harm than good to you in the evenings.
Caffeine is a short term solution if you are low on sleep and need to remain active, it blocks adenosine reception so you feel alert, and injects adrenaline into your system to give you a boost. The trouble is, that the half-life of caffeine in your body is around six hours. Consider a cup of coffee at 6pm, half the caffeine in that cup will still be floating around in your body at midnight. By avoiding caffeine within at least 6 hours of your bedtime you’re giving yourself a better chance at being able to fall asleep and the less caffeine in your body the better your sleep will be.
Also, excessive caffeine consumption has a negative effect on your digestive system, so you may suffer from heartburn when you try to sleep at night. Coffee (even decaf!) reduces the pressure on the valve between the esophagus and the stomach so that the acidic contents of the stomach pass up to the esophagus leading to heartburn, which is far harder to cure when you’re lying down as it’s even easier for that acid to travel to your esophagus.
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If the above two tips don’t work for you, I would recommend talking to your doctor as persistent insomnia can have detrimental effects on your physical and mental well being.
You can also try the following guidelines:
Get up at the same time every day, even at weekends. Irregular sleep patterns undermines your ability to sleep.- Avoid daytime activities in bed (like eating or watching TV) but reading before bed may be helpful.
- Do not smoke before bedtime, nicotine is a stimulant and just like caffeine it can disturb your sleep.
- Avoid alcohol within four hours of bedtime, though it may induce sleep it makes sleep more fragile and broken throughout the night.
- If you are unable to sleep, leave your bed and engage in a quiet activity elsewhere (not TV or using the computer) and return to bed when you feel sleepy again.
- Go to bed only when you are sleepy. Do not extend your bedtime hours in the hope of sleeping longer, in most cases you may be awake for longer.
- Exercise. People who take regular exercise sleep better than those of us sitting in-front of our computer screen 12 hours a day.
Comments
This is a really helpful article, I used to be a terror for staying/getting up late, but in the past year I’ve really made an effort to have a more normal body clock. It’s difficult because I work for myself and my boyfriend works nights. But it’s really made me feel better.
A few major things are:
No coffee after 5pm
We got rid of our television, so I no longer sit up watching euro news and the discovery channel
Setting my alarm on my days off, so I don’t sleep in really late
I used to be a terrible sleeper. Years of working nights, and then years of working shifts didn’t help at all. I never believed in proper sleeping tablets but took natural Melatonin at one stage and found it pretty good.
For as long as I can remember I’ve fallen asleep reading a book. These day’s I’m always so tired that I never get very far before dozing off. Listening to an audiobook on ipod at the moment which is very handy; nice to have someone read me a story every night as a I fall asleep.
Yep agreed on Twitter etc, have messed around the internet on my phone at bedtime and it’s never a good idea. I always leave it in another room now.
@Ruth I’m glad you found it beneficial, your own tips are spot on.
@John Leaving it in the other room is excellent advice, might even have to start doing that myself.
I found this post brilliant, Sinéad, and hope I can take the advice offered to heart… I’ve mad sleep problems lately… driving me a bit mad really :/
@Niall I’m really glad you found this helpful, but if you’ve been having sleep problems for more than a couple of days out of each week, you should definitely look into it more in depth. If you ever wanna talk about it, drop me a line.
This is very good advice, Sinéad. I’ve noticed the amount of insomnia-related tweeting too, and based on chats with friends and people in general, it seems to be a very widespread problem. I can empathise — I suffered from insomnia, on and off, for a long time, and despite the fact that it made me irritable and chronically tired, I took a perverse sort of pride in it. Obviously that was part of the problem.
In recent years I developed a new respect for sleep, along with a set of habits that work wonders virtually every night. I’d say caffeine, alcohol, worry, and online activity are major factors in a lot of people’s sleeping difficulties. Quitting or cutting down on these can take a bit of work, but it’s worth it. In a similar vein to regular exercise, I would recommend some kind of relaxation technique before (or even in) bed. Most of them combine stretching and slow, deep breathing; yoga offers both and can be combined with meditation, which also helps. Or just some kind of quiet activity that relaxes you, like reading, art, or making/listening to music.
I think Yoga is a brilliant way to de-stress, especially just before bed. I’ve tried it out a few times myself and must get back to doing it more regularly.
A lot of folk practise yoga in the morning or early evening, but soon before bed suits me best. It’s an excellent corrective to typical computer postures. Took me a few attempts to make the habit stick, though.
Nicely written! I’m a coffee lover myself and I agree that although coffee can be quite useful at work, going to sleep at night can be quite a pain. Thanks for the tips!
I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but I have already felt that even if you can’t fall asleep your body does get a little bit of rest just by laying still with your eyes closed. Obviously the people who are twittering aren’t even doing this.
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