As a child, you likely had a bedtime routine : take a bath, put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and get tucked in with your favorite book. Just maybe, on the weekends you got to stay up an extra half hour. Remember not worrying about an alarm clock, when getting enough sleep was your parents’ responsibility? Those were the days.
While adulthood comes with the freedom to go to bed whenever you please , the absence of a regimen that primes your body for adequate rest is among the plethora of poor habits that may be damaging your sleep health . Proper rest offers myriad short- and long-term benefits for both your physical and mental health, from reducing stress and improving memory to lowering risk of heart disease and stroke , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Getting sufficient sleep may even save others’ lives, the agency points out, as rested drivers are less likely to cause motor vehicle crashes resulting in injury and death.
Chances are you know what you should be doing to get a good night’s sleep—such as turning down the thermostat to cool your bedroom—even if putting these habits into practice is easier said than done. What’s more, you may be inadvertently engaging in behaviors that sabotage your sleep. Here are eight to be aware of.
1. Treating your body like a machine with an off switch You can’t shut down your body like you can your laptop. If you’ve experienced rough nights when your body is rife with exhaustion ye.