Thoughts and beliefs can affect our attitude toward sleep management as much as our actions. From having a dependence on caffeine to using phones until late at night, we are unaware of a few other habits that adversely affect our sleep. How we undermine our sleep maybe common than we realize and have no relation with what we do rather than our thoughts.
Here are a few prominent sleep myths debunked, including the need for eight hours of sleep to function or catch up with sleep.
Waking up in the middle of the night
We often think that after putting our head on the pillow, we mustn at the desired time. Even if we think we slept throughout the night, we may wake up several times without knowing. Studies show that an average human wakes up 10 times during the night. This theory concludes that it’s our safety and survival reflex. We are in a semi-conscious state, wherein we wake up to check if everything is in place.
Hence it is completely normal to wake up in the middle of the night. Don’t fixate on it as a problem to your sleep schedule.
“I need to know the time!”
This is one of the biggest disruptive habits that many of us have. If you wake up at night and instantly check the time, you’re most likely going to end up calculating how many hours you have slept and how many hours you will get to sleep before you wake up. It often makes us worry about how much we miss out on our sleep. Checking the time every time you wake up will add more stress, and you’ll face difficulty falling back to sleep.
Only use your phone as an alarm clock and keep it at a distance that is reachable only when you wake up to turn the alarm off. And fight the urge to check it every time you wake up in the middle of the night.
7-8 hours of sleep is the only healthy solution
Do you have a stabilized sleep schedule? While it’s important to get enough sleep, there is far more significance given to the standard “7-8 hours of sleep”.
However, everyone has different levels of sleep necessities. Fixing a particular amount of time would be unhelpful. Especially when your body needs the exact opposite time. You might feel refreshed even with a short nap or 5 hours. The key is to pay attention to the way you feel after waking up.
“I can catch up on lost sleep!”
Do you go to bed late and then sleep for extra hours just to catch up on the lost sleep? Or sleep more during the holidays? This belief could seriously damage your sleep schedule. It’s impossible to recover, although you can’t catch up to some extent.
Get into a suitable sleep pattern and try to be firm on it rather than adjusting to different days and hours.
Sleeping is when you’re eyes are closed
Do you ever zone out of a meeting, or a lecture, where you have no idea what is going on? You don’t have an ounce of knowledge about the surrounding activities. You’re just physically there, with glazed eyes and constant attacks of yawns. This is a common phenomenon called hypnagogic trance a vital relaxation state that permits you to stay sharp and awake and allows you to concentrate on information, learn and refresh your memory.
Regardless, continuous slipping into this trance-like state is a red flag to your day-to-day sleeping pattern.
“Insomnia runs in the family” or “I can’t get a grip on my sleeping routine”
You’re not alone when it comes to thinking you have bad genes that are stopping you from slumbering. It might be new to know, but how to stop wearing this badge of honor and believe that they are unsolvable?
Getting to grips with sleep
Anyone can improve their sleeping methods. Once you get hold of a convenient habit, you can solve your issues. Pick out the obstacles in your schedule and plan your bedtime accordingly. You will know the reason behind your bad sleep routine isn’t your genes, but some of your habits that keep you from sleeping, for example, using your mobile phones or any other devices right before sleeping, resting only after your body starts to shut down, etc.
As a result, improving your habits and routines according to your preferences is a must. Believing in myths will only worsen your schedule. Sometimes we can’t decide on something, and our body suffers the consequences. Thus, setting a suitable timetable is essential.
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Feature photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash.