Why a bad night’s sleep is good for you
I’m going to tell you something you’ve probably never heard before. A bad night’s sleep is good for you.
Ok, it’s not quite as simple as that, but it comes down to the fact that your body knows what to do. If you have a bad night’s sleep one night, as long as you don’t then take steps to amplify this issue, you’ll have built up a great sleep drive for the following night.
So, what is a ‘sleep drive’? Your sleep drive is essentially your appetite for sleep. Building this appetite will increase your chances of sleeping well, and the best way to do this is to establish a routine.
This means that even if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep, you should still get up nice and early in the morning and go to bed the same time as usual the next night. This may seem counterintuitive, but it all comes down to building that sleep drive, and appetite for sleep.
Illogical as it may seem, spending less time in bed is vital for improving our sleep. We simply shouldn’t be going to bed until we feel properly tired, as the longer we spend in bed awake, the more likely we are to create the wrong associations.
Equally, things like staying in bed too long in the morning, or taking a long afternoon nap, can negatively impact your sleep drive, and therefore increase your chances of another bad night.
So, as I said at the start, remember that your body knows best. If you have a night where you sleep less, or find yourself waking through the night, rest assured your body will know what to do to compensate and the good news is that you will likely find yourself more tired, and more ready for sleep, the following night.
If you’re struggling to sleep through the night and need to build up a good sleep drive, why not try the below tips?
Shorten your time in bed. Even if you have a bad night’s sleep, get up every day at your normal time and stick to a routine as much as you can. Having a lie in can be tempting but keep your bedroom for sleeping. Also, even though it can feel tempting to go to bed early, stick to your usual bedtime. This is really important, as if you get up late, go to bed too early, and spend too much time in bed, then your natural appetite for sleep will weaken, leaving you more likely to wake up during the night as you will feel wide awake.
Remember there’s a difference between feeling sleepy and being tired. Tiredness can be due to things like stress or dehydration, but in order to sleep well, we need to be sleepy, not tired!
Don’t clock watch. If you’re waking in the night, then it can be very tempting to look at the clock every time you wake. However, this increases pressure to fall back to sleep and therefore makes it less likely. Set your alarm for the morning, and then avoid looking at the time again.
Leave the room. If you wake in the night, and can’t get back to sleep, get out of bed. It may sound counterintuitive, but the longer you spend in bed tossing and turning and unable to sleep, the more you will begin to relate your bed to feeling stressed and to being awake. If you’re struggling to drift back off to sleep, get up and go to another room, read a book or do something you enjoy, and then when you’re feeling sleepy again, head back to bed.
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