Struggling to Improve Your Sleep? Here’s How to Overcome Common Barriers

In our search for better sleep, many find themselves cycling through the same conventional advice; avoid caffeine, blue light , keep a regular sleep schedule, get sunlight first thing in the day, yadayadayada. While these tips are essential for better sleep, they often fall short of addressing the deeper, underlying issues behind why we’re not sleeping as much as we should. From the grip of modern technology to unresolved emotional distress, the real challenges to good sleep require a more nuanced approach.

Lifestyle and Environmental Factors

Our modern lifestyle presents unique challenges to maintaining good sleep hygiene. The lure of smartphones, binge-watching a television series, scrolling through social media or late-night internet browsing can sabotage efforts to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Whilst we need some time to unwind, it’s often at the expense of a good nights sleep. This leads to the classic cycle of waking up tired, promising an early night, and then staying up late again. To break this cycle, we have to make sleep a real priority and ensure our actions align to this. There are also some very practical things you can do such as setting an alarm to remind you to go to bed, establishing a tech curfew, or creating tech-free zones in the bedroom can make a big difference. This way, you’re not just dodging blue light but also making a conscious effort to sleep better.

Stress and Anxiety affecting sleep

One of the most common culprits of poor sleep is stress. When your mind is racing with worries about work, relationships, or other life pressures, it can be hard to relax enough to fall asleep. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that increases alertness and disrupts sleep patterns. Anxiety disorders can also contribute to chronic sleep issues. Incorporate relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga into your daily routine can help to calm your nervous system and get a good nights rest.

Mental Health and Sleep

Major life events, like a breakup or losing a loved one can initiate a cycle of sleep disturbances that can quickly turn from acute to chronic insomnia. The key to breaking this cycle is to confront and process how you are feeling. Whether through journaling, professional therapy, or mindfulness practices, getting over these major life can help restore a healthier sleep pattern. If not addressed, this can give rise to chronic sleep problems.

Sleep related anxiety

If you haven’t been sleeping well for a while, the lack of sleep can lead to increased worry and anxiety about not sleeping. This anxiety can create a vicious cycle that exacerbates sleep problems. When you lie in bed worrying about whether you’ll be able to fall asleep, this anxiety can increase your levels of stress and arousal, making it even more difficult to relax and drift off. This heightened state of alertness prevents your body from entering the restful state necessary for sleep, leading to a frustrating cycle where the fear of insomnia actually perpetuates it. This might also look like continually checking the clock, counting the hours left until you have to wake up, and worrying about the consequences of not sleeping enough. All of which can create a state of mental hyperarousal. This not only makes it difficult to fall asleep but can also lead to fragmented and restless sleep, perpetuating a cycle of poor sleep and increasing anxiety.

Addressing this requires a combination of cognitive and behavioural strategies, looking at unhelpful thoughts about sleep, learning to retrain your sleep muscles and reset your circadian rhythm. If the problem has become chronic, it’s likely that professional guidance will be needed to break the cycle and improve sleep quality.

Entrepreneurial Sleep Struggles

Something I see in many business owners and entrepreneurs is that as their minds begin to relax and slow down, it can unexpectedly trigger a flow of creativity and problem-solving ideas.. For this, the solution lies in deliberately setting aside time for activities that foster relaxation and creativity without the pressure of immediate outcomes, such as walking or meditating. These activities not only encourage problem-solving but also promote better sleep by providing a mental break from the days demands.

Long term sleep issues

Any of these can be a trigger for chronic sleep problems or insomnia. Whilst you can fix insomnia yourself, it can be hard to do this without professional guidance. A practitioner such as myself will work with you to address the underlying physiological and physiological causes. This focuses on addressing your thoughts and worries about sleep, along with behavioral interventions aimed at resetting your circadian rhythm and building up your sleep drive.

The circadian rhythm is your body's internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle over a 24-hour period. It is influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness, even food and exercise can influence it. Disruptions to this rhythm can make it difficult to fall asleep and wake up at appropriate times.

Sleep drive, on the other hand, is the body's need for sleep, which builds up the longer you are awake. It is akin to hunger, increasing the longer you go without sleep. By managing both your circadian rhythm and sleep drive, you can improve your overall sleep quality and reduce insomnia. My next article will delve deeper into how these work together and how you can work to get these in synch and working as they should.

Improving your sleep

Addressing sleep issues requires a multifaceted approach. Individuals must not only educate themselves about good sleep practices but also deeply integrate these practices into their daily lives. It demands consistent effort and sometimes a fundamental shift in how we prioritise and value our sleep. By examining your behaviours and attitudes to sleep, addressing the underlying behaviours and and adopting practical strategies that you can do consistently, you’ll soon see improvements in both your sleep and overall health.

It’s important to know that resetting our circadian rhythms and growing our sleep drive takes time. These biological processes are influenced by consistent habits and environmental cues, and adjustments won’t happen overnight. Patience and persistence are essential as you work towards establishing patterns that support better sleep.

The reality is improving our sleep goes beyond just knowing what to do; It requires a dedicated effort to prioritise our sleep and address the barriers stopping us from consistently getting a good quality sleep. By identifying and addressing the real reasons behind your sleep troubles, you can pave the way for more restful nights and more energetic days.