How to get to sleep: Two common behaviours that stop you getting a good night’s rest

Two common behaviors that could be detrimental to getting a good night’s sleep have been laid bare by a sleep specialist as a new study shows most Brits are sleep deprived.

Most adults are not getting enough sleep, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nancy H. Rothstein, a sleep specialist and Ambassador for Sleepwave, told Express: “We’re designed to sleep and the reason we need all these hacks is because people have lost the simplicity of sleep because we’re so busy.

“We have so much going on, we have so many distractions and temptations that our biology is being inflicted with behaviors.”

She explained: “So if you’re tired all the time and you’re falling asleep or you’re cranky and not feeling well, and get sick a lot or you have anxiety or depression, start to look at how you can support those things, and improve those with better sleep.”

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Sleepwave conducted a study and found that three-quarters of participants wake up feeling tired at least twice a week with an estimated 50 to 70 million living with chronic, or ongoing sleep disorders.

Nancy highlighted one common behavior that can “significantly” disrupt sleep.

She said: “Everybody looks at the clock and if you look at the clock, you start counting down the hours until you have to be up.

“It can cause anxiety because you’re thinking ‘I won’t fall back asleep and I have to be up soon’ and your brain immediately latches onto it and starts doing all kinds of crazy stuff.”

“Let’s say you press your snooze button three times and it’s 10-minute intervals – that’s 30 minutes of sleep you’ve lost.

“You may fall back to sleep but you’re not really falling back asleep.

“It’s making you groggy. It’s just a jolt and you start dozing off and then there’s another jolt. You just need to get out of bed.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends all adults aim to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.

Youngsters need significantly more time in bed, however, with teenagers requiring eight to ten hours of sleep and children aged six to 12 years needing nine to 12 hours.

A lack of sleep has consistently been linked to chronic health problems such as sleep apnea, heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.

It can also lead to insomnia, where someone routinely has trouble falling asleep.

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