Insomnia is the inability to get the amount of sleep you need to wake up feeling rested and refreshed. Because different people need different amounts of sleep, insomnia is defined by how you feel after sleeping—not the number of hours you sleep or how quickly you doze off. Even if you’re spending eight hours a night in bed, if you feel drowsy and fatigued during the day, you may be experiencing insomnia.
Insomnia symptoms can include:
- Difficulty falling asleep despite being tired
- Trouble getting back to sleep when waking up in the night
- Waking up too early in the morning
- Relying on sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep
- Not feeling refreshed after sleep
- Daytime drowsiness, fatigue, or irritability
- Difficulty concentrating during the day
In order to properly resolve your insomnia, you need to become a sleep detective. Emotional issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression cause about half of all insomnia cases. But your daytime habits, bedtime routine, and physical health can also play a major role.
It’s important to identify all possible causes of your insomnia. Try using a sleep diary to record daily details about your daytime habits, sleep routine, and insomnia symptoms. For example, you can keep track of when you go to sleep and when you wake up, what you eat and drink, the medications you take, and any stressful events that occur during the day. Once you figure out the root cause of your insomnia, you’ll be able to tailor treatment accordingly.
Often, changing daytime habits and bedtime routines that contribute to sleeplessness is enough to overcome insomnia altogether.
Some habits are so ingrained that you may overlook them as a possible contributor to your insomnia. Maybe your daily Starbucks habit affects your sleep more than you realize. Or maybe you’ve never made the connection between your late-night TV viewing or Internet surfing and your sleep difficulties. Keeping a sleep diary is a helpful way to pinpoint habits and behaviors contributing to your insomnia.
All you have to do is jot down daily details about your daytime habits, sleep routine, and insomnia symptoms. For example, you can keep track of when you go to sleep and when you wake up, where you fall asleep, what you eat and drink, and any stressful events that occur during the day.
- Exercise. Nothing aids sleep at night like a good workout during the day. You don’t have to join a gym or spend hours on a treadmill to reap the benefits, though. Try taking a dance or yoga class with a friend, playing activity-based video games with your kids, watching your favorite TV show while on a stationary bike, or enjoying outdoor activities such as golf, playing Frisbee, or even yard work. Aim for 30 minutes or more of activity on most days—or three 10-minute sessions if that’s more convenient—but not too close to bedtime.
- Avoid naps. Napping during the day can make it more difficult to sleep at night. If you feel like you have to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes before 3 p.m.
- Limit caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Stop drinking caffeinated beverages at least eight hours before bed. While alcohol can make you feel sleepy, it interferes with the quality of your sleep, and nicotine is a stimulant.
- Avoid late meals. Try to avoid heavy, rich foods within two hours of bed. Fatty foods can take a lot of work for your stomach to digest and spicy or acidic foods can cause heartburn.
- Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Support your biological clock by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends, even if you’re tired.