Can’t sleep after working late at night? If you’ve ever felt exhausted and unable to fall asleep, then you might want to try these strange tips.
The average person spends around 8 hours of sleep per day. That means that we spend almost half our lives asleep. Sleep deprivation has become a common problem today because of the modern lifestyle.
There are some things that you can do to get better sleep. Try these 13 weird tips that actually worked for many people.
1. Take A Warm Bath Before Bedtime
This is one of the best ideas you can have when trying to fix your sleeping pattern after night shifts because unfortunately, your body is still so tense and ready to move after the shift after having worked through the night.
A hot bath can induce the feeling of relaxation and stimulate the part of your body and brain to signal it’s time to take its guard down and to get to sleep.
2. Use A White Noise Machine
Some people’s issue with falling asleep in general can be just how silent it is when trying to fall asleep, because there is nothing there to occupy or distract your brain, you struggle to fall asleep faster and end up frustrated and out of your sleeping pattern.
White noise and even other colored noises, like pink or brown, can be proven to aid in several ways.
Some colored noises help people with ADHD or other neurodivergent people to concentrate better or even feel more relaxed, white noise is subtle enough to distract your brain, but not enough to keep you awake or concentrated.
3. Avoid Caffeine And Alcohol
This one is a no-brainer, but after a night shift where you’ve had to force yourself to stay awake, you may have found yourself opting for the use of caffeine and alcohol to keep you awake long enough, or you may be wanting to have a drink after work as a reward for getting through the shift.
This is the worst thing you could do, though.
Alcohol and caffeine, while they may be enjoyable, disrupt sleeping patterns. The caffeine is designed to keep you awake even if it has been hours since you had any, they recommend at least 6 hours before you plan to sleep to not drink any of it.
4. Do Exercise
Exercise could be your solution, my friend! If your body and mind are exhausted, you will eventually manage to fall asleep, and exercise can be a healthy way to induce this pattern in your brain again.
But be careful of how much you rely on this, as in the long run, it may not be good for you to over-exert yourself.
5. Go To Bed At The Same Time Each Day
The best way to fix that sleeping pattern is to create a pattern again that works around those pesky night shifts!
If you can find a time and space where you can sleep after night shifts that looks exactly the same and is repetitive, your body can work with this, and you’ll be able to fall asleep with how familiar the routine is to your mind.
6. Try Eye Masks
The best way to find yourself getting a great night’s sleep (even if it is not during the night hours) is to mimic these conditions. So, that’s where eye masks come in handy to mimic the physical condition of a black-out room.
Try out one for yourself one night as a trial to see if it works for you, and if it does, perfect! You’ve found yourself a new way to cope with your night shifts, better than before.
7. Drink Water In The Morning
Not drinking enough water can be the reason you’re finding it hard to sleep, it may be basic, but the fundamental parts of being human are generally what causes most issues, if you don’t drink, sleep, eat, or move enough, one of these things will be causing the issue you’re finding annoying.
Headaches can be a result of not drinking enough or eating enough or getting enough fresh air.
As a rule of thumb, check if you’ve done all these things before taking any medication is the best thing to do. So, have you drunk enough today?
8. Putting Your Legs On the Wall Upright
This pose is great for post-workout recovery! It improves circulation, boosts energy levels, alleviates stress, and reduces pain. It’s called “inversion“ because it’s exactly like a handstand except you’re upside down instead of standing straight up.
It’s a great way to relieve lower back aches and help prevent injury. Poses like this can help relieve pain and exertion from doing a night shift.
9. Get Enough Restful Sleep
You may e getting those naps in between night shifts, but are you actually getting enough full restful sleep? If not, then this could be your issue, and you should try to induce more restful sleep into your routine to see if that helps.
10. Wear Socks And Gloves To Bed
The easiest way to explain what’s actually happening behind the gloves/socks thing is that when your body warms up, it sends signals to your brain saying “it’s time to go to sleep”“. As soon as it gets those signals, it puts you in a much better position for shutting down and getting some rest.
If you’re feeling cold at night, try using a heating pad. You can also put a hot water bottle under your pillow. Or, if you have a pet, see if you can get them to stay on your feet while you sleep. Your feet will thank you later!
11. Good Old Classic Counting
This is a great technique for relaxing. You just need to focus on one thing at a time. When you think about moving your body, you will probably start thinking about all the different places you could move to.
So, when you are trying to focus, you should pick an easy place to move and stay there. For example, if you were lying on your bed, you might choose to move your head or feet.
Once you have chosen an easy movement, you should try not to change it, even if you start thinking about other movements. If you notice yourself starting to think about other movements, you should stop and start again.
Counting how many times you move a body part mentally can ease your mind into distraction enough to fall asleep.
12. Relaxing Music Is Good
The classic take on relaxing music has been proven to help people sleep for centuries, we nurse our children to sleep with lullabies, we listen to music to drift off, and we use music to exercise.
It’s the classic thing we use more than we think, so see if some relaxing music like white noise or rain can trick your brain into a healthier pattern of sleep.
13. Acupressure
Acupuncture is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that dates back thousands of years. Acupressure is an alternative therapy that focuses on stimulating specific points in your body to promote healing.
There are many benefits to acupuncture including pain relief, stress reduction, and improved immunity. It also helps with digestive issues, headaches, and other conditions.
Acupressure works similarly to acupuncture but instead of needles, you place small thumb or finger pads on certain areas of your body. You can practice acupressure at home or ask someone else to show you how.
Why Are Night Shifts Bad For Our Sleeping Patterns?
Circadian rhythms are so ingrained in our bodies that working the night shift can throw them out of whack.
People naturally wake up during the day and go to bed at night. But if you work the night shift, you’ll often wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake until morning because you’ve thrown your circadian clock out of whack.
Working rotating shifts disrupt your internal clock and throw your body out of sync with the sun. That means you may experience insomnia or other symptoms like fatigue, low energy levels, mood swings, and poor concentration.
Restorative sleep is important for your health. Sleep helps you regenerate and heal your cells.
When we’re awake, our bodies are constantly repairing themselves. But when we go to bed, we need to give our bodies time to repair themselves. That means going to sleep at the same time every single night, getting enough sleep each night, and waking up at the same time every morning.
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