When you’re lucky enough to sleep for a solid eight hours, you expect to wake up feeling fully rested and ready to take on the day. But sometimes, even when we go to extremes and get tucked into bed by 9 p.m., we still wake up sleepy and don’t know why. If this happens to you, one of these could be to blame.
- Your pajamas are uncomfortable - You might want to rethink your pjs if you wake up hot and sweaty or have those pink elastic lines on your skin. Avoid fabrics like polyester and rayon because they hold heat and moisture and get some jammies in breathable fabrics like cotton, linen, and bamboo. Or maybe you could try sleeping in the buff, which some claim has a host of benefits.
- Your room is too hot - We all like to be cozy when we’re sleeping, but according to the National Sleep Foundation, the ideal sleeping environment is actually around 65-degrees. So turn down that thermostat, open a window, or get the fan going to cool it down.
- You had a big dinner right before you fell asleep - Dietitian Chloe McLeod explains that eating a big meal before bed causes your body to produce more energy for digestion, which could disrupt your sleep cycle. She also says it’s not good to go to bed starving and suggests eating something light like a veggie omelet or soup if you need to eat late.
- You're not timing your REM cycle correctly - You might feel groggy even after eight hours of sleep if you wake up in the middle of your REM cycle. The National Sleep Foundation says all REM cycles are a little bit different, but they last about 90 minutes on average. So they advise planning sleep in 90-minute blocks so you time it right and don’t wake up in the middle of the REM cycle.
- You're scrolling through your phone immediately before bed - Lots of us scroll through our news feeds right before we go to sleep, but that’s a habit that could keep us from a good night’s sleep. It’s the blue light that phones and laptop screens give off that can confuse the body and trick it into thinking it’s not bedtime, so you stay up later than you normally would.
Source: Elite Daily